A BELFAST-based global data analytics firm is investing £2 million in R&D, creating 20 local jobs.
Precision medicine and diagnostics commercialisation service provider, Diaceutics is creating a new data platform leveraging data from international clinical laboratories,that will improve the way patients are tested in advance of treatment.
Invest NI has offered almost half a million pounds (£480,000) towards the project, which will see the employment of 20 additional staff at a Diaceutics’ Belfast-based data hub, two of which are already in place.
Founded by Belfast native, Peter Keeling, Diaceutics is the world’s leading provider of precision medicine data analytics, software and service solutions. The company works with the pharmaceutical industry to further the application of precision medicine, an approach which tailors medical treatments to the individual characteristics of each patient.
Mr Keeling said the latest investment will help the company offer a "competitive advantage" in the marketplace.
“Precision medicine relies on a step change in the way patients are being tested in advance of treatment. High levels of missed and misdiagnosed patients still curtail the promise of precision medicine across the globe and along with the support of Invest NI we will continue to expand our collection, management and analysis of some of the most important patient testing data shaping the precision medicine space today."
"We will be working with pharmaceutical firms in the coming months, to build awareness of our advanced insights here and explore opportunities to integrate those insights earlier into their commercial investments," he said.
Grainne McVeigh, director of life sciences at Invest NI added:
“Diaceutics is undertaking an exciting investment that, through the work with their pharmaceutical clients, will equip physicians with the information and tools to deliver targeted patient care based on their molecular profile, improving outcomes and containing the costs associated with a trial-and-error approach to disease treatment.
“Life and health science is an area of high growth opportunities and we are delighted to be supporting Diaceutics’ efforts to lead the innovation and commercialisation of solutions that will develop the diagnostics market worldwide.”
Working with the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies and using his 30 years of experience in the industry, Peter Keeling has grown a global business, which now has a revenue of $10m and offices in Belfast, Dundalk and New Jersey.
Diaceutics has so far helped with the planning and or launch of more than 200 drugs worldwide by taking on the commercialisation of diagnostics on behalf of pharmaceutical companies and has set its sights on generating $100 million (£75m) turnover by 2020.
