Australia’s first Tech Transfer Summit concludes with call for greater support for commercialisation

Delegates attending Australia’s first Tech Transfer Summit (TTS) have called on the new Abbott government not to change the R&D Tax Incentive or reduce funding of medical research.

TTS Australia 2013 brought together 150 leading tech transfer professionals from Australia and the international community to help build expertise and relationships that enable successful tech transfer - that which results in the translation of research into products to benefit our community.

One of the outcomes of the summit was that AusBiotech will develop a comprehensive and all-industry inclusive advocacy program that focuses on:

• increasing the Innovation Investment Fund;
• establishing an innovative manufacturing incentive; and
• a proposal that the government dedicate additional funding programs to represent and seed at least 10% of total medical health and research funding for commercialisation - a commitment of $800 million.

TTS Australia 2013 was held at the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne from 3-4 September and featured two days of interactive presentations. It was attended by scientists, investors and representatives of IP, legal and accounting firms, and facilitated open discussions and debates on best practices, lessons learned and key issues, such as negotiations, licensing, strategic industry-research collaborations, IP and commercial negotiation.

International delegates travelled from the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore; the University of California, San Francisco; BIO ventures for Global Health; and a New Zealand contingent representing KiwiNet. Attendees from Australia covered all areas of tech transfer including universities, medical research institutes and investors, as well as early-stage biotech companies.

Keynotes were delivered by the following industry leaders:

• Heather Bakalyar, Portfolio Director, The Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer Office (JHTT), Baltimore, United States, presented ‘Agile Technology Transfer: A University Office’s Adaptive Strategies for a Rapidly Changing Environment’.
• Jennifer Dent, President, BIO Ventures for Global Health, United States, spoke on ‘Leveraging the Assets and Knowledge of Private Industry for Global Health and the utilisation of WIPO.
• Rob Chalmers, Chairman, Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia and Director, Adelaide Research & Innovation, discussed ‘Commercialisation trends in Australia’.

The popular panel on early-stage funding included representatives from Bioscience Managers, GBS Venture Partners, Merck, Pfizer Australia and the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund.

TTS Australia is one chapter of a global initiative, with other summits in Asia, Europe and North America. The global initiative has been the original and leading international meeting for the biotech sector, including academia, licensing, partnering and technology transfer professionals.