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Brisbane - Australia's new world cityBrisbane - Australia's new world city

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Invest in Brisbane

Life Sciences

As the pharmaceutical world moves quickly towards an environment of open innovation, companies are looking for unique, valuable partners and locations from which to draw research and build opportunities.

Brisbane offers outstanding capabilities and opportunities in the fields of agri-food, biomedical, biopharmaceutical and human therapeutics, diagnostics and clinical trials.
Brisbane is a recognised centre of excellence and is home to the largest medical research institute in the Southern Hemisphere – The Queensland Institute of Medical Research. 

Other high profile research institutes include:

• Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology;
• Clive Berghofer Cancer Research Centre;
• Eskitis Institute for Cell and Molecular Therapies;
• Institute for Molecular Biology;
• Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation; and
• Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence.

Companies to have already taken advantage of the Brisbane offering include:

• AstaZeneca and Pfizer (in natural drug discovery);
• DSM Biologics (to deliver a new, world-class cGMP manufacturing facility);
• Syngenta (in the development of ethanol); and
• Unilever (in the study of food for ageing populations).

With more than 25 per cent of the population born overseas, Brisbane provides unique opportunities and efficiencies for clinical trials.

Sub-sectors

Agri-food
There are more than 135,000 farms in Australia – an enormous market for agbiotech companies . Twenty-five per cent of Queensland’s biotechnology firms target the agbiotech sector, highlighting its importance within the industry . In 2008/09 Australian farmers invested $244 million (AUD) in research and development through the Rural Research and Development Corporations. This is over and above the $218 million (AUD) co-contribution made through the Federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry .

Biomedical
The biomedical sector in Brisbane is well-established and internationally-recognised for the many innovative products that have been developed by Brisbane companies.

Success stories include:

• Impedimed – developers and manufacturers of “intelligent bio impedance instruments” designed to assess body composition and used for a range of medical applications including research, and nutritional and health evaluation.
• Microskin – Brisbane-based company (recently opened in New York) that assists patients worldwide with skin-related conditions including vitiligo, birthmarks, burns, eczema, lupus and keloid scarring.
• Occupational and Medical Innovations (OMI) – a Brisbane-based company that develops medical safety equipment for use by medical professionals to prevent sharps injuries. Products include a safety syringe, scalpel, valve and other specifically designed safety products.

Biopharmaceutical and human therapeutics
Around 50 per cent of all drugs discovered in the past 25 years have been derived from nature – making Brisbane a goldmine for drug discovery. Brisbane is home to Griffith University’s Eskitis Institute for Cell and Molecular Therapies. This world-renowned institute developed Nature Bank, a natural product library that has been optimised for drug discovery campaigns using robotic, high-throughput screening. Eskitis has collaborated with Astra Zeneca, Pfizer and recently The Centre for Drug Research and Development Canada.

Clinical trials
Trials conducted in Australia meet international standards including those of the United States Food and Drug Administration. The regulatory process for undertaking clinical trials in Australia is exceptional, with 99 per cent gaining authorisation to begin within a week of being registered through the use of the Clinical Trial Notification Scheme.

In 2010 KPMG ranked Brisbane fifth for cost-competitiveness of clinical trials in a study of 95 cities globally .

The Queensland Government has access to the largest patient and research base in Australia through its hospitals. The Queensland Clinical Trials Network Inc is an association of Queensland-based, clinical research related entities and is a visible point of contact for international and national entities wanting to undertake clinical trials in Australia.

Diagnostics
The diagnostics sector in Brisbane is well-established with strong government support. Brisbane is home to the Centre for Medical Diagnostic Technologies in Queensland (MedTeQ). In 2007, MedTeQ won a $1.83 million (AUD) grant to establish a $6.74 million (AUD), world-class facility at The University of Queensland Brisbane campus. MedTeQ partners with the medical materials group at The University of Washington, USA. The city is also home to Inverness Medical – the world’s sixth largest and fastest-growing, global in vitro diagnostics company.  Inverness established in Brisbane through the acquisition of Brisbane company Panbio Limited - a leading developer of tests used in the diagnosis of flaviviruses and other arthropod-borne viruses.

Competitive advantages

Biodiversity and natural advantages
Brisbane and the wider Queensland area are rich in natural resources important to the advancement and success of biotech companies. Queensland boasts 19 terrestrial and 17 marine bio-regions and five World-Heritage sites covering 40 million hectares. Natural compounds are in abundance in regions such as the Great Barrier Reef, Central Eastern rainforests and the wet tropics of North Queensland. The diversity here is exceptional – just one hectare of the Daintree Rainforest in North Queensland contains more species of native plants than the whole of North America, and about 80 per cent of those species can be found nowhere else on earth.
Expanding infrastructure

Key research facilities and projects include:

  • Clive Berghofer Cancer Research Centre – one of the world’s foremost cancer research centres.
  • Queensland Institute of Medical Research – the largest medical research institute in the Southern Hemisphere.
  • Translational Research Institute – Australia’s newest and most comprehensive scientific research and biopharmaceutical facility.

Key university-based research facilities and projects include:

  • Griffith University:
    • Eskitis Institute for Cell and Molecular Therapies – investigates novel drug and cell-based therapies for human diseases in the thematic areas of cancer, infectious diseases and neurological diseases.
    • Institute of Glycomics – a partnership with the Queensland Government to assist the biotech industry in Queensland.
  • Queensland University of Technology:
    • Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation – developing collaboration across health and biomedical disciplines to solve major health problems, commercialise discoveries and provide consultancy services throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
  • The University of Queensland:
    • Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology – is an integrated multi-disciplinary research institute bringing together the skills of world-class researchers in the areas of bioengineering and nanotechnology.
    • Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine – is a modern research facility where clinical and basic science converge in the translational research of cancer and disorders of immune regulation.
    • Institute for Molecular Bioscience – a leading research institute in the Asia-Pacific.
    • Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence – Australia’s leading facility for pharmaceutical research, education and drug commercialisation.
    • Queensland Bioscience Precinct – the largest biotechnology research facility in Australia.
Government support
The Queensland Government has invested $1.5 billion (AUD) to position the state as a centre for excellence in biotechnology. Strategic alliances have been established with various locations including New Zealand, India and Washington State. The Brisbane Technology Park was created to stimulate jobs and opportunities in technology-related industries.
Intellectual property protection
Australia is ranked alongside Germany, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States of America as a tier one location for intellectual property protection by international law firm Taylor Wessing .
Talent, education and innovation

The Australian Government places a premium on world-class innovation and actively promotes research and development (R&D). Multinational enterprises that conduct R&D in Australia, but hold the associated intellectual property in their home jurisdictions, can gain access to an R&D tax concession worth 175 per cent of their R&D investment.

Brisbane’s tertiary education system works with the private sector to deliver a world-class pool of scientists, engineers, and technical staff. Queensland universities offer dedicated biotechnology degrees as well as biotechnology as a science degree major. Some vocational training providers offer biotechnology courses as a pathway to university study.

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Case study: Gardasil®

Brisbane immunologist Professor Ian Frazer, Head of the University of Queensland’s Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine, developed the world’s first cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil®. It works by protecting women from Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the primary cause of cervical cancer, which kills 270,000 women each year. 

In 2005 Frazer and his research groups undertook clinical study of a vaccine against human papillomavirus which was 100 per cent effective in preventing common cervical cancers caused by the virus. The drug named Gardasil has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration and has been approved for use in the European Union. More than 40 million doses of Gardasil have been distributed worldwide. 

Frazer will also head the new Translational Research Institute at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. The facility for small and medium scale production and testing of biopharmaceuticals to the highest international standards will make Brisbane’s growing pharmaceuticals industry world-competitive.

For all enquiries

Daniel Havas Director - Invest Brisbane