South Australian feature: How a 15-minute city bred a biohub

If Adelaide is the city of churches, there can be no doubt that its suburb Thebarton is the borough of biotechs.

In a growing cluster on two hectares just four kilometres from Adelaide's centre, companies including GroPep, Primegro, TGR-Biosciences, Medvet Sciences, Bionomics and, soon to join the group, BresaGen, are rapidly making their respective marks on the national and global biotechnology maps.

Of course, other biotech companies have set up business elsewhere in South Australia, but the Thebarton Biotechnology Precinct has become the biohub, attracting infrastructure support from the State government.

According to management of these companies, the size of the city, the concentration of biotech business in one area and their proximity to academic institutions make for a flow of communication rarely seen elsewhere in Australia.

Bionomics scientific advisory board co-chairman and TGR-Biosciences director Prof Grant Sutherland said the environment was conducive to a good working relationship between research groups.

"We have got a city that's big enough for everybody to get around - it's a 15-minute city - so instead of having one group developing independently here and another there, there is a lot of communication here," Sutherland said.

"We have opportunity for everyone to meet on a semi-regular basis, which helps to give South Australia a critical mass."

GroPep chief operating officer Dr Chris Goddard said government-backed Bio Innovation SA had also helped tremendously by hosting a monthly networking forum.

"I think that within Adelaide you get to know people in the universities, CSIRO and other businesses, and you can meet them and talk to them, so there is a reasonable exchange of information," Goddard said.

Bionomics chief executive officer and managing director Dr Deborah Rathjen agreed, adding that with such a diverse mix of companies there was little competition between groups, contributing to a greater flow of information.

"It's a very close-knit community," Rathjen said. "I think at the stage of development the industry is at it's a good thing because we can swap stories about how and why we have done things."

As well as the benefits of networking and sharing information between themselves, Medvet general manager Dr Frances Guyett said a cluster such as Thebarton also helped build critical mass on the international stage.

"I think the advantage of setting up a biotech community per se is it gives us a presence in terms of volume and credibility, especially to overseas investors, that we're not a backyard organisation, that we are professional," Guyett said.

"You might have quality research, but if you are not dressed appropriately you might not be regarded in that light."

Many of Thebarton's biotechs have links with each other, with the CRC for Tissue Growth and Repair at the root of GroPep, BresaGen, Primegro and TGR-Biosciences among others.

GroPep gave rise to Primegro and also has a stake in TGR, while BresaGen's recombinant protein manufacturing facility was spun off in the mid-90s to form GeneWorks.

The newer businesses, in particular, say that their links to larger, more established companies is a blessing in a state where venture capital for biotechnology is non-existent.

TGR-Biosciences business development manager Dr Jay Czarnecki said it was time-consuming to go to the eastern states to find financial support.

"Access to venture capital funds in South Australia is very limited and most is located in Sydney or Melbourne," Czarnecki said.

"Here access is much tougher, and while skill levels are very high, the cooperative nature of the groups is very good and the South Australian government is very supportive, we do have to run around waving flags to draw attention to ourselves."

Primegro CEO and managing director Sean Clearkin said it was more difficult still for his company, which was focused on the use of bioactive factors in animals, to attract backing for work not destined for humans.

"Many of our markets are measured in tens or hundreds of millions as opposed to human biotech, which is measured in billions, and although our time and cost to market is smaller and shorter, that has tended to put venture capital people off," Clearkin said.

"What we have tended to do is rely on sophisticated investors and business angel funding and what that does is it really forces you to get out and look for other opportunities."