Bio21 foreshadows new collaborations

Melbourne's Bio21 precinct is starting to make new waves, with at least three potential collaborations currently on the boil.

Bio21 Institute director Prof Dick Wettenhall said the recent Bio 2002 exhibition and conference in Toronto had led to several promising research and partnership possibilities.

At the top of the list was a major Saudi Arabian group with an interest in medical genetics and skills complementary to Bio21 member groups.

Wettenhall conceded the deal was not yet in the bag, but said there had been promising discussions, with a memorandum of understanding expected in the not too distant future.

He said the Bio21 contingent had also been in talks with United States incubator and biopark operators, with the aim of forming relationships that would aid its own aspiration to set up a competitive incubator.

Wettenhall said he had spoken with groups from Boston and Montreal, with the latter particularly keen to enter an international collaboration to help it move into a more mature phase.

He said early-stage talks had also been held with cancer research and medical device companies.

The potential new deals come amid general grumblings as to the direction, or lack thereof, of Bio21 - an initiative launched by Premier Steve Bracks in June 2000 and touted as turning Victoria into an international centre for health research.

Stage one of the project was to be a $400 million biotechnology precinct at Parkville aimed at creating a world-leading cluster of medical and scientific research institutes.

And while construction commenced last month on the $100 million Bio21 Institute - about seven months behind schedule - little has been said of the initiative since its grand unveiling two years ago.

In fact, in April this year, Innovation Minister John Brumby denied the project was falling behind, telling Australian Biotechnology News there had been no recent announcements because there were "other exciting projects" going on such as the National Synchrotron Project.

And while commercialisation of research was, from the outset, a key intended aim of Bio21, it was put on the backburner last month when CEO Roland Poels and three directors with commercial experience resigned from the board.

Wettenhall said commercialisation would still happen, but would be controlled by the University of Melbourne, who has taken on Poels as a dedicated biotechnology consultant.

He said the Bio21 initiative could not afford the resources required to keep Poels and to support him with a senior management team.

Wettenhall said the board changes were a kind of insurance policy to justify the university's investment in Bio21 and to ensure value could be delivered to external investors.

"The only difference now is that an important part of [Poels'] obligation before was running a company as CEO and that was a significant amount of nuts and bolts work and that meant he had to invest a significant amount of his time in activities with international outcomes and we could not provide him with those resources," Wettenhall said.

"It would be easier to have the full resources of the uni to assist in this program and with the full support of other funding partners and it was decided this would be the best way to deliver on all significant resources."