Biopharma innovation centre coming to UQ

A $10 million biopharmaceutical centre will be established at The University of Queensland (UQ) to train the next generation of scientists and enhance Australia’s capabilities in the pharmaceutical sector.

The Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Biopharmaceutical Innovation is to be an industry/academia partnership specifically designed to train industry-ready research scientists. It has received $4.3 million in Australian Research Council (ARC) funding and $5.5 million in cash and in-kind contributions from industry partners, including CSL, GE Healthcare, the Australian Red Cross Blood Service and Patheon Biologics Australia.

“The centre will focus on the development of new biopharmaceuticals and new bioprocesses for their production,” said Associate Professor Stephen Mahler, who will serve as the centre’s director. It will do this by funding 14 PhD students and five early-career researchers to work on research projects driven by the industry partners.

Students will work in industry and also take courses associated with biopharmaceutical research and development. Research activities will include the development of technologies to expand the range of protein-based therapeutics for human use and improve understanding of protein expression technologies, helping to improve efficiency and yield.

The students will also be trained in entrepreneurship, providing new graduates that will be business savvy in an increasingly competitive global pharmaceutical industry.

“Progressing early-stage research projects while also training PhD students and scientists is an ideal way to pursue innovative and challenging biomedical research while supporting the next generation of medical researchers and industry-ready scientists in Australia,” said Dr Andrew Cuthbertson, chief scientific officer and director of research and development at CSL.

The centre will be led by the UQ Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) and will involve the university’s Institute of Molecular Bioscience, School of Chemistry & Molecular Biosciences and School of Chemical Engineering.