MTPConnect welcomes Biomedical Translation Bridge program opportunity

“As the national growth centre for the Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals sector, MTPConnect is uniquely positioned to partner with industry and deliver the Biomedical Translation Bridge program,” he said.   

“MTPConnect is already responsible for two schemes for the Federal Government which provide funding to 48 projects across the country, so to be awarded this new and exciting health program is welcome recognition of our achievements.

“Under the Biomedical Translation Bridge (BTB) program, projects for new therapies, technologies and medical devices will be eligible for up to $1 million over a period of up to three years to support translation of Australian medical research through to the proof-of-concept stage.

“The BTB program has a strong commercial imperative, driving development of research initiatives to improve the health of Australians that also generate commercial returns to help create the high paying jobs of the future.” 

The BTB program, part of the Federal Government’s Medical Research Future Fund and delivered through MTPConnect, will see the creation of a partnership between BioCurate (University of Melbourne and Monash University), UniQuest (University of Queensland through its drug discovery initiative QEDDI) and the Medical Device Partnering Program (MDPP, led by Flinders University), all pre-eminent organisations engaged in the translation and commercialisation of health and medical research.

BioCurate CEO, Dr Glenn Begley, said: “BioCurate’s focus is working closely with researchers to address the barriers that limit the translation and commercialisation of their early stage research. The BioCurate team brings extensive ‘hands on’ international industry experience and we look forward to sharing our scientific and commercial expertise as part of the program.”

UniQuest CEO, Dr Dean Moss, said: “At UniQuest, we specialise in the commercialisation of intellectual property coming from the world-leading research of the University of Queensland. Our track record includes the commercialisation of the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil™ and Spinifex Pharmaceuticals – the subject of one of Australia’s largest ever biotech acquisitions so we have a lot of translation and commercialisation experience to provide to the BTB program and the participants.”

MDPP Director, Professor Karen Reynolds, said: “MDPP has a 10-year track record of successfully facilitating early-stage ideation and research for new medical devices. Through the BTB program we will leverage our diverse connections and expertise to optimise the success of Australia’s medtech ventures.”

MTPConnect’s Dr Dan Grant said the partners bring decades of industry-based experience and an enviable track record in research translation to the program: “By joining forces with BioCurate, UniQuest and MDPP we’ve created a powerful partnership venture that brings national reach, industry capabilities and expertise and commercial know-how to the task of boosting translation of Australia’s healthtech research,” he said.

“MTPConnect will also partner with the Bridge and BridgeTech programs from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to provide opportunities for skills development to applicants, further enhancing the commercialisation advice and nurturing we can provide to BTB applicants.” 

The $22.3 million program will open calls for applications in 2019. This will be accompanied by workshops in each capital city and in major regional centres such as Townsville, Newcastle, Wollongong and Geelong to build awareness and ensure a high number of quality applications are received. 

Funding of between $200,000 and $1 million will be available for a period of up to three years. Applicants will be required to provide one-to-one matching funding to be eligible.

Additional rounds will be called every six months, with frequency in later years dependent on the number of applications re-applying and extent of residual funds.

The BTB program will establish an expert selection panel to assess, triage and select eligible ventures to be recommended to the Minister for Health for program funding.

Mentoring and project management

A key feature of the BTB program is the provision of expert advice, education and mentoring; to those preparing applications and those awarded funding.

Successful applicants will receive hands-on guidance and mentoring and project management advice throughout the life of the program, leveraging the industry and commercialisation experience of our partners, BioCurate, UniQuest and MDPP.

By ensuring every application receives support, the BTB program will help build capabilities across the sector, not just within those organisations selected for funding.

MTPConnect is an independent, not-for-profit organisation formed as part of the Australian Government’s Industry Growth Centres Initiative. Its objective is to accelerate the rate of growth of Australia’s medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector. MTPConnect has offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth.

BioCurate is an independently operated joint venture formed by The University of Melbourne and Monash University, with support from the Victorian State Government. The company’s aim is to accelerate the early phases of new drug development. For more information, please visit http://www.biocurate.com, Twitter: @biocurate, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/biocurate/

UniQuest is Australia’s leading university-based commercialisation entity, managing the intellectual property of The University of Queensland (UQ). More than 100 startup companies have been created from UQ discoveries. Since 2002, UniQuest and its startups have raised more than A$700 million to help take UQ technologies to market and more than A$625 million in commercialisation revenue has been generated by UniQuest and UQ. In 2015 UniQuest established the Queensland Emory Drug Discovery Initiative (QEDDI), a fully integrated small molecule drug discovery capability based at UQ. QEDDI's team of industry-experienced drug discovery scientists collaborate with academics to translate university research across multiple disease areas to drug candidates for commercialisation with the aim of discovering new medicines in unmet medical needs that will benefit Australians.

The Medical Device Partnering Program (MDPP) is an ideas incubator - fostering collaborations between researchers, industry, end-users and government to develop medical technologies with global market potential.
MDPP is unique in its focus and the way that it operates. It works at the very early stage, turning ideas into proven concepts.

The Bridge and BridgeTech Programs provide commercialisation training for the pharmaceutical and medical device-technology industries, respectively. The programs are convened and administered by QUT together with consortia of pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, universities and industry associations. These professional development programs select up to 100 participants each year providing training to navigate the pathways to commercialise their research and medical device-technology innovations.

Industry Growth Centres Initiative: A strategic, sector-based approach, with a focus on industries setting their own plans for growing themselves by improving competitiveness, productivity and innovative capacity. The Australian Government has set up six Growth Centres, to set the future direction and lead cultural change in their sectors.

Media contacts:

Professor Lyn Griffiths, Director Bridge and BridgeTech Programs, QUT Insitute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, 0417 702 256

QUT Media media @qut.edu.au