11 January 2022
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Bio Pharma Engineering Ltd (BPE) was founded in 2006 and was a privately held company. Now it joins a global brand.
The Cork based (NSC Campus, Mahon, Cork, T12 XY2N) sciences design firm, BioPharma Engineering, has announced that it has been acquired by the global workplace strategy, design and construction firm, Unispace. BioPharma Engineering, will become known as BPE, a Unispace Life Sciences company, and the Unispace Global Life Sciences Centre of Excellence will be established in Ireland to deliver and grow the global life sciences business within the worldwide Unispace network.
BioPharma Engineering designs and delivers laboratory, research and manufacturing facility space for global pharmaceutical and life sciences companies. During 2021, the company completed more than €150 Million in capital expenditure projects, many of which were for Covid-19 medication manufacturing sites. The partnership with Unispace, which has over 48 offices in 26 countries worldwide, will support the firm’s continued expansion across key markets in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, with BPE Founder and Managing Director John O’Reilly, Unispace COO Claire Shepherd, MC Jonathan Healy are joined by Unispace CEO Steve Quick and Ken Loeber, Unispace CSO on screen at the announcement that Irish life sciences design firm, BioPharma Engineering, has been acquired by the global workplace strategy, design and construction firm, Unispace. BioPharma Engineering, will become known as BPE, a Unispace Life Sciences company, and the Unispace Global Life Sciences Centre of Excellence will be established in Cork to deliver and grow the global life sciences business within the worldwide Unispace network.
PIC Darragh Kane
Unispace COO Claire Shepherd with Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney and BPE Founder & Managing Director John O’Reilly at the announcement that Irish life sciences design firm, BioPharma Engineering has been acquired by the global workplace strategy, design and construction firm, Unispace. BioPharma Engineering, will become known as BPE, a Unispace Life Sciences company, and the Unispace Global Life Sciences Centre of Excellence will be established in Cork to deliver and grow the global life sciences business within the worldwide Unispace network.
PIC Darragh Kane
Welcoming the news, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said,
“Cork is already home to 9 of the 10 of the world’s top Life Sciences companies, and the new Unispace Centre of Excellence for Life Sciences further solidifies the region as a globally renowned talent and competency hotspot for the pharma and medtech industries. This partnership between an Irish design engineering firm and a global workspace giant exemplifies the talent and expertise as well as ambition that epitomises Irish businesses. I wish BPE, a Unispace Life Science company, continued success in the future.”
Speaking at the announcement, Managing Director and Founder of BioPharma Engineering, John O’Reilly – from the Rochestown Road – said,
“Our growth in the life sciences sector to date has been highly successful, and we are focused on accelerating this impressive growth. Today’s announcement and union with global workplace design leader, Unispace, ensures that we have the resources, infrastructure and investment to expand globally and rapidly, while continuing to lead with the talent and expertise that we have built in Ireland, through our Cork and Dublin offices.”
The life sciences market is experiencing sustained growth, with a strong focus on speed-to-market in the development of pharmaceuticals. The integration of the BioPharma Engineering team and Unispace’s global platform enables the organisation to capitalise on the enormous opportunity to continue to provide innovative solutions, world class facility design and exemplary customer service to a wider global pharma market.
Steve Quick, CEO of Unispace said
“Life sciences companies are challenged with expanding their footprint rapidly to meet skyrocketing demand,”
and he continued,
“Partnering with BPE is a natural move for us and will allow us to build on the work we have delivered to date for life sciences clients. It will allow us to meet this moment for our many global clients in this industry, bolstering our unique model created to design and deliver spaces that support people, innovation and business growth under today’s necessary yet radically compressed timeframes. With BioPharma by our side, we can’t ask for a better partner to propel this growth,”
A virtual company-wide event connecting the US and Irish management with their teams, was held in recent days to share news of the partnership internally, which was received as resoundingly positive by all parties. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The company is actively hiring for several roles based in Ireland, and these can be viewed on their website here.
