Manufacturing & Supply Chain

Medical device security firm Nova Leah has announced plans to recruit 78 people to its workforce over the next four years. Around 50 of those roles will be based in Dundalk and be in the area of engineering and support. The remainder will be sales and marketing roles in the company’s newly-opened office in Boston.

Nova Leah’s SelectEvidence product is the result of a five-year R&D programme at Louth institution’s Irish Software Centre. The cloud-based system helps to guide the makers of medical devices as they implement cybersecurity requirements and best practices in compliance with FDA recommendation on security threats in the US.

The company is initially targeting US manufacturers of imaging and electro medical devices, a sector estimated to be worth $155bn (with connected devices accounting for around $51bn). Nova Leah founder Anita Finnegan said: “The recent WannaCry ransomware attack on the UK’s NHS highlights the importance of cybersecurity in the health sector. Today’s medical devices incorporate high levels of software and are connected across networks, online or wirelessly. As a result, medical device manufacturers are facing two major challenges: ensuring compliance with stricter regulatory measures and minimising the probability of malicious breaches aimed at medical devices and healthcare IT networks.”