AusBiotech welcomes new venture capital fund for biotech

AusBiotech has commended the Labor government’s response to the Strategic Review of Health and Medical Research (The McKeon Review) and its pledge to establish the $250 million Medical Research Innovation Fund (MRIF).

The MRIF, to provide capital for early-stage development of innovative biotechnology ventures, is the centrepiece of the McKeon Research Package - the Labor government’s initial response to this major independent review.

The MRIF is modelled on the successful venture capital co-investment program the Innovation Investment Fund and will seek to bridge the gap between Australia’s world-class medical research and commercialisation by investing $125 million of public funding, to be matched to $125 million of private sector funding.

The new $250 million MRIF will assist Australian researchers and entrepreneurs to successfully commercialise new medical treatments and healthcare technologies.

AusBiotech Acting CEO Glenn Cross said: “Access to venture capital funds is vital for early-stage companies commercialising medical research if they are to deliver life-saving and -enhancing biotechnologies to the community.”

The MRIF funds - like the IIF funds - will be invested via licensed fund managers; the size of the tranches and number of fund members are yet to be determined.

Cross noted that the need for the $125 million of public funding to be leveraged with $125 million of private sector funding is illustrative of the important central role that government can play to act as a stimulus; however, the key to its success is in its attractiveness to the private sector.

“AusBiotech looks forward to the release of the conditions and further details, as these will determine the MRIF value to the industry.”

The McKeon Review’s final report, released earlier this year, echoed industry’s calls for commercialisation, clinical trials and IP support.

At the time, AusBiotech and the biotechnology industry welcomed the review’s report as a well-articulated plan to build our nation’s healthcare over the next decade. In particular, the industry warmly welcomed the report’s recommendations in regard to strengthening translation (commercialisation) of research, support to strengthen and protect ‘valuable’ intellectual property and a call to fast track reforms to the clinical trials system.

The strengthening of commercial pathways to ensure the translation of research outcomes into health and economic benefits for the Australian community is a key element of the report, which recommends that funding address the twin ‘valleys of death’ in commercialising research and called for the establishment a Translational Biotech Fund. The fund, aimed at early-stage development, was suggested to be worth $250 million, funded by the Australian Government and the private sector on a one-to-one matched basis.

The package details can be found here.