Cois Coiribe: Talk us through an average week in your extensive role at Medtronic.

Gerry Kilcommins: There is no such thing as an average week in my role. I am responsible for 20+ manufacturing plants across the globe, from Mexico and the U.S., right through to Europe and Asia. Included in my brief is responsibility for plants in Shanghai, China – eight hours ahead of my base in Galway. So, I move across the time zones i.e. Tijuana, Mexico which is 8 hours behind and, as I said, Shanghai, China, which is 8 hours ahead. Travel is a big component of my job; I spend 50–60% of my time on the road.

In a large company like Medtronic, structure is important. I have a strong team and robust operating mechanisms around me. Twice a week, I have escalation meetings with my team across the globe, where we address any burning issues impacting our ability to serve patients and customers. There are many other regular mechanisms in place, from weekly tactical meetings to quarterly strategic reviews. I also have regular one-to-one meetings with my global direct reports. I see this as a coaching and mentoring session because we get our work done through our people, and I’m a great believer in problems getting solved at the right level. My job isn’t to give people the answers; sometimes I don’t have them. My job is to coach people, to help them be their best selves at what they do and to ensure they have access to all the support mechanisms necessary to help them do their jobs successfully.

CC: Congratulations on the recent Medtronic-University of Galway partnership. How will this partnership enhance the MedTech ecosystem in the Galway Region and beyond?

GK: Both organisations have had a strong relationship over the years, and this new partnership builds on that. One thing that makes this partnership unique is that Medtronic has never done anything of this scale with academia in Ireland before. We know that Ireland is one of the top MedTech hubs in the world, and Galway is at the epicenter of that. Galway is a vibrant mix of multinationals and startups. In fact, many startups here arise from talent that have come from multinationals with a new idea. We have a strong ecosystem of research centers and suppliers in Galway supporting MedTech. As part of the partnership, Medtronic’s investment will enable significant expansion of the University’s MedTech ecosystem, progressing its current range of STEM programs and supporting the establishment of two new institutes. The first is the new Institute for Clinical Trials and the second is the Health Innovation Institute.

In Ireland’s MedTech ecosystem, we have a gap in clinical trials. This partnership adds that missing piece, not to mention the important translational piece. Translation is a process of taking an idea from the concept to the prototyping phase, right through to the product design and clinical trial phase, and finally into a life-changing product or therapy. That process is important in ensuring that researchers are not simply coming up with ideas that may never materialise. These are a few of the factors that set this partnership apart from the others. Medtronic is committing €5M over the next five years to the partnership. University of Galway is recognised globally as a centre of excellence with state-of-the-art facilities, colleges and schools and students are leveraging Medtronic’s skills and experience in the MedTech sector. Those [combined strengths] will accelerate research into [pivotal] treatments and interventions, serving patients all over the world.

People are living longer today because of advances in lifestyle, medicine and technology; this creates a greater demand for MedTech. We expect to see more healthcare innovation globally in the next ten years than we’ve seen in the last 100 years. This partnership puts us in a really good place to become a leader in that journey, driving innovation rather than watching on and playing catch up. I was asked recently, “Why Galway?” And my response was, “Why not Galway?” We have a strong and vibrant ecosystem here in Galway. I am a University of Galway graduate myself and many other graduates in Galway have gone on to forge successful careers not only in Medtronic Ireland, but in senior positions across the globe with international influence. University of Galway can certainly be proud of its contributions to MedTech both in Ireland and beyond.

For instance, Medtronic developed a very successful programme in conjunction with the University of Galway to address the lack of gender diversity in Engineering. At Medtronic Galway, we felt that we needed to put a scholarship in place to develop a more robust and diverse engineering talent pipeline. We needed to get better gender balance in our engineering ranks. To this end, we set a 50/50 gender split as a programme condition. University of Galway have been running this programme now for several years, addressing gender imbalance to great success, providing equal opportunity for all employees to advance their education and progress into technical roles. The programme always grabs the attention of our global site visitors; they are impressed by the tangible results achieved in partnership with the university.

Galway City.

CC: Medtronic in Ireland develops and manufactures products, including products for coronary arteries and peripheral vascular disease, heart arrhythmia and pacing, hypertension and spinal injury. How has Medtronic in Parkmore evolved over the years to become a strategic global Manufacturing Technology & Innovation Centre for the company?

GK: We started out as CR Bard in 1982 so new have had roots in Ireland for over 41 years. We became part of Medtronic 24 years ago via acquisition. Galway is recognized as one of the top Medtech hubs in the world and I like to think that we, and the work we have been doing over the past 41 years, have played a big part in the evolution.

The company started out in Parkmore as a basic manufacturing plant, with 30 employees working on lower tech diagnostic catheters. The company has since grown to five locations across Ireland with circa 5,000 people employed and now has a high-tech manufacturing and R&D presence (the latter carrying out innovative research and development). Medtronic has evolved from a medical device manufacturer to the world’s largest healthcare technology company. That growth came about through a combination of organic growth, innovation and R&D, alongside significant M&A (mergers and acquisitions). In 2015, Medtronic acquired another large medical technology company called Covidien. With that acquisition, Medtronic expanded into new MedTech spaces, doubling in size from 45,000 people to 95,000 people. This acquisition saw us become the world’s largest medical technology company. We continue to grow organically too, developing our own products and therapies in house.

CC: Medtronic was recently named as a leading Sustainability Company. How has Medtronic embedded ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) in its vision?

GK: In terms of sustainability, Medtronic takes our corporate responsibilities very seriously – responsibilities to our customers and patients but also, to our environment. We have set aggressive goals at both corporate and plant levels, including at Parkmore Galway. Sustainability for Medtronic means looking at the materials used in our products, our packaging right throughout our supply chain and also the running of our plants. For example, in summer 2023, we replaced all our gas boilers in Parkmore with heat pump technology. We have installed solar panels and LED lighting and removed 97% of our site emissions. We plan to remove the remaining 3% during the Christmas shutdown period (2023/4). Certainly, I see Parkmore as a role model for other plants in terms of sustainability. We are on an important journey with much left to do; as a company we have specific sustainability goals set for 2030 and 2040 that we are committed to achieving.

CC: You graduated with a BTech degree from the University of Galway. Did your passion for medical technology start as a student?

GK: I attended St Mary’s College as a boarder in Galway City and graduated with a BTech degree from University of Galway. What I liked about that degree was the combination of theoretical and practical elements. I was always interested in engineering; I grew up on a farm, so I was exposed from an early age to tractors and machinery. After graduating, one of my first jobs was in a small healthcare company in Shannon, County Clare, with 50 employees. They manufactured electro-mechanical equipment such as incubators for prematurely born babies, phototherapy units and blood drainage pumps. So, that was my introduction to healthcare.

I was the only mechanical/production engineer in that plant in Shannon and it was a great learning curve; I was thrown into the deep end. I then moved on to a global medical technology company called Becton Dickinson before an opportunity came up with CR Bard in Galway. Therapeutic angioplasty balloon catheters were taking off as a treatment for blocked coronary arteries in the heart at the time, and I was asked to relocate for a year to Boston, USA to learn about the design and manufacturing of angioplasty balloon catheters. I returned to Ireland to bring that learning to bear in setting up manufacturing capability for angioplasty balloon catheters in a second plant at Parkmore, Galway. My passion for healthcare grew as I began to appreciate the positive impact our products were having for patients all over the world. In Medtronic, we are incredibly proud of the fact that every second, the lives of two people around the world are saved or improved by our products and therapies. In this short 30-minute interview, thousands of patients across the world have been positively impacted by what we do. That’s a phenomenal fact when you sit back and think about it.

CC: Are there any recent innovations that have created significant impact?

GK: Though not a recent innovation, the coronary stent, particularly the drug-eluting stent (DES), has had a huge impact on cardiovascular disease worldwide. Heart disease is a massive issue worldwide and the usual outcome in the past was either death or serious open-heart surgery. This tiny implant, inserted into the heart to keep the blood flowing, has transformed the treatment of heart disease. The stent is a key part of our product portfolio in Parkmore.

The other one that comes to mind is a new hypertension (high blood pressure) treatment system. Medtronic has spent the past 12 years developing this therapy, and received FDA clearance (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) in mid-November, 2023. To give some context, there are one billion people worldwide suffering from hypertension. Hypertension is one of world’s biggest healthcare issues, and can lead to heart attack, stroke and death. Despite available medications and lifestyle interventions, control rates remain low. Medtronic strongly believes that patients will benefit from this alternative treatment option to better manage their blood pressure.

The Medtronic Symplicity Spyral Renal Denervation (RDN) system is an innovative minimally invasive procedure that delivers radiofrequency energy to nerves near the kidneys that can become overactive and contribute to high blood pressure. After sedation, the physician inserts a single catheter device into the artery leading to the kidney. Once the catheter is in place, the physician administers energy to the system to calm the excessive activity of the nerves connected to the kidney. The catheter is then removed, leaving no implant behind. It is a safe and effective procedure and Medtronic believes this could be a landmark therapy introduction to the blood pressure management landscape. The device is manufactured at Parkmore, Galway where development on next generation versions is also carried out.

SDGs discussed in this article: