The newly-established Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) has become a member of the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund (MRCF).
The MRCF is an investment collaboration between large Australian superannuation funds and more than 50 leading medical research organisations and research hospitals across Australia and New Zealand.
With $530 million under management, the MRCF provides dedicated investment funding and hands-on expertise in supporting the commercialisation of early and clinical stage medical discoveries originating from its member research organisations.
MRCF chief executive officer Dr Chris Nave said Monash BDI's decision to join offers a new source of exciting investment opportunities.
“We have been aware of the world-class medical research capabilities at Monash University for some time. The recent formation of the Monash BDI provided an ideal opportunity for us to align our mutual interests in biomedical research translation. We welcome the Monash BDI into our unique collaboration,” said Dr Nave.
The collaboration is designed enable leading early-stage medical research opportunities from BDI to be funded and developed locally.
Monash BDI, which is one of Australia’s largest medical research institutes, was launched at Monash University in November 2016.
The institute is focused on medical discoveries that reduce the burden of diseases and collaborates internationally to make discoveries which improve the lives of sick people, and prevent, diagnose and treat diseases.
More than 120 research teams, made up of 700 researchers from across multiple health disciplines, are working towards six global health priorities: cancers, cardiovascular disease, human development and stem cells, infection and immunity, metabolic disease and obesity, and neuroscience.
Monash BDI Director Professor John Carroll said the MRCF collaboration is a strategic relationship that further validates Monash BDI’s strong basic research fundamentals, and capacity for industry engagement.
“This collaboration aligns with and complements the institute’s strategic goals around the translation of research and will provide a direct link to a dedicated source of early-stage capital, sophisticated investors and the extensive commercial, clinical and research network that the MRCF offers,” said Professor Carroll.