BioStart money confirmed for Mimetica
Thursday, 01 August, 2002
Brisbane drug design company Mimetica is the first recipient of funds from Queensland's $6 million BioStart pre-seed fund, as foreshadowed by Australian Biotechnology News in June.
The start-up company is receiving $250,000 to further its research, Queensland Minister for Innovation and Information Economy, Paul Lucas told Queensland Parliament this week.
BioStart is a cooperative venture between the Queensland Government and private sector partner Start-Up Australia.
Both have contributed $3 million to the venture, which provides funding of up to $250,000 to Queensland private-sector companies and research institutions for "proof of concept" research.
The first disbursal of funds from the scheme should deflect criticism about the growing delay between BioStart's announced creation more than a year ago and the selection of any recipients.
Lucas said the lengthy process to approve the first recipient was a result of the time required to apply due diligence and address venture capital concerns.
Several other companies are currently in BioStart's evaluation pipeline, a spokesman for the minister said.
However she declined to nominate a date on which the next successful applicant might emerge from the selection procedure.
Meanwhile, legal formalities surrounding the launch of the $100 million Queensland BioCapital Fund have been cleared away and the new fund is in hiring mode.
Administered by the Queensland Investment Corporation, the fund is modelled on US biotech venture capital entities. It has been set up as a 10-year fund but expects to be fully invested within five years.
QIC research head Neill Colledge said it is poised to recruit five to 10 professional staff for its core investment team with the first ads scheduled to appear this month.
Successful applicants are "likely to be people with a life sciences background and some experience in the management of either a biotech or a big pharma," he said.
"Somebody with an information technology and venture capital background would be all but useless in this area."
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