Singapore, Nov 2, 2009: Located in the southern hemisphere, Australia, officially known as the Commonwealth of Australia, is striving to become the well-established destination for biotechnology. Its government has a vision to become one of the top five global locations for biotechnology by 2010, after the US, UK, Canada and Germany. Considered as a lab of scientific discovery, Australia has given a lot of impetus for the growth of biotechnology.
Economically, a country can prosper where there’s more export income, and in case of Australia, biotechnology is a new exporting sector that is growing at a rapid pace. Some of the world-class biotech firms are based in Australia, such as Cochlear, Bionomics and HealthLinx, to name a few.
And the present scenario depicts that Victoria, the country’s most densely populated Australian state, is the most favored destination for biotech companies.
The European settlement in Victoria began in the 1830s as a farming community, and with the discovery of gold during the mid-19th century transformed it into a leading industrial and commercial center. But today, breaking the moulds, the Australian state with a population of over 5,000,000, Victoria is stepping into a new arena with an ambitious goal. And the government is working towards achieving this goal through a series of Biotechnology Strategic Development Plans.
The Australian government’s constant support to companies keen on starting biotech firms in Victoria provides a conducive and favorable environment to set-up such a business. The government is also making concerted efforts to help the companies bring innovative products into the market. Furthermore, the members of the industry and the state government have been working together for a broad framework to assist and promote commercialization opportunities for biotech companies.
Also well-known for its renowned universities and research institutes, Victoria is a breeding ground for life sciences companies. The universities in Melbourne, the state’s capital, are vital contributors to innovation in many fields including biotechnology. Moreover, Melbourne has the highest concentration of medical research facilities of Australia.
Taking the opportunity of the existence of a ‘new economy’ embedded in the old one, companies in Australia are cashing-in their lists of products to make a mark in the life sciences
industry. BioSpectrum brings you a special report on Australia, showcasing how the state of Victoria is emerging and developing as the fifth biotech center of the world.
Victoria offers Australia’s best to develop biotech industry
"Victoria provides a fertile environment for biotechnology that is driven by its culture of innovation. The Victorian State Government has the potential to provide strong support for industries of the future, including leading global value creating companies such as Mesoblast. As Australia’s only publicly listed adult stem cell company, Mesoblast takes full advantage of its global headquarters in Melbourne to access not only the best employees and consultants from this highly regarded intellectual gene pool, but also expert clinicians and scientists. Victoria also has excellent infrastructure that underpins its can-do business approach."
This is what Mesoblast Limited’s Executive Director, Prof Silviu Itescu commented when BioSpectrum asked about his views on Victoria as a destination for doing business in Australia.
Mesoblast, a biotechnology company, with its headquarter in Melbourne has been listed in Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) for rapid development and commercialization of therapies to treat patients with bone and joint diseases. The company has been doing good business since 2004
Sharing his thoughts on the support, the Victoria government is offering, Mr Andrew Macdonald, CEO of Cytopia—operating in Melbourne, since 1997, says, "There is considerable support available to companies looking to set-up biotech operations in Victoria. Generally speaking, the most favorable state in Australia to conduct such a business. The positives range from strong state government support to a strong academic and institutional network of potential partners and collaborators, providers of commercial services through to excellent business support from organizations such as BioMelbourne Network and AusBiotech."
Mr Nick Gatsios, MD, HealthLinx, an emerging biomarker and diagnostic company with an integrated platform in biomarker and bioactive peptide discovery platforms says, "Victoria has invested millions of dollars in setting up very good infrastructure to support science, innovation and technology. Synchrotron, one such infrastructure initiative, is now serving the needs of research community and providing a platform for leading edge research and development across the whole spectrum from medicine to manufacturing. Besides infrastructure, a key incentive, the Victoria government has taken is increasing the R&D tax benefit. Victoria has good universities and research institutes which will fulfill the requirement of skilled workforce who can take up challenging tasks in innovation."
The Australian government is leaving no stone unturned to make Victoria, a biotech hub. And to make it a reality, Victoria government has implemented many programs, schemes, and launched several initiatives, and has been funding the sector since 2001, when it announced an ambitious plan to make Melbourne as one of the top five biotechnology locations in the world. The government has worked towards achieving this goal through a series of three-year Biotechnology Strategic Development Plans. The most recent of these plans, the 2007 Plan, the third in series established a new partnership between government, industry and researchers.
In the first year of operation of the 2007 Plan, the partnership delivered strong results across a number of areas such as lifting of the moratorium on GM canola; putting in place a new regulatory frameworks for multi-site clinical trials, biodiscovery and commencement of a new investment fund—the $30 million Trans Tasman Commercialization Fund, which supported the growth of discoveries from Victoria’s leading research institutes into commercial products.
Besides, during the year, other new public facilities came online, including the Victorian Centre for Functional Genomics, the Victorian node of Metabolomics Australia, the Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy and the Monash Micro Nanophysics Research Laboratory. The Australian Synchrotron continued to lead a new era in research, in Victoria, with three new beamlines being commissioned in 2008, and work starting on a new Imaging and Medical Therapy Centre. The state’s groundbreaking $150 million Cancer Action Plan was launched, directing new investment into cancer prevention, research and treatment with the aim of increasing cancer survival rates for Victorians by further 10 percent by 2015.
In areas of research, Victoria saw exciting and potentially far-reaching breakthroughs in the treatment of bone cancer, fibrosis and rheumatoid arthritis, and advances in stem cell research. In a breakthrough work by its agricultural scientists led to the trial of new high-energy pasture grasses, the decoding and sequencing of soil DNA, and a world-first discovery of previously unidentified bacteria in cows’ stomachs that may lead to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from livestock.
Continuing to support the sector, Victoria government came up with a statement in 2008, ‘Innovation: Victoria’s Future,’ which provides $300 million in funding which is aimed at turning the ideas and research into successful industries, valuable products, rewarding jobs and a healthier community. Many of the initiatives funded through ‘Innovation: Victoria’s Future’ are expected to directly benefit the biotechnology sector, including the development of the world’s largest life sciences supercomputing facility, which will fast-track treatments for chronic diseases by enabling the rapid processing and analysis of data.
Several initiatives and programs launched by the government helped Victoria to emerge as a leading hub for biotechnology and innovation center in Australia.
Market in Victoria
Australia has an established competitive advantage in innovative biotechnologies, ranking sixth in the world. AusBiotech, Australia’s voice on biotechnology, represents more than 3,000 members, encompassing medicines, medical diagnostics and devices, agriculture, alternative fuels and climate change. Of those listed on the ASX, 90 percent are AusBiotech members. Member companies exports amounts for more than $5 billion annually. According to AusBiotech, there are at least 1,100 companies in biotechnology sector (460 covering human therapeutics and diagnostics, plus 636 - 1,000 medical device companies, plus ‘cleantech’, industrial companies, and those in the agriculture sector).
The medical discoveries from Australia have improved the quality of health for millions of people across the world. These include penicillin, the cochlear hearing implant, the cervical cancer vaccine (Gardasil) and sleep apnea devices (Resmed). Impressively, nine Australians have been awarded The Nobel Prizes for work in medicine and related fields. The Victorian state government estimates that the market capitalization of the top 10 Australian biotech companies has grown from $7.5 billion in 2001 to over $21 billion in 2008.
The medical technology industry in Australia has an annual turnover of $6.0 billion (2007-08), earns an export income of $1.3 billion (2007-08), and employs an excess of 17,500 people. Local manufacturing produces earnings of $2.6 billion. The medical technology industry invested $27 million in research and development in 2007-08.
From a larger Australian market, lets take a look at the Victorian biotech sector. Led by its capital Melbourne, Victoria is developing an innovative hub for world-class science. The state’s life sciences industry is moving closer towards becoming one of the world’s top five biotechnology locations so as to achieve its goal. In the last 10 years, the Victorian government has invested A$3.4 billion in science, technology and innovation. Victoria is home to 139 biotech companies, 13 major medical research institutes, seven teaching hospitals and nine universities.
On December 31, 2008, 48 Victorian life sciences companies were listed on the ASX, with a combined market capitalization of around $22.7 billion—an increase of five percent from June 30, 2007. Out of this, 12 companies are profitable, and within three years, the list is expected to grow to as many as 20 profitable companies. In 2007-08, listed life sciences firms in Victoria generated export sales of around A$320 million, produced sales in excess of A$7.2 billion, and recorded an aggregate net profit of A$593 million. The Victorian government estimated that the market capitalization of the top 10 biotech companies has grown from $7.5 billion in 2001 to over $21 billion in 2008.
| Key Victorian Research Infrastructure
Discovery
Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF)
Australian Proteomics Computational Facility (APCF)
Australian Synchrotron
Bio21 Collaborative Crystallisation Centre (C3)
FlowCore – Core Flow Cytometry Facility
Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy (MCEM)
Proteomics and Metabolomics Victoria (PMV)
Victorian Centre for Functional Genomics
Zebrafish Core Research FacilityDiagnostics and Therapeutics Development and Manufacture
Centre for Drug Candidate Optimization
Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Advanced Composite Structure
CSIRO Protein Engineering
CTx – Cancer Therapeutics CRC
IDT Australia
Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication
Monash Antibody Technologies Facility
Monash Micro Nanophysics Research Laboratory
Preclinical Validation and Clinical trials
BioGrid Australia
Cancer Trials AustraliaClinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics Laboratory
Cogstate
Integrative Neuroscience Facility (INF)
Neurosciences Trials Australia
Nucleus Network
Victorian Brain Bank Network
Victorian Cancer Biobank
|
In the 2008 financial year, the state has spent a total of $555 million on biotechnology research and development, a 14 percent increase from 2007, and a 95 percent increase from 2003. Victorian life science companies have 85 products on the market, with seven phase III programs underway (compared to four on June 30, 2008) and 35 phase II programs underway (compared to 29 on June 30, 2007). Victoria has forged significant international collaborations with the leading countries in biotech space such as the US, Israel, Canada, New Zealand, India and China.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), manufacturing census for the medical and surgical equipment for 2006-07, Victoria stands next to New South Wales in terms of the number of staff in the medical technology manufacturing and other related areas. Victoria has 29 percent of ABS registered business (earning >$200,000) which accounts for 19 percent of manufactured sales by Australian medtech business.
Looking forward
"Early stage companies always need expertise which they can barely afford—things like regulatory consulting, clinical trials consulting, quality systems, project management and the like. Often, companies don’t even know what they don’t know, so it’s possible to spend quite significant amounts of cash with contractors, following misguided or inappropriate advice. So, either direct grants for support to work with private consultants, or alternatively, as central resource of expertise in key areas such as those mentioned, would be very helpful," says Allen Bollands, CEO, Genera Biosystems Limited. Genera develop and commercialize multiplexed molecular diagnostic tests, based upon its proprietary AmpaSand bead-based technology.
What the industry needs more than anything else is cash. Hence, Allen Bollands says, "Direct grants are of course very helpful, though typically associated with a considerable administrative burden (a problem for small companies, who may not, for example have a dedicated financial resource). Anything that a government can do to make it easier for private investors to back local projects would be well regarded. This may include a significant amount of investor education, since local investors do not always seem to understand the metrics of a biotechnology
investment."
In addition to finance, he says, "In terms of talent, there’s certainly a dearth of people in key areas, such as quality management and clinical development. Or more specifically, perhaps experienced people are available overseas, and might be keen to participate in the local industry, but local biotechs can’t currently match the salaries paid by multinationals. I think, this will change over time though. The local biotech industry is maturing fast, and with maturity comes a cohort of managers who have built companies, taken them public, done deals, and launched products. They’ll be a resource for new, emerging companies who will undoubtedly benefit from their experience.
Victoria should be an attractive destination for both biotech companies and skilled individuals but ultimately, Andrew Macdonald says, "The success of the sector will depend on both capital and people. There needs to be improved access to investment capital as without it, the sector will wither. There is also the need to put the incentives into place to attract the brightest and the best people, or those Australian/Victorians who wish to return back, or skilled people from other countries. There are currently programs in place to attract academics, but these need to be extended to encourage those with appropriate commercial experience to either return to, or come into the local sector. Start up and small companies in particular will quickly become the beneficiary of such programs and incentives.
Access to finance is the key driver for innovative industries like biotechnology. And investors get attracted to a competitive business environment that delivers certainty through appropriate and flexible regulatory frameworks. Actions taken during the first year of the 2007 Plan helped attract and motivate people to become entrepreneurs in emerging and niche sector. At the same time, the Victorian government is committed to further reduce the regulatory burden on firms, and to create a business environment by creating more funds that support growth and innovation in the biotechnology sector.
To overcome the issue of talents and skilled workforce, in August 2008, the state government has launched "Securing Jobs for Your Future". It provides extra funding of $316 million to create an additional 172,000 training places, set-up more training options for individuals and businesses, and support a new Victorian Training Guarantee (which promises that all eligible Victorians will receive a government-subsidized training place for Vocational Education and Training (VET) system qualifications higher than the qualification they already hold). Through Securing Jobs for Your Future, the government aims to build a culture of lifelong skills development, tackle skills shortages, and make sure that Victoria’s training system is responsive to the changing needs of the industry. These reforms will support the state’s biotechnology sector, by providing government-subsidized training for new entrants to the workforce, and up-skilling of existing workers in areas of current and potential skills shortages.
Victoria already has several schemes and programs in place to support the biotechnology sector. To realize the vision of having a mature, sustainable and flourishing biotechnology companies characterized by commercial success by 2010, the government has a plan that sets out four areas for action. They are creating a competitive business environment, building a bioeconomy, making Victoria a preferred place to live, work and learn and delivering access to high-quality infrastructure. The new initiatives will ensure Victoria reach its goal of becoming one of the top five hubs in the world.
Initiatives Funded Under 2008 Victorian Innovation Statement
Around $145 million for Victoria’s Science Agenda (VSA), aims to strengthen the state’s science and technology base, and generate social, economic and environmental benefits from Victoria’s investment in science. The VSA includes: an investment fund that will co-invest in projects that boost the state’s capacity to turn new ideas into valued products, services and solutions. It also includes strategic projects fund to develop research facilities, platform technologies and skills, and to boost private and public sector R&D investment.
Nearly $50 million towards the new $100 million Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative, the world’s largest life sciences supercomputing facility. The facility will accelerate Victorian biotechnology research and the development of new drugs and treatments in areas such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and neurological disease, by enabling researchers to explore large databases, and create complex models to analyse, simulate and visualize data.
$40 million for the Boosting Highly Innovative SMEs (BHIS) program, the first initiative of its kind in Australia. BHIS will support small to medium enterprises to commercialize new knowledge, with a focus on areas where there is likely to be flow-on-demand locally or internationally. The initiative is in two parts: the Technology Commercialization Program (which supports the establishment and development of fast–growing technology SMEs) and the Market Validation Program (which will use the Victorian government’s technology demand as a driver for the growth of technology SMEs).
$20 million for the biotechnology bridges initiative, which will support the objectives of the 2007 Biotechnology Strategic Development Plan by encouraging industry investment in medical research, supporting international collaborations, and accelerating cross-sectoral developments that address the impacts of climate change through the use of biotechnology.
$10 million for the Victorian Advanced Resource Recovery Initiative (VARRI)—another Australian first—that will explore and establish innovative new waste-recovery facilities. A variety of technologies and processes will be considered as part of VARRI, including anaerobic digestion, composting and generating energy from waste.
To overcome the issue of talents and skilled workforce, in August 2008, the state government has launched "Securing Jobs for Your Future". It provides extra funding of $316 million to create an additional 172,000 training places, set-up more training options for individuals and businesses, and support a new Victorian Training Guarantee (which promises that all eligible Victorians will receive a government-subsidized training place for Vocational Education and Training (VET) system qualifications higher than the qualification they already hold). Through Securing Jobs for Your Future, the government aims to build a culture of lifelong skills development, tackle skills shortages, and make sure that Victoria’s training system is responsive to the changing needs of the industry. These reforms will support the state’s biotechnology sector, by providing government-subsidized training for new entrants to the workforce, and up-skilling of existing workers in areas of current and potential skills shortages.
Victoria already has several schemes and programs in place to support the biotechnology sector. To realize the vision of having a mature, sustainable and flourishing biotechnology companies characterized by commercial success by 2010, the government has a plan that sets out four areas for action. They are creating a competitive business environment, building a bioeconomy, making Victoria a preferred place to live, work and learn and delivering access to high-quality infrastructure. The new initiatives will ensure Victoria reach its goal of becoming one of the top five hubs in the world.
|
|
Comment on this article
