AusBiotech chief executive Rebekah Cassidy says the idea that Australia is incapable of commercialising biotechnology is outdated and misleading, pointing to a growing cohort of globally competitive companies whose successes remain “largely untold”.
For years, Canberra has repeated the mantra that Australia is great at medical research but poor at commercialising it. Ms Cassidy says that narrative is not only wrong, it undersells a wave of mid-sized Australian biotech and medtech companies already succeeding on the world stage.
“I keep hearing this mantra that we’re great at medical research but not great at commercialisation,” Ms Cassidy tells the Commercial Disco podcast.
“Then I go and meet these extraordinary young Australian companies and say: come and visit a few of my members. I’ll show you what good looks like — it’s right here in Australia.”
Ms Cassidy says one of the most striking discoveries in her first 18 months leading AusBiotech was the number of companies that have already researched, developed and manufactured world-leading healthcare products from local facilities — many of them exporting directly into global markets.
They include OrthoCell in Western Australia, which has become a recognised leader in regenerative medicine; Telix Pharmaceuticals, a growing force in radiopharmaceuticals; and NAVBIT, a precision-navigation medtech success story.
Ms Cassidy says these companies are just a small sample of the sector’s “untold stories” and demonstrate that Australia’s commercialisation capability is far stronger than policy makers assume.
“They’re humble. They get on with researching, developing, manufacturing and commercialising new health innovations,” she said.
“Telling their story beyond investors hasn’t always been a priority — and that’s part of the problem.”
AusBiotech has made elevating those stories a core part of its mandate, alongside strengthening advocacy, investment engagement and policy capability within the organisation.
With almost 40 years of history, AusBiotech represents a diverse community, spanning universities, medical research institutes, startups, scaleups, large local firms, global pharmaceutical companies and clinical and manufacturing service providers.
Despite the strength of Australia’s biotech talent and early-stage capability, Ms Cassidy warned that peer nations were moving faster to seize global advantage.
After COVID-19, countries such as the United Kingdom, France, South Korea and Ireland rapidly elevated life sciences to national strategic priority status. They built whole-of-government strategies, established top-level life sciences councils, and offered incentives to attract capability and investment.
By contrast, Australian life sciences policy is scattered across nine federal departments, creating fragmentation that makes it difficult for companies to scale.
“This is a sector that touches government at every part of the value chain… Most of our peer markets have a nationally coordinated approach. Australia hasn’t done that yet,” she said.
The next major opportunity lies at the intersection of biotechnology and artificial intelligence, according to Ms Cassidy, where research organisations and companies are already exploring new programs combining digital and biological innovation.
“There’s a lot of work happening across the sector on AI,” she said. “But a coordinated conversation would be helpful.”
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