An Irish model of developing the employability of STEM PhDs at the SSPC

Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre (2013-2019) Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre (2013-2019) Focus – Molecules, Materials and Medicines 26 Industry partners and 9 research performing organisations

Our Current Mission To position Ireland as a global hub of process innovation and advanced manufacturing in the pharmaceutical industry

Context: PharmaChem Sector in Ireland = the jewel in the crown of Ireland’s economy today Global Market $1.08T, 2015  $1.3T, 2021 (annual growth 4.6%) Exports 60% of Irish goods Exports (€65Bn 2015) 6th largest global exporter of pharmaceuticals Corporation Tax €1Bn Employment 28,000 direct + 28,000 indirect Education 50% are graduates 25% of all PhDs in Irish industry Companies Over 120 companies – 10 of top 10 5 of top 10 blockbusters manufactured in Ireland Compliance Unrivalled record globally Investments €5Bn investment 2016/17 5,000 new jobs

Structured PhD, what makes SSPC different? Modules relevant to pharmaceutical research and development Process development Process modelling Polymorphism Synthetic chemistry Crystallisation Masterclass in process development and scale up in the Pharma sector Non ECT training Dynochem training Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre training

Industry Placements Generally take place at end of year 2 of PhD Of 3 months duration Paid (at PhD stipend rate) Exposure to real world commercial and regulatory constraints Exposure to production at scale Possible to do a 3 Month exchange to an academic institution if hoping to pursue an academic career

Flow Chemistry - Industrial Impact PhD placements in industry: - Eli Lilly, Kinsale – set up of flow systems (R O’Mahony - 2016) - Pfizer, Little Island – 1st experience on site with flow chemistry; ‘proof of concept’ flow hydrogenation (D Crowley - 2017)

SSPC PhD student interviews on industrial placement O D, placement in GSK, Brinny, Cork ‘It was brilliant, I had the best time, I got to meet brilliant, amazing people and I got to get really hands on work with what they were doing. I was looking at the last two stages of one of their really well known processes and kind of looking at going from the synthesis into the solid state and the different procedures for the drying or the crystallisation which I probably wouldn’t have had much I suppose expertise at or wouldn’t have had much exposure to before and it was amazing to get that experience. I got to see some really cool equipment. And I got to work with some really great people. I absolutely loved it there, I gained so much. And I’d love to go back there someday.’ ‘It kind of gives you I suppose; placement would have given me a different way of looking at things. So your approach to problems, I suppose in industry you are more restricted in where you can go, due to regulation and whatever, but you can, even just having different equipment available to you, you think a different way, and now since I’ve come back I’ve been nearly trying to make my own set- up to try and figure out a problem or a certain way of crystallisation that I mightn’t have thought of before, or a reason for something going wrong or something behaving strangely, I’d think differently about it and industry 100% would have given me that, because I suppose you can get kind of stuck in a rut if you are here the whole time. But to get out and to see something fresh, you get a new, I suppose hunger for it and new motivation when you come back to try and figure out problems that you might be having in the lab or a new way of going about something that could have been annoying you for a while, but it’s a new way of thinking, so it was brilliant!

SSPC PhD student interviews on industrial placement C McC placement in Pfizer, Newbridge I had an absolutely brilliant time there. ‘It is a fantastic opportunity for us’ I was working with my mentor and she was just fantastic in helping me get involved in the company and we did a research project together while we were there, so she worked very closely with me on that, she gave me training in new techniques that I wouldn’t have had experience of before. Also I got to see what it was like to work in industry as well, which was something I hadn’t experienced before and I think it was a fantastic opportunity so I got to see what the end result of all the research that we are doing in SSPC really comes to at the full scale. So you got to see what the processes in action and I got to see all areas of the plant and they really immersed me in everything that they were doing. I got to go to lots of different meetings and see people working in different roles all across the plant, in quality, in regulation, in operations, which was a great opportunity. And then it was fantastic as well working in the technical services department, because they were so welcoming and friendly and there was a great bunch of people there and there was a great social side to working there. It was just a brilliant opportunity, I couldn’t speak more highly of it both, it helped me in my PhD in that I learned new techniques and I can bring those back now to maybe use in my PhD for my next project, but also that it gave me an insight into industry and what career opportunities are available to me afterwards and it was a great opportunity to develop links with people in that regard as well. And socially as well, I just had a brilliant time while I was there. I thought it was fantastic. ’ ‘The project that I was doing while I was there was a little bit different to what I would be doing with my PhD, so they were looking at a specific project that they had in Company B, so not directly related to my PhD because I am doing something in more early drug development, but definitely some of the techniques that we used to characterise different aspects of the material we were working with, they will definitely be useful to me for the next stage of my PhD and for my next project. While it wasn’t directly about what I am doing, definitely techniques that I have learned I can bring back and also I guess just working in industry and seeing how they train people and have SOP’s for different pieces of equipment and things like that, it’s also been very interesting to see ad how they maintain everything and how they train everyone on all the pieces of equipment so things like that and how things work in industry was just a very interesting thing to see. ‘

Hand you over to Vivek! Happy to take questions and have a discussion at the end