Science and biotech survive surplus budget

UPDATED: Figures for NHMRC funding have been corrected.

It’s a case of no news is good news for science and medical researchers and biotechnology companies when it comes to the 2012-2013 budget, handed down by Treasurer Wayne Swan last night.

Both scientific and health and medical research have remained untouched, with funding increasing at the usual rate over the next financial year.

Of more import to innovative biotechnology companies, the newly instated R&D Tax Incentive will continue unchanged.

This comes in the wake of rumours circulating in March that the government’s business tax working group recommended the tax concession be restricted to smaller businesses.

The R&D Tax Incentive was only passed into law late last year, and businesses have yet to make any claims against it.

Generally funding was maintained across the board in health and medical research, science and commercialisation.

The Australian Research Council will receive $879 million in 2012-2013, up 4.8% from the previous year’s $839m.

The National Health and Medical Research Council will also see funding increase fractionally to $771m, up from $757m.

Commercialisation Australia will continue as usual, receiving funding in line with the $269.2 million over the five years to 2014, with ongoing funding of $82.0 million per year thereafter, that has been previously announced.

A new innovation is $29.8 million for the creation of the Manufacturing Technology Innovation Centre, which “will create, foster and leverage innovative Australian industrial design, engineering and product development, including through the spread of leading edge technologies, business processes and technical knowledge,” according to a release from the Ministry of Innovation and Industry.

Research organisations in collaborations with industry will be eligible for the funds, some of which may end up in biotech or pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Overall, the changes are minimal to research and biotechnology, and are in line with expectations.

This came as good news to Professor Tony Peacock, CEO of the CRC Association. “A big sigh of relief and a vote of congratulations to Minister Evans, quite frankly,” he said.

“We didn't get a boost to the CRC Program as we'd asked for, but the science and research budget has been preserved in a budget where many areas were cut, so that's a good outcome.”