Life, Research and Wellness

From new kid on the international biotech block in the early 1990s, Australia has grown into a top-ranking biotechnology location in the Asia Pacific and number six worldwide. Australian international biotech organisations now generate a massive two-thirds of the Asia Pacific region’s biotechnology revenues.

Natural resources, quality skills, low costs and strong government support make Australia a research paradise for biotechnology .

Areas of research in which Australia is a world player include cardiovascular disease, immunology, stem cells, metabolic disease, cancer, infectious and tropical diseases, neurosciences, and agricultural biotechnology.

Government support

The Australian Government strongly backs the growth of the local biotech industry. In 2002/3 it provided close to A$1bn in public biotech-related expenditure and in 2004 announced a 10-year investment program for research and commercialisation. This is complemented by one of the most transparent and strict regulatory re-gimes in the world for the protection of intellectual property and approval of biotechnology products.

This competitive regime extends across the commercial sphere. Australia is ranked second after Canada as the most cost-effective location for biomedical R&D. It was also found to be the third least expensive location for conducting clinical trials by a KPMG survey of 11 developed countries in North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific.

With advantages like this, growth opportunities abound – the number of Australian biotechnology com-panies is increasing by 16% every year, according to AusBiotech. And they are keen to partner to bring their products to overseas markets; more than 85% expect to expand into overseas markets by 2007.

Takeda Chemical Industries is working with Victoria-based Norwood Abbey, for example, to commercialise and license intellectual property on gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues that could partially restore the immune systems of HIV sufferers.

For innovation in biotechnology, international companies are finding the future is here, in Australia.

>> www.investaustralia.gov.au/biotech