Singapore, Dec 22, 2009: More than 1,400 delegates from 30 countries, including 1983 conference participants, had gathered at the Melbourne Exhibition Center for ‘AusBiotech 2009’, held on October 27-30, 2009. The premier Australasian biotechnology conference saw a significant representation and delegations from countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, South Korea, the US and New Zealand. The conference also witnessed South Africa participating for the first time. Mr Gavin Jennings, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Innovation, Government of Victoria officially inaugurated AusBiotech 2009, a three-day conference on October 28.

During the conference 3,683 business meetings were requested and 2,159 meetings were confirmed. In all, 717 business and science heads from national and international companies participated in the conference. Over 400 international participants including 94 from North America, 256 from Asia and 72 from Europe were part of the conference. Nearly 186 speakers including 61 international speakers shared and discussed their views on various topics ranging from biofuels to agriculture to regional collaboration, and many more. The BioIndustry Exhibition Hall showcased 181 exhibition booths.

Dr John Diekman, Managing Director, 5am Ventures, US, Dr Richard (Yio-Wha) Shau, General Director, Medical Electronics and Device Technology Center, Industrial Technology Research Institute in Taiwan, Dr Megan Clark, CEO, CSIRO, Australia and Dr Ganesh Kishore, CEO, Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund, Burrill, US delivered key note address on ‘What happened to early stage life science investing?’, ‘Role of ITRI in the global bio-industry,’ ‘CSIRO’s part in boosting the growth of biotechnology sector’ and ‘Genomics and the next phase of biotechnology’.

The delegation of 19 companies from the UK, academics and government organizations attended the conference to develop partnerships and shared ideas and researches with local Australian companies. 13 Kiwi companies from across the spectrum ranging from novel and unique solutions for human illnesses, animal healthcare, clinical trial specialists, manufacturing and nano-biotechnologies attended the event. Companies from Monitoba, Canada and Korea too participated in good numbers.

UK Trade & Investment, the government organization that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy, organized a free satellite session for conference delegates titled ‘Brains of Britain’ on October 27. The session provided a preview of the latest developments in livestock, vaccines, drug discovery and development, bioinformatics, antibodies, stem cells, bioprocessing and translational research out of the UK. The session also served as a platform for local conference attendees to meet the UK delegation.

Ms Bronwyn Dilley, CEO of NZBIO who led the New Zealand delegation said, “We fully endorse joint government moves announced earlier this year to make doing business easier for companies operating in the Australia/New Zealand markets, and are pleased that so many New Zealand firms are taking up the opportunities that AusBiotech 2009 presents.”

“AusBiotech 2009 was a world-class event, showcasing local R&D investment potential to delegates and providing invaluable opportunities for companies, medical researchers and academics to network and develop close working partnerships with their international counterparts,” noted Dr Anna Lavelle, CEO of AusBiotech.

Melbourne, Victoria will host the next AusBiotech on October 19-22, 2010.

AWARDS

Acrux gets AusBiotech – Roche 2009 Excellence Award
Melbourne-based biotech company Acrux was recognized for its excellence within the Australian biotechnology sector, with Mr Richard Treagus, CEO, Acrux accepting the AusBiotech—Roche 2009 Excellence Award for outstanding contribution to the biotechnology industry by a company at the AusBiotech 2009 conference. 

Acrux recently announced excellent trial results for their product Axiron, marking a resounding success for the company, its shareholders and more broadly for the Australian biotechnology sector.

Acrux’s announcement of successful phase III results for Axiron, makes it one of the small number of Australian companies to have achieved this milestone. Axiron is in development stage as the first medicine of its kind to treat men with testosterone deficiency, and is applied to the underarm as a deodorant.

“It is wonderful to see an Australian company and AusBiotech member leading in this way, and proves that an Australian company has the capacity and capability to take a product to phase III on its own,” said Dr Anna Lavelle, CEO of AusBiotech.

Dr Greg Collier bags AusBiotech 2009 Chairman’s Excellence Award
Dr Greg Collier, CEO, ChemGenex was recognized for his outstanding contribution to the Australian biotech sector, receiving the AusBiotech 2009 Chairman’s Excellence Award for outstanding contribution by an individual within a company.

Dr Collier has played a significant role internationally and domestically in promoting Australia’s leadership in biotechnology development and commercialization. Under Dr Collier’s leadership, ChemGenex has emerged as a success story of Australia , in terms of it being the first Australian company to submit a New Drug Application (NDA) to the FDA for a cancer medicine.

ChemGenex has submitted its NDA for Omapro (omacetaxine mepesuccinate), for the treatment of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) who have failed treatment with the drug imatinib, and who have developed the T315I mutation. Patients with this mutation do not respond to existing therapies, and in clinical trials Omapro has been shown to be effective in 85 percent of such patients.

ChemGenex also recently discovered in preclinical testing that Omapro kills human leukemic stem cells —a significant development with research showing stem cells appear to fuel the growth of several kinds of cancers including leukemia, and are resistant to standard cancer therapy.

Dr Collier has more than 20 years of experience spanning over commercial, operational, clinical and scientific aspects of pharmaceutical research and development.

Presenting the awards, AusBiotech Chairman Dr Deborah Rathjen said, “Dr Collier has made a sustained and significant contribution to the Australian biotechnology industry not only through his achievements at ChemGenex, but in his general pursuits in the discovery and commercialization of Australian research in the important area of cancer therapies.”

NEWS

Dr David Crump, steps down as director of AusBiotech
Dr David Crump, Head of Development at CNSBio has stepped down as director of AusBiotech, Australia’s voice on biotechnology that represents more than 3,000 members, encompassing medicines, medical diagnostics and devices, agriculture, alternative fuels and climate change. Dr Crump was the director of AusBiotech for a period of three years. The new AusBiotech board is the same with Dr Deborah Rathjen of Bionomics as Chairman, Dr Simon Carroll of CustomVis as Deputy Chairman, Mr Michael Gilbert of Australian Centre for Plant Function Genomics, Ms Geraldine Farrell of Griffith Hack Lawyers, Dr Stewart Washer of Resonance Health Analysis Services and Dr Greg Roger of Advanced Surgical Design & Manufacture Ltd as directors and Dr Anna Lavelle as CEO.

Novotech expands in South East Asia
Leading Australian contract clinical research company Novotech announced that it is expanding into four new Asian markets with the establishment of a management hub in Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia. Novotech’s newest operations will involve a regional management hub based in Malaysia covering a presence in Singapore, Thailand and Philippines. Novotech already has a joint venture presence in India and an office in South Korea.

Mr Alek Safarian, CEO, Novotech said, “The time was right to expand further to accommodate Novotech’s client demands for patient recruitment, and cost effective, high quality clinical research. A sizeable patient population, transparent regulatory environment, time zone compatibility with the Australian headquarters and government and clinical sector support for research all make the region very attractive.”

Mr Safarian said, “The growth predictions for outsourced clinical trials in Asia are strong and the company expects to generate more than 50 percent of its revenues from outside Australia in three-to-five years.”

Novotech announced in June that it had been awarded a total of 23 new multi-centre phase II and III clinical studies during the height of the global financial crisis, further strengthening the growing importance of the Asia Pacific region for clinical drug development.

Innovative partnership to benefit colorectal cancer patients
In an example of prevailing partnerships between research organizations and the pharmaceutical industry, BioGrid Australia will partner with Roche Products in a prospective study into clinicians’ treatment decisions in metastatic colorectal cancer. The announcement was made by Mr Gavin Jennings, Minister for Innovation, Victoria Government, Australia.

Mr Jennings said, “This study into how clinicians make treatment decisions will be the first of its kind and aims to increase our understanding of the impact of current treatments on patient outcomes in advanced colorectal cancer. ”.

BioGrid Australia is an innovative medical research platform, funded by the Victorian Government that facilitates privacy-protected research across many hospitals and medical research institutes across Australia. The study into treatment decisions in colorectal cancer, also known as bowel cancer, builds on the already-established data collection and analysis resources of BioGrid Australia, and will collect data on up to 1,000 patients across Australia.

Dr Jayesh Desai, oncologist and BioGrid spokesman, said that after a successful pilot project, the study will commence in November in four Victorian public hospitals, with an expansion to other Victorian and interstate hospitals and cancer centres. The study is expected to conclude in 2014.

“The data obtained from this study will ultimately improve our understanding of routine care in colorectal cancer in both public and private cancer centres around Australia,” Dr Desai said.

Australia creates Action Group for conduct of clinical trials
Responding to the calls from the Pharmaceuticals Industry Strategy Group to investigate priority reforms to the clinical trials operating environment, Rudd Government has announced creation of an Action Group.

Announcing this, Senator Mr Kim Carr, Innovation Minister, Government of Australia said “The Action Group will be asked to identify ways to ensure: coordinated, nationwide approaches to clinical trials and performance measures; streamlined ethics approvals systems; national patient referral networks; and better ways to approve, establish and conduct clinical trials.”

“It was important that clinical trials were conducted in Australia wherever possible. Phase I–IV trials are worth $450 million per year to Australia. Global rationalization trends and emerging competition from low-cost centers threaten Australia’s long term competitiveness as a destination for pharmaceuticals’ clinical trials.” Mr Nicola Roxon, Health Minister, Government of Australia adds.