Melbourne Victoria Australia: A City Full Of Opportunities
Melbourne, capital of Victoria, Australia’s southeastern state, is well on the way to achieving its vision of becoming one of the world’s top five international biotechnology locations.
Melbourne is recognized as the life science research capital of the Asia–Pacific region, thanks to its strong base of research organizations, world-leading universities and medical care, and its vibrant life sciences industry sector. Melbourne dominates the biotechnology landscape in cancer, neuroscience, stem cells, infectious diseases and agricultural biotechnology.
Melbourne is home to 13 of Australia’s top 20 listed life science companies, representing 75 percent by total Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) market capitalization. It is home to the headquarters of CSL, a global ‘Top Ten’ company. And Victorian companies expect to file five new Victorian therapeutics for market approval by mid-2010.
Today, Victoria is home to a mature biotech research sector and profitable biotechnology firms that employ around 22,000 people. The market capitalization of Victoria’s listed biotech companies in 2009 was US$21.9 billion (AU$23.8 billion)—which has tripled since 2001–02—and total annual expenditure on biotech-related research and development in Victoria exceeds US$921 million (AU$1 billion). Despite the recent global economic upheaval, Victoria’s biotechnology sector has proved to be resilient, and has continued to grow in size, capability and profitability.
The Victorian Government continues to invest heavily in the sector with over US$3.13 billion (AU$3.4 billion) invested in science and innovation over the past ten years, thereby attracting and retaining Nobel Laureates, renowned research leaders, and global bioscience companies. Most recently the Victorian Government announced the commitment of US$392.4 million (AU$426.1 million) to develop Australia’s first comprehensive cancer centre (the Parkville Comprehensive Cancer Centre) in partnership with the Australian Commonwealth Government, and six leading clinical and research organizations.
Victoria now boasts extensive research and development infrastructure, including unique capabilities within the Asia-Pacific region: the Australian Synchrotron, BioGrid (a real-time clinical data linkage platform), the Victorian Cancer Biobank, and the Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative—one of the top six supercomputers worldwide by today’s standards—which is aiming to build a system of over 800 Teraflops by 2012.
The government has worked with research institutions to successfully pursue international alliances:
• In 2009 the Victorian State Government established its largest-ever international agricultural biotechnology research partnership—an alliance with Dow AgroSciences—to develop new plant varieties that will meet the growing global demand for food, livestock feed and energy.
Other government-brokered international alliances include:
• The Victoria–California Stem Cell Alliance, which has funded collaborative grants between Victorian researchers and the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)
• US$25.8 million (AU$28 million) agreement between BASF Plant Science in Germany and the Molecular Plant Breeding Cooperative Research Centre based in Victoria—to deliver one of the most advanced programs in the world for the development of drought-tolerant crops
• The Victoria–Israel Science and Technology R&D Fund (known as VISTECH), which funds collaborative commercial development projects between Victorian and Israeli companies.
Melbourne’s high profile biotechnology clusters—co-locating world-class universities, research organizations, hospitals and industry—have created a highly developed competitive biotech business environment. Cross-sectoral collaborations are supported and encouraged; for example, Victorian agricultural researchers announced at BIO2009 in Atlanta their discovery of a new compound in milk that could help to combat heart disease and diabetes.
Victoria is now Australia’s leader in providing biotechnology-related education, training and skills development, ensuring a skilled workforce available to research and industry, and demonstrating a long-term commitment to the ongoing growth of the sector.
Melbourne’s frontline research institutes have made numerous medical breakthroughs with the potential for far-reaching impacts, most recently in the treatment of infectious diseases, breast cancer, neuroscience, malaria and multiple sclerosis (MS). Examples include identification of a critical step in the malaria parasite lifecycle (Burnet Institute, Walter Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) and Deakin University); identification of a new stem cell behind the most dangerous forms of breast cancer (WEHI); and the discovery of genes linked to a susceptibility to MS that may help to identify the causes of MS and other auto-immune diseases (Florey Neuroscience Institutes).
Victoria remains at the leading edge of influenza research and vaccine development, with companies like CSL developing the first H1N1 (“swine flu”) influenza vaccine, Biota/GlaxoSmithKline producing RelenzaTM for the treatment of flu and BioDiem developing leading flu vaccination technology.
The combination of skilled and committed researchers and companies working in close collaboration with a supportive and innovative State Government is driving strong growth ‘down-under’ in one of the world’s leading life science hubs.
