A draft strategic roadmap has been released for a new regenerative medicine (RM) Catalyst, and sector feedback is sought from those interested in the future of RM in Australia.
The 'Catalysing Regenerative Medicine in Australia, Strategic Roadmap' (Strategic Roadmap) provides the strategic goals, objectives and priority actions for a national RM sector Catalyst. It includes an outline of the mission and vision; strategic goals, objectives, and priority actions; and, detailed discussion of the major issues informing the strategic roadmap.
The Strategic Roadmap has been developed as a key part of the RM Catalyst Project. The project has been supported by a consortium of seven members that hold extensive insight and experience in the life sciences and RM landscape in Australia: AusBiotech, Medicines Australia, Cell Therapies Pty Ltd, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Australia Pty Ltd, Biointelect Pty Ltd, Research Strategies Australia and Australia’s Industry Growth Centre, MTPConnect.
The uniqueness of RM, in both opportunity and in challenges, drives Australia’s need for a unified, national RM sector ‘catalyst’ collaboration body championing its cause. Many of the issues discussed in the Strategic Roadmap can be partially addressed through greater coordination and collaboration in Australia across the RM development pathway.
Developing and sustaining the necessary capacity and capability requires a coordinated approach across the public and private sectors. This needs to be led by industry and supported by government.
The Catalyst’s proposed vision is that Australian patients have access to world-class RM therapies sustained by a thriving Australian RM industry. Its proposed mission is to create an end-to-end world-leading value chain that can discover, develop, and distribute RM, while creating jobs, commercialising research, and exporting Australian therapies to the world.
The Strategic Roadmap has been developed based on extensive consultation with stakeholders across the RM value chain in Australia, together with desktop research into the Australian and global RM sectors. Together, these activities revealed key issues facing the sector and informed the strategic goals, objectives and priority actions developed.
The Strategic Roadmap is one of the deliverables that the 12-month RM Catalyst Project was formed to develop. Further priority action areas include: workforce capabilities, collaboration, funding, regulation and policy infrastructure, and Australian manufacturing capability.
Australia has an opportunity to harness and leverage a growing and active global RM industry. If we get this right, success could be worth at least $6 billion in annual revenue, 6,000 new jobs for Australia by 2035 and earlier access to ground-breaking therapies for Australian patients.
The Project received matched funding through MTPConnect’s Growth Centre Project Fund Program, an Australian Government initiative supported by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources. It is a competitive matched funding program that aims to invest in ideas to boost the innovation, productivity and competitiveness of Australia’s MTP sector. Read more about the broader RM Catalyst Project here.
The sector is invited to download the draft Strategic Roadmap here, and to send feedback to Camille Shanahan, National Projects Manager – Regenerative Medicine, by Friday 13 August 2021.