Australia’s life sciences industry is a quiet and unfortunately, regularly misunderstood achiever.
With billions in annual revenues, the sector not only delivers world-class research, it also provides everyday Australians with access to new and emerging health innovations, offers an array of STEM employment pathways from translation through to high tech manufacturing and is increasingly featured as a pillar of future-facing trade discussions, not just with the US but also the UK, Europe and Asia.
Today, Australia’s life sciences industry is in its maturing phase. With more medium and large company success stories, it’s a sector that is increasingly ready to take its next step.
Take for instance a handful of the sector’s current success stories: Australian radiopharmaceutical leader Telix; Perth’s Orthocell, now exporting world leading regenerative medicine products; South Australia’s BiomeBank, manufacturing microbiome-based therapies; AdvanCell, developing targeted alpha therapies for cancer from its facility in Queensland; and New South Wales’ Navbit, advancing surgical technology. All are headquartered in Australia, undertaking R&D in Australia and manufacturing while competing in international markets.
Their stories are increasingly common as more of our IP reaches that all critical commercialisation phase. Importantly, their stories also point to a sector that has outgrown the old, but pervasive, narrative that we are good at research but not commercialisation.
That fact is, Australia’s life sciences sector of today could, with the right policy settings, play an increasingly important role in the health and wealth of our nation, and if unlocked, help Australia build great economic resilience in the face of global uncertainty.
It’s almost a cliché to say that we are living in a rapidly changing world. Some of those changes — new health threats, shifting geopolitical tensions, and a fast-moving trade environment — should be of interest to a medium-sized country that currently imports more than 90 per cent of prescription medicines and 95 per cent of diagnostic components.
As global supply chains continue to shift and international frameworks and alliances for health security evolve, there has never been a greater need for Australia to answer and act upon two key questions: what health technologies must we have onshore to support the health and wellbeing of our citizens, and which part of the health innovation value chain do we want to excel at in the future. Australia’s health innovation industry holds the keys to both.
These are questions that many of our global peers, including the United Kingdom, France, Canada, South Korea, Denmark and India, among others have already answered. They are investing heavily in their life sciences industries, recognising them as central not just to their future economic strength but also their national security.
The UK’s Life Science Sector Plan released just weeks ago, complete with £2 billion investment, and bridging the portfolios of science, trade and health, demonstrates the proactive industrial strategies our global peers are taking forward.
This week, Treasurer Jim Chalmers will convene the federal government’s Economic Reform Roundtable in Canberra. The potential of our life sciences industry, and how we can leverage it to drive productivity, build health sovereign capability, and strengthen our economic resilience, should be firmly on the agenda. After all, Australia already has many of the ingredients needed, we have excellent research, translation and clinical trial capability, well-regarded regulatory and IP systems, a strong healthcare system, and rapidly developing infrastructure to support manufacturing.
With the right policy settings and strategic investment, we could do much more to unlock a new wave of innovation-led growth that not only boosts GDP but also addresses some of the nation’s most pressing challenges, including health security.
The first step must be to mirror the unified strategic mindset of our peers. Australia must develop a whole-of-government National Life Sciences Strategy to set clear policy priorities and eliminate gaps and overlaps. Biotechnology is identified as one of the seven critical technologies on the government’s critical technologies list, but the sector is constrained by a fragmented policy environment across jurisdictions.
Current policy touchpoints — spanning regulation, funding, investment, procurement, clinical trials, manufacturing, exports, education and skills — are dispersed across nine different government portfolios, leading to confusion and inefficiencies and hampering innovation and the road to commercialisation.
Alongside a national strategy and reflecting the pace of global change, AusBiotech is advocating for the establishment of an Australian Life Sciences Council, a partnership between industry and government to drive the national strategy and incentivise the development and commercialisation of healthcare innovations domestically. Countries including the United Kingdom, Canada and France have already established such bodies to set innovation priorities and ensure value for investment. For Australia to remain internationally competitive, it must do the same.
The economic case is clear — our life sciences sector already employs 350,000 Australians or 1 in 60 jobs, and every dollar invested in innovation, commercialisation and development results in an average of $3.50 in economic benefits for our country.
But the sector’s value isn’t measured in dollars alone. It underpins Australia’s ability to respond to emerging health threats, manage biosecurity risks, and adapt to climate change. It plays a critical role in supply chain security, and regional development. The pandemic reminded us of the fragility of global supply chains. We cannot wait until the next health threat materialises to answer these critical questions.
Australia’s life sciences sector is brimming with potential but standing at a crossroads. Without urgent prioritisation and coordinated support, we risk losing our best ideas and the companies that develop them to other countries hungry for life sciences capability. Australia’s life sciences capability is a significant asset for our economic and health security, and the health and wellbeing of all Australians. It’s time we recognised that. The time is now.
Rebekah Cassidy is the chief executive of AusBiotech
Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.