Life Sciences on the Move: to Queensland

Life Sciences innovation has changed dramatically over the past two decades and especially in Queensland which is increasingly becoming a magnet for BioTech and MedTech companies. There has been a substantial growth in start-ups and scaling opportunities. In South-East Queensland, there has been significant growth in both private and government funding since 2020 and a 74% growth in the number of companies based in the Queensland Life Sciences ecosystem during the period 2017 to 2022 (1). Many of these companies have a focus on diagnostics and medical treatments (drugs and devices). Further growth is anticipated and industry, working with academic institutions and government, are actively seeking to plan for this growth.

The three large health, medical and innovation precincts in South-East Queensland have been a focus of the growth. For example, Lumina RDx establishing a facility in the Health and Knowledge Precinct on the Gold Coast, the presence of Stryker on the Herston Health Campus and the role of Q-Gen and its role in supporting the development of novel cellular therapies, and companies such as Vaxxas and Microba have grown exponentially within the Translational Research Institute (TRI) on the Boggo Road/PAH precinct. The precincts and Queensland Government are currently focussed on assuring coordination and synergies between these developing precincts to avoid unnecessary duplication and redundancy.

In the past 12 months the Translational Science Hub (TSH) has been established with Sanofi forming its Asia Pacific headquarters in Brisbane by partnering with Queensland Government, The University of Queensland, and Griffith University. The TSH is based at TRI and already is developing robust and vibrant connections across the ecosystem and with many academic partners. TSH collaborations are no doubt set to grow and it is anticipated that other international pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies will be observing the TSH development, and the strong partnerships being developed between industry, academia, and government.

A significant gap in early-stage MedTech companies is their ability to scale with GMP manufacturing facilities to support proof of concept and then efficacy clinical trials. With the support of the Queensland Government TRI commenced, on an ambitious building program, to establish Australia’s first flexible GMP facility (Translational Manufacturing facility at TRI (TM@TRI) on the Boggo Road/PAH precinct to support emerging companies to scale their manufacture for products for clinical trials.

The coming together of industry, universities and medical research institutes with government will continue to be crucial in building a strong health and medical innovation community in Queensland over the coming decades.

(1) Life Science and Innovation South-East Qld Report 2023 (https://www.knightfrank.com.au/research/life-science-and- innovation-august-2023-10534.aspx)