Lisburn: Over 70 new jobs being created as Cirdan Imaging eyes new markets with £12.9m investment
Over 70 news jobs are being created as part of a £12.9m investment by a Lisburn-based medical imaging company.
Cirdan Imaging’s ‘Vision-Path’ project will update its laboratory information system (LIS) to include new features that will differentiate it from its competitors and improve efficiencies.
The company will also expand its sales and technical onboarding team and invest in the skills of its workforce as it eyes new markets.
Hugh Cormican, CEO of Cirdan, said: “The global LIS market is highly competitive, creating significant barriers to entry. This project will address this challenge and enable our LIS to become more competitive in additional markets.”
To achieve its commercial ambitions the company will also undertake a wide range of training across its expanded team. This will support the development of its senior executives and upskilling of sales and marketing staff.
Hugh added: “Over 72 jobs will be created over the course of the project. Part of this new employment will be in our sales and technical onboarding team to help us scale globally.
"We are ambitious and want to grow our sales in existing markets such as the UK and Australia. And with our innovative new features we also want to break into other global markets including North America, Europe, Middle East and Asia.”
The jobs announcement was made during a ministerial visit to the company. First Minister Michelle O’Neill said: “This £12.9million investment by Cirdan Imaging is a strong endorsement of our life and health sciences sector and the highly skilled workforce we have here.
"Just as importantly, this investment will support Cirdan’s continued innovation, strengthening patient diagnosis and care across the world. We are determined to back businesses to innovate, scale and create good jobs.”
Deputy First Minister Emma-Little Pengelly said: “By enhancing its LIS system and expanding into new international markets, the company is building on the expertise we have here in Northern Ireland and reinforcing our reputation as a centre of excellence. This investment reflects the depth of talent we have here and is fantastic for the company.”
Cirdan is a leading pathology company that aims to enhance diagnosis for patients with cancer and other diseases. Its LIS makes patient diagnosis faster and more accurate by improving clinical workflows and reducing costs across the world.
Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald said: “Cirdan is an exemplar company which demonstrates how investment across R&D and skills can help drive growth. With a focus on AI and photonics, Cirdan has a real opportunity to develop innovative products which will drive competitiveness globally.”
Invest NI has offered the company £1.9m of support. This includes support towards 10 of the jobs, skills development and the R&D project which is creating 26 jobs.
The new roles, which the company hopes to fill by 2028, include clinical laboratory analysts, project managers, integration managers, instrumentation engineers, AI engineers and software engineers.
Alison Currie, chief development officer at Invest NI said: “Along with supporting the company's innovation journey we’re directly supporting 10 management level roles with an average salary of £70,500. This investment will help Cirdan to scale and reinforce its position as a key player in Northern Ireland’s life health sciences sector.”
Invest NI’s R&D support for this project is part funded by the UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF).