AusBiotech has today kicked off the biggest week of the year for biotech with the opening of its annual Biotech Invest and Partnering event in Melbourne, to be followed tomorrow by its national conference, AusBiotech 2018, in Brisbane.
AusBiotech’s Australia Biotech Invest & Partnering seminar provides investment-seeking companies an opportunity to take centre-stage and make meaningful connections with the investment community. The event today includes a full-day program of up to 29 company presentations, showcasing the potential of life science companies to a 300-strong audience.
The national conference, which has brought together Australian and international biotech leaders and stakeholders for more than three decades, has more than 1,000 delegates registered for this pivotal gathering of the industry, to reflect on the sector’s achievements and exchanges ideas to further advance the sector’s standing both nationally and globally.
The buoyant sector will hear from world-class speakers at AusBiotech 2018, congratulate the AusBiotech and J&J 2018 Industry Excellence Award winners, and see three launches of new projects and resources, the AusBiotech AGM and include an early-stage investment presentation stream – a first for the AusBiotech conference.
Keynote speakers include Endpoint’s Editor-in-Chief, Mr John Carroll; CSL Limited, Chief Medical Officer, Dr Charmaine Gittleson; Division Head of Molecular Medicine, Walter & Eliza Hall Institute, Institute Director, Professor Doug Hilton; Pfizer, Vice President and Head of Oncology External Science & Innovation (ES&I), the R&D Lead for Pfizer Ventures (RDI), and Innovative Medicines Initiative, Dr Denis Patrick.
AusBiotech with launch an interactive online platform this week - The BioExchange platform - for international science-funding matching, along with the output from two regenerative medicine projects at AusBiotech 2018, indicating the significance and potential growth available within Australia.
BioExchange is the first major milestone of AusBiotech’s Australia-China Life Sciences Partnership Programme and aims to increase awareness, and thus, opportunities for communication, collaboration and commercialisation between the life sciences sector in Australia and China.
BioExchange is supported by MTPConnect, the Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals Industry Growth Centre, and consortium partners ChinaBluesky Partners, Therapeutic Innovation Australia, KPMG, King & Wood Mallesons, Asialink Business and FB Rice.
Addressing the global development of the regenerative medicine sector, AusBiotech will also launch the regenerative medicine directory with the Forum for Innovative Regenerative Medicine (FIRM). The directory lists all members in Japan and Australia who work within the sub-sector, enabling global access to talent, expertise, education and partnerships. The directory is a member-only benefit and will be available on the respective websites.
Japan is a recognised leader in regenerative medicine, and FIRM was formed to quickly establish social systems and ensure access to the benefits of research. AusBiotech and FIRM signed a Memorandum of Understanding at AusBiotech 2017 and it is pleasing to see this directory launched, maximising on our international partnerships.
The Regenerative Medicine: Opportunities for Australia report will also be launched, a report that maps out the Australian regenerative medicine sector in detail, identifying priority areas and goals to make Australia globally competitive. The project was conducted by L.E.K. with funding from MTP Connect and being initiated by AusBiotech’s Regenerative Medicine Advisory Committee, which is made up of member companies and research institutes. The report will be used to identify ways to improve and engage the national regenerative medicine sector and to address key advocacy areas.
For more information on AusBiotech 2018, see www.ausbiotechnc.org