PERTH, Australia – Australia's medical research institutes generated more than 18,000 research contracts and collaborations in 2016, which resulted in more than AU$1.9 billion (US$1.37 billion) in income, according to a new survey conducted by Australia's Department of Industry, Innovation and Science.

The latest National Survey of Research Commercialization results show a dramatic increase in activity, largely due to increased collaboration between research institutes and industry.

"There has been a 64 percent increase in research contracts and collaborations," said Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews.

Australia has a strong track record of research successes, and its technological breakthroughs have transformed everyday life, including the world's first cervical cancer vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix.

The Australian government invested an additional AU$2.4 billion (US$1.7 billion) toward Australia's science, research and technology capabilities in the 2018 to 2019 budget, and it is increasing funding to research agencies like the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) over the next four years.

Now in its 16th year, the National Survey of Research Commercialisation tracks knowledge exchange activities in Australia's public research system by assessing universities, medical research institutes and publicly funded research agencies.

CSIRO and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) reported the vast majority of material transfer agreements, with CSIRO reporting 240 and WEHI reporting 217. Next up was the University of Sydney with 65 new inventions, followed by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Western Australia with 63 material transfer agreements.

Deakin University in Victoria reported the top number of license agreements, with 357 license agreements in 2016. CSIRO reported 74, followed by 53 at Macquarie University.

Looking at the value of equity ownership in startup companies from licensing intellectual property, the University of Queensland reported AU$18.1 million in equity ownership, followed by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute with AU$15 million, and CSIRO with AU$13.47 million. The total equity ownership in startup companies for the top 20 research institutions in Australia was AU$120 million in 2016.

Total income for Australia's 20 research institutions was roughly AU$1.9 billion in 2016. Queensland received the most income from licensing with roughly AU$775 million in 2016 compared to AU$731 million for New South Wales and AU$282 million for Victoria. Western Australia reported $AU205 million in income from licensing, and South Australia reported AU$66 million.

In comparing Australia to a basket of other countries, Australia outperformed Israel when it came to invention disclosures, but it underperformed compared to Canada, the U.K. and the U.S.

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) reported that Australia contributes about 3 percent of the world's biomedical research, and it ranked number five in the 2016 Scientific American Worldview.

New drug discovery center to triple screening capacity

WEHI received AU$25 million in federal funding to enhance Australia's drug discovery capabilities.

"In a landmark move for Australian medical research, the institute has established a Drug Discovery Center so that researchers in Australia can screen and pinpoint the exact chemical compounds needed to progress their basic research discoveries into new medicines," said WEHI Director Doug Hilton.

"For many years, the translation of world-class Australian research into new medicines has been hampered by a lack of capacity for drug development. This meant that many promising research discoveries were either never pursued, or researchers were forced overseas to develop their research into new therapies," Hilton said.

Now, with the injection of the government funding, WEHI's screening capacity is expected to triple over the next two years.

"The additional funding means we are now able to recruit additional highly skilled scientists and open the center up to the Australian medical research sector from June 2019," said Guillaume Lessene, who leads a medicinal chemistry and chemical biology research group.

WEHI has also invested AU$32 million in the new center, with a large portion of that investment coming from royalty sales from venetoclax, which was discovered at WEHI in the 1980s and later licensed to Genentech, a unit of Roche Holding AG.

More funding for MTPConnect, translation activities

The Australian government announced nearly AU$1 billion in new grants and funds in 2016 to build stronger national networks in translational science, and the sector is already seeing some benefits.

For example, an AU$200 million CSIRO Innovation Fund was created to support commercialization of Australian research through co-investment in new startup companies.

More than AU$483 million in funding is supporting more than 600 grants across four NHMRC funding schemes.

The AU$500 million Biomedical Translation Fund is providing capital to Australian companies that have reached proof of concept or entering phase I/II trials. The fund will provide $250 million matching government funds to private investor funds and will go toward drugs, med-tech or new digital tech services for health delivery or diagnostics. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 25, 2016.)

The federal government announced it would provide an additional AU$5 million of funding per year for MTPConnect through 2021.

MTPConnect was established as part of the Australian government's Industry Growth Centers Initiative, an industry-led approach driving innovation, productivity and competitiveness by focusing on areas of competitive strength and strategic priority. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 28, 2016.)

"In the nearly three years since our establishment, MTPConnect has been helping to accelerate the growth of the med-tech and pharma sector by forging stronger connections between research and industry and maximizing opportunities for the translation and commercialization of our discoveries," MTPConnect CEO Dan Grant said.

Through the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science's Project Fund Program, MTPConnect has invested AU$15.6 million across 37 collaborative projects, engaging more than 160 consortium members and leveraging AU$22 million of matching funds from industry.

MTPConnect also administers the Biomedtech Horizons Program for the Department of Health. That program supported 11 projects in 2018 and attracted AU$13.3 million in contributions from industry.

As a result of all this recent investment, biotech and med tech are booming in Australia, and 87 percent of companies expect to grow this year, according to a 2018 survey conducted by AusBiotech of its members.

"A convergence of industry maturity, deal flow, regulatory advances, increased capital and development programs, makes this the most buoyant I've seen the sector in my near-decade-long tenure at AusBiotech," said AusBiotech CEO Lorraine Chiroiu.

She said more than AU$1.073 billion was raised by Australian biotech and med-tech companies in 2018.

Brandon Capital Partners Managing Director Chris Nave said that more money will be deployed in Australia's life sciences sector in the next four or five years than there has ever been.

A decade ago, Australia's expertise was in research and phase I studies, but today the industry has "suddenly built expertise to phase II," and the plan is to start putting in phase III expertise.

"As you bring industry and research and education together, you blur the lines and start to improve the translatability of the research, and you also start to improve the courses that are being taught because you've got industry embedded in universities," MTPConnect's Grant said. "Universities understand what industry wants, so you have better student outcomes, and then students are embedded in both and that's the key in creating a natural ecosystem."