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 LIFE SCIENCES@UQ Networking Series – 2 September 2015 Customs House, Queen Street Networking a globally competitive life sciences sector for Queensland How can we convert Queensland’s world class life sciences research base into a viable knowledge based industry supporting the state’s economic growth? Main discussion points from the event: 1. Long term policy with bipartisan support Life Sciences is a long term proposition. It takes around 15 to 20 years for a product to move from discovery through to approval and application. On the other hand, government policy and funding are tied increasingly to election cycles of three years or less. It is difficult to get traction with industry and research when policy settings and initiatives are continually changing. 2. Investment to get to the end and over the valley of death With a 15 year minimum product development pipeline, there are a lot of players who contribute along the way. There has been good investment in developing Queensland’s life sciences research base. While this needs ongoing support and reinvestment, the ‘valley of death’, where a product moves from research to commercialisation, remains a challenge to overcome. Research cannot be commercialised or applied for benefit without funding at this critical stage of the cycle. 3. Create a Queensland ‘development’ capability The skill sets for research and development are totally different. Development requires milestones, project management and investors who understand its long term proposition. Australia has one of the most favourable regulatory systems in the work world in which to take forward IP and excellent facilities for first-­‐in-­‐human studies. Creating genuine and effective collaboration in life sciences Feedback from LIFE SCIENCES@UQ Networking 2 September 2015 1 4.
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Suggested solution -­‐ Queensland develop its own development capabilities, change our mindset of selling off IP early and focus on delivering long term value from what we have. That is, build in as much value as possible here in Queensland. More success heroes A soft spot in Queensland’s life sciences sector is on the ‘development’ side. A track record of success will encourage venture investment which is constantly looking for worthwhile deals to commercialise and take to market, thereby increasing Queensland’s successes/heroes. Queensland would undoubtedly benefit from more Gardasil heroes which would strengthen our ecosystem. More venture capital and skills Local venture capitalists have a long term vested interest in training and building specialist teams, eg in life sciences. This is a critical part of building Queensland’s life sciences ecosystem or cluster. This includes entering into long term relationships with researchers and their organisations, finding investable deals and getting them to market. Once again it is a 15-­‐20 year proposition. The Federal Government’s Significant Investor Visa is an innovative mechanism which requires a person seeking the visa to lodge $5M, $500,000 of which has to be invested in venture capital1. The value of this scheme lies in attracting talented and experienced investors and managers, as well as increasing venture capital available in Australia. Suggested solution -­‐ Queensland Government promote the scheme more widely and thereby benefit from an increase in venture capital and talent. Improve engagement between industry and research We need to dramatically improve the way industry and research in Queensland engage. Backing the best research with the right industry partnerships could see another Gardasil or Spinifex from Queensland, ie research that has the best chance of application. Team Queensland Queensland has some solid life sciences research clusters, but they are small when compared globally. Australia is far away from global markets and investment. By taking a ‘teaming’ approach, Queensland can build a life sciences ecosystem which would attract business. There is power in numbers. Our excellent research base is a good start, now Queensland needs business to be more engaged/active in the sector. We all need to adopt a stronger team approach that draws on the unique strengths of each team member for the benefit of all Queenslanders. Increase the number of Queensland entrepreneurs Queensland’s life sciences ecosystem could benefit from more entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are as critical as capital and cashflow. 1
http://www.austrade.gov.au/international/invest/guide-­‐to-­‐investing/coming-­‐to-­‐australia/significant-­‐and-­‐premium-­‐investor-­‐
programmes/austrades-­‐role Creating genuine and effective collaboration in life sciences Feedback from LIFE SCIENCES@UQ Networking 2 September 2015 2 Suggested solution -­‐ The UK Entrepreneur Visa scheme2 is an example of how the UK is tackling this. To obtain a visa, a person must meet an entry requirement of £50,000 investment funds to set up and run a business in the UK. This could be a model for Queensland to consider. The Queensland Government acknowledges that there is a need to culturally shift or move beyond traditional industry employment opportunities to ones which are based on entrepreneurial spirit and capability. It proposes an ESTEAM (entrepreneurship, science, technology, arts and maths) approach to creating future Queensland jobs, and the skills required to do so. The state needs more students and workers choosing ESTEAM careers and pathways. 9. Talking return on investment (financial and social) It is important, especially in a global investment context, to talk about the return on investment when selling and promoting success stories such as Gardasil. It is critical for future investors to know and understand how much money was invested and its returns. Gardasil also demonstrates an impressive social wellbeing return. The reduction in healthcare costs that Gardasil has achieved could have funded all the medical research that has happened in Australia to date and is likely to happen in the near future. The societal benefit of such discoveries are important while not losing sight of the financial ones. 10. More competitive clinical trials Queensland life science companies have to compete globally for technology, markets and investment capital. When undertaking clinical trials, some are turning to Korea as it is cheaper and provides streamlined approval processes. In Australia, multi-­‐site trials are confronted by widely conflicting approval processes, so it is good business sense to go elsewhere. While private organisations such as Bellbery Ltd3 have improved the ethical approvals process, it has also placed more pressure on State Government based processes in terms of providing a more efficient and quicker method of cross ratified ethics approval and governance for clinical trials. Suggested solution – Queensland Government to advocate federally for a more efficient ethics and governance process for clinical trials across Australia. 11. Advance Queensland4 Advance Queensland, which is the centrepiece of the State Government’s current budget, responds to many of the points raised at the event. It puts knowledge based industries such as life sciences at the forefront of the government’s policies in industry building and diversification of the economy. New discoveries are key to a knowledge based economy, as is the commercialisation of those discoveries, which requires the help of industry, business and entrepreneurs. 2 https://www.gov.uk/tier-­‐1-­‐entrepreneur/overview 3
http://www.bellberry.com.au/ 4 https://www.qld.gov.au/dsitia/initiatives/advance-­‐queensland/ Creating genuine and effective collaboration in life sciences Feedback from LIFE SCIENCES@UQ Networking 2 September 2015 3 Advance Queensland has three core policies and funding programs – 1. $50M -­‐ Best and Brightest Fund – to attract and retain world class scientific and entrepreneurial talent 2. $46M – Future Jobs Strategy – to create new industry/research collaborations to tackle the big innovation challenges, focus on translation and deliver 10 year roadmaps for industries with global growth potential 3. $76M – Business Investment Attraction – to encourage a new wave of Queensland startups, support, proof-­‐of-­‐concept projects and attract co-­‐investment through the Business Development Fund. Advance Queensland is designed to expand industry revenue and jobs through new products and services, and new clinical applications for the wellbeing of Queenslanders, through – • the wide use and sharing of infrastructure, facilities and data • tapping into a range of platforms and disciplines • collaborating with industry and the investment sector to get a better understanding of their needs and challenges • commercialising discoveries with the help of industry, business and entrepreneurs • backing research outcomes that have a strong chance of application • seeking out international collaborations and investment in areas such as China, India and the US. 12. Life Sciences Queensland (LSQ) funding support The Queensland Government has announced funding for LSQ for a further four years, to support the development of the life sciences industry in the state. To build a globally competitive life sciences industry you require a world class research base, which Queensland has. Its impressive examples of ‘excellence plus’ research are the beginning of the industry value chain in the life sciences sector. We need to build on this solid research foundation and better connect it with industry to create a globally competitive life sciences sector in Queensland. Suggested solution – Government, research and industry work together on a 10 year roadmap for Queensland’s life sciences industry in line with the government’s intention to develop such roadmaps for emerging industries. Creating genuine and effective collaboration in life sciences Feedback from LIFE SCIENCES@UQ Networking 2 September 2015 4