A new program focused on translating cutting-edge Australian health research into the marketplace has been launched by QUT and the Medical Technologies and Pharmaceutical Growth Centre (MTPConnect).
Together with a consortium of 14 partners including global pharmaceutical companies, venture capitalists, universities and industry associations, QUT and MTPConnect will launch The Bridge Program in June.
Biotech entrepreneurs, industry professionals, research scientists and business development academics are encouraged to submit expressions of interest. Applications are due by April 28.
The Bridge Program is designed to boost the impact of Australian bioscience, pharmaceutical and biotechnology research by training participants in how to commercialise their research.
Participants will learn from global experts sourced from across the industry how to understand and navigate the complex regulatory, financial, scientific and intellectual property issues involved in bringing new medicines to market.
The program will select 100 participants and will also give two participants a travel scholarship to visit overseas pharmaceutical research facilities and develop global networks.
QUT Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI), Executive Director, Professor Lyn Griffiths said: “This program is an Australia-wide initiative that will serve as a key launching pad for researchers, entrepreneurs, academics and other industry professionals in the biotech and bioscience spheres who will now have more opportunity to take their research outputs through the commercialisation path.
“This is a great opportunity for the bioscience ecosystem in Australia as it connects researchers, companies, entrepreneurs and other science professionals by enabling their products to get to the market and to make a difference to our health.”
The program will cover four key modules that will provide researchers and entrepreneurs with the skills required to take their product through to the market and will involve key experts, case studies, residential training opportunities and introductions to global networks in the biotech and bioscience fields.
David Thomson, from global research-based biopharmaceutical AbbVie, one of the program partners, said: “This type of program capitalises on the need to connect research and industry, which is lacking in our bioscience sphere at present.
“In order to stay globally competitive, The Bridge Program has created opportunities for Australian science to demonstrate that it can translate into product.”
The Bridge Program will be hosted by QUT and supported by MTPConnect, a not-for-profit organisation which aims to accelerate the rate of growth of the medical technologies, biotechnologies and pharmaceuticals sector to achieve greater commercialisation and establish Australia as an Asia-Pacific hub for MTP companies. It was formed in November 2015 as part of the Federal Government’s $250 million Industry Growth Centres Initiative.
For more information, visit www.qut.edu.au/health/bridge-program
Or contact bridge.program@qut.edu.au
Media contact:
Rob Kidd, QUT Media, 07 3138 1841, rj.kidd@qut.edu.au
Kate Regnault, The Bridge Program, 07 3138 5808, Katherine.regnault@qut.edu.au
