The Bridge Program has announced the winners of its Pitch Competition following its three-day symposium in Melbourne.
This is the third year of the Bridge Program - a collaboration that works to support researchers and entrepreneurs build the knowledge, skills and networks focussed on the commercialisation of new pharmaceuticals.
The collaboration's consortium includes MTPConnect as well as industry partners Amgen, AbbVie, CSL, Janssen, Macquarie University, MSD, Medicines Australia, Novartis and Pfizer.
In the lead-up to the recent Symposium, participants had the opportunity to participate in a Pitch Competition, under which they submitted a 2-minute video for the chance to win a tour to US headquarters of AbbVie, Amgen, MSD and Novartis.
The winners were Pradeep Sadasivan Pillai of James Cook University, Kate Samardzic of BioLink Australia, Yuen Chang of Murdoch Children’s Institute and James Tran from RMIT University.
According to Brett Roberts, the head of strategic partnerships at Novartis and representative of the Bridge consortium, “The 2019 Symposium in Melbourne epitomised the collaborative nature of the program with speakers from each of the 10 consortium members including Novartis and Sandoz.
“Novartis has been involved with the Bridge Program since its inception in 2017 - we are a proud supporter of this unique course that connects researchers and industry in order to give rise to commercialisation opportunities here on Australian shores.”
Information on the 2020 Bridge Program will be available after the 2019 Close Event at AbbVie’s Sydney-based office on 5 December.