Research industry hub to accelerate Australia’s biomedical technology industry
A multi-million dollar initiative supported by government will see Monash University and CSIRO work in partnership.
A multi-million dollar initiative supported by government will see Monash University and CSIRO work in partnership to boost bio-medical research and business in Australia.
Led by Monash and CSIRO, the Biomedical Materials Translation Facility (BMTF) is expected to have a particular focus on drug delivery, diagnostics and medical devices in a bid to help diagnose and treat chronic cardiovascular, cancer, ophthalmic and other diseases.
Minister for Industry Ian Macfarlane announced funding to establish the Biomedical Materials Translation Facility last night.
As well as a range of state of the art research facilities already available at Monash and CSIRO, the new facility will address areas identified as gaps in Australia’s biomedical industry by providing an industry standard clean room for materials synthesis, fabrication and surface coating for pre-clinical and clinical studies; biological assessment of new materials; and state of the art (PET/MRI) imaging for preclinical studies.
Funding for the initiative, which includes $10 million from the Science and Industry Endowment Fund (SIEF), has been matched by $10 million respectively from Monash and CSIRO, bringing the total funding to $30 million.
Professor Ian Smith, Vice-Provost (Research and Research Infrastructure), said that with strengths in medical research, manufacturing and product engineering, Australia was well positioned to take advantage of the burgeoning medical technology industry.
“The global medical technology industry is rapidly growing as a result of ageing populations, an increased demand in emerging markets as well as a greater focus on disease prevention and interventions strategies,” he said.
“Innovation is critical to retaining and building the global competitiveness of Australia’s manufacturing sector. This facility will seek to push innovations in materials and biomedical sciences to rapidly progress and commercialise the next generation of medical devices, diagnostics and cell therapies."
Australia’s medical technology industry employs more than 19,000 people nationally. With a turnover of approximately $10 billion in 2012, 41,292 medical devices were listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods in 2013.
The monies awarded come from the Science and Industry Endowment Fund, founded in 1926 to fund innovation in Australian research. SIEF was reinvigorated with a $150 million gift in 2009 from CSIRO out of the proceeds of Wireless LAN technology licensing.
Based at the University and CSIRO’s Clayton precinct, researchers from the Monash Institute of Medical Engineering will play a key role in the Biomedical Materials Translation Facility. MIMR-PHI and ANSTO will also collaborate.
Mr Macfarlane also announced a further $7.8 million over five years for a STEM plus business program that places Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics early career researchers as researchers-in-residence into Australian business and industry, helping SMEs grow into larger and more profitable organisations.