Bio-savvy: how Australia can build a stronger biotechnology industry

Still relatively young, biotech presents a unique opportunity for governments who invest early and aggressively in this industry to transform their economies. As a future-facing industry, biotech will create high paying jobs in the knowledge and advanced manufacturing sectors. For a country like Australia, with a very well educated, English-speaking population; world-class research and scientific institutions; a stable political and regulatory environment; a great lifestyle; and a fair amount of entrepreneurial flair; biotechnology represents a unique opportunity for national economic transformation. The end of the mining boom, and the decline of many traditional manufacturing industries has led the Australian economy down a dangerous path. While our professional services and banking sectors are strong, they mask the plight of many other industries that are struggling; and outside the capital cities, recent jobs growth has at best been stagnant. Australia needs a concerted and coordinated effort to invest in the next industry in which we can excel. Australia, however, is not acting in a vacuum. Other governments have also targeted biotech as an industry to be fostered. While Australia currently ranks well on many international benchmarks, many of our regional neighbours are investing heavily in the industry and are expected to outperform Australia within the coming years. South Korea, Singapore, China and Taiwan are injecting significant government and private funds into biotechnology, and embarking on regulatory reform programs to attract large international firms to their shores. This report focuses on how to protect Australia’s position as a top investment destination for biotechnology, and assesses ways to improve that position and the industry, to give Australia the best chance of competitive advantage in the future. Although biotechnology is a broad field, we have chosen to specifically focus on the largest sector within biotech - human health. However, many of the recommendations proposed here will necessarily have positive flow-on effects to the broader industry. The report begins by mapping the Australian biotech industry, and benchmarking it against our major competitors. It then discusses the three main problems that beleaguer the industry: a lack of speed through the development pipeline; a lack of clear policy direction by the government; and the fact that the industry is notoriously poor at attracting investment - and proposes recommendations to mitigate and rectify these issues. Although this report is organised around the three main problems identified, many of the issues and recommendations overlap, alluding to the complexity of the industry and the importance for a coordinated vision and plan. The report concludes with a final call to government for bipartisan support of the industry: any young industry requires government support in its teething years, but none more so than biotech. However, the potential payoff for this industry is far greater than many others before it. The warning is that Australia cannot afford to stall. Our competitors are moving quickly, and we must counter their efforts to ensure we are the ones who reap the rewards from a strong biotechnology industry