A Roadmap for unlocking future growth opportunities for Australia
APRIL 2017
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CSIRO Futures is the strategy and innovation advisory business of Australia’s national science agency. We work with senior decision makers in Australia’s largest companies – and government – to help them translate science into strategy and plan for an uncertain future. We build on CSIRO’s deep research expertise to help our clients create sustainable growth and competitive advantage by harnessing science, technology and innovation.
CSIRO Manufacturing plays a leading role as Australian manufacturing shifts focus from heavy industry to high tech products based on sustainable and advanced processes. We harnesses our science and engineering skills, equipment and international connections to keep Australian manufacturers globally competitive.
CSIRO Health and Biosecurity works together with government, industry and the community to provide leadership and deliver measurable improvement in Australia’s one-Health system: enhancing health, social, environmental and economic wellbeing in the face of increased healthcare pressures and global biosecurity threats. Our science and technology innovations aim to address these challenges to ultimately enhance the nation’s health system, ease the burden of disease and create new models of healthcare delivery across Australia.
MTPConnect is an independent, not-for-profit organisation championing a sector-led approach to accelerating the growth of Australia’s medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical ecosystem to achieve greater commercialisation and establish Australia as an Asia-Pacific hub for MTP companies. It was formed in November 2015 as part of the Federal Government’s $250 million Industry Growth Centres Initiative.
We are grateful for the time and input of industry representatives consulted throughout this project and the many researchers who provided invaluable review and feedback on this report.
© 2017 CSIRO. To the extent permitted by law, all rights are reserved and no part of this publication covered by copyright may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means except with the written permission of CSIRO.
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The global medical technology and pharmaceutical sector is expected to undergo continued growth, driven by the universal challenge to improve human health and wellbeing. However, the sector faces unprecedented global changes, including shifting demographics, increasing healthcare burden, new disease pressures, digital disruption, and increasing societal expectations. In response to these profound changes, CSIRO’s Strategy 2020 has accelerated the development of numerous medical technologies, including customised 3D implants, devices to alleviate chronic conditions, and new pharmaceutical agents for pain management and life-threatening diseases. These breakthrough innovations were driven by deep collaboration and partnership with the medical technologies and pharmaceuticals sector.
Our Strategy 2020 sets out a vision to be Australia’s Innovation Catalyst, which will help CSIRO work closely with the sector to deliver significant growth by efficiently translating world-class science and research to improve the wellbeing of lives all over the world. ‘Customer First’ is the first pillar of our strategy, and we’ve prioritised the way we work side-by-side with our customers and partners to tackle the big challenges facing their industries. We’re committed to responding with agility and creativity to find the right solutions for unique projects, and spending more time understanding the specific requirements of industries and businesses. This customer-centric approach doesn’t just extend to how we work with our partners; it is also reflected in our broader research agenda.
CSIRO uses science to conceptualise, predict, and model the major trends shaping Australia’s future, including the Australia 2030 Report, Our Future World: Global Megatrends report, and the Australian National Outlook. We believe the medical technologies and pharmaceuticals sector has a bright future in this country. This Industry Roadmap report identifies four opportunities that could secure the future competitiveness and success of medical technologies and pharmaceuticals in Australia. But building this future relies on a collaborative approach from the research, education, government, business and investor communities. CSIRO is committed to continuing to channel resources into this effort, including bringing our world class science and solutions to the table.
Responding to the disruption facing every part of the Australian landscape requires nothing short of deep collaboration. We are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Industry Growth Centres as they further map out their roads to success. These industry roadmaps work inextricably with our science roadmaps to ensure alignment for national benefit. Together, we can apply world class scientific and technological expertise to our unique Australian challenges and chart a course for long term sustainable prosperity for our nation.
Dr Larry Marshall
CSIRO Chief Executive
I am delighted to introduce the CSIRO Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals Roadmap.
The vision and actions presented by the CSIRO offer medical technology and pharmaceutical (MTP) businesses and the broader sector with the direction to boost our vibrant ecosystem, highlighting the exciting, innovative and impactful future that we can achieve together.
MTPConnect is an independent, not-for-profit organisation championing a sector-led approach to accelerate the growth of Australia’s MTP sector. Established in November 2015 as part of the Australian Government’s $250 million Industry Growth Centres Initiative, our goal is to drive innovation, and promote greater collaboration, alignment and engagement to establish Australia as an Asia-Pacific hub for MTP companies.
In alignment with the Roadmap, MTPConnect’s 10-Year Sector Competitiveness Plan outlines a vision and strategy to build on our internationally acclaimed sector to maximise competitiveness and productivity, address key barriers, and support rapid and sustained growth through the yearly, dollar-for-dollar matched MTPConnect Project Fund Program.
The Roadmap outlines four key opportunities for growth in the Australian MTP sector, leveraging our comparative advantages to provide impact 20 years into the future – and the work of MTPConnect will ensure the sector has a solid and flourishing foundation in order to successfully achieve this long-term vision to unlock future growth opportunities.
Collaboration is key to success, and the complementary programs presented by CSIRO and MTPConnect provide a unified approach to achieve our shared long-term vision. Together, we aim to attaining greater commercialisation success, overcoming barriers to develop more products that reach proof-of-concept and early stage commercialisation, and increase the number of medium to large companies with late-stage product successes.
Through our established relationship, MTPConnect and CSIRO have already begun having impact, collaborating in Project Fund Program consortiums to upgrade the CSIRO Clayton protein production platform, and establishing an Australian hub to support the development of foundational technologies to accelerate commercialisation of regenerative medicines.
The continued support of the CSIRO is critical to the success of the MTP ecosystem in Australia, and we look forward to continued collaboration to deliver on our joint programs ensuring sustainability, employment growth, and innovation of a sector that is securing the health and wellbeing of future generations.
Sue MacLeman
CEO MTPConnect
Over the next 20 years, Australia’s medical technologies and pharmaceutical sector must capitalise on existing strengths to define a stronger global position, which will enhance the ability of the sector to translate basic research, and lead to an increased volume and value of IP, products and services for international markets.
The Australian medical technologies and pharmaceutical (MTP) sector must endeavour to become more competitive, pushing forward the development of high-value and digitally enabled MTP solutions based on global market needs and trends. To realise growth, the Australian sector needs to focus on increasing its capacity and ability to translate basic research into commercially viable solutions for global markets, developing improved access to global value chains (GVCs) (Figure 1).
A supportive and efficient business environment is fundamental to increasing the competitiveness of the sector, promoting the success of start-ups and SMEs, and attracting and retaining companies of all sizes to complete on-shore development and manufacturing of high-value MTP solutions. Core to this is enhanced regulatory efficiency and a national approach to data and informatics. Under this vision, four growth opportunities and the relevant actions to enable their success have been identified.
Figure 1: MTP value chain and associated 20 year vision characteristics
Basic research > Pre-clinical development > Clinical development > Manufacturing > Market access, marketing and sales
20 year Australian MTP sector vision
Focused research to support growth opportunities
Increased activity with more global and local companies completing clinical development and translation
Increased export of high-value MTP solutions
Improved access to GVCs and increased economic contribution
The global MTP sector is driven by various trends, ultimately underpinned by a universal desire for better health and wellbeing. The megatrends illustrated in Figure 2 represent seven significant trends in the global sector which are already disrupting commercial, societal and cultural approaches to the development of MTP solutions. Consideration of these trends is critical in order for stakeholders in the ecosystem to make strategic decisions that will successfully position the Australian sector for future success.
Figure 2: Global MTP megatrends
Modern MTP solutions allow patients to manage chronic disease and live longer than ever before, however, this comes at considerable cost to public health systems.
Advances in science and technology are enabling MTP solutions that are tuned to the specific needs of individuals. Targeted pharmaceuticals and bespoke technologies will be delivered that provide improved outcomes for individual patients.
Recent pandemics highlight the globally transmissible nature of disease. When combined with increased treatment resistance this creates unpredictable threats that will require rapid technology responses.
Future patients will be educated and informed decision-makers, with more information available to them than ever before. Technology and information access are empowering patients to become more proactive in managing their healthcare.
With the massive amounts of data generated daily in the healthcare system, there will be significant shifts in how data is exchanged, processed and used.
A rising middle class together with rapid growth in developing countries is creating increased demand for MTP solutions.
Countries are shifting from highly fragmented healthcare systems to those based on end-to-end integration, driven by the need to meet the changing demands of patients and to improve efficiency.
There are numerous opportunities that can be pursued by the Australian sector in a global market. To understand which opportunities can be captured locally, the Australian sector must consider its comparative advantages and disadvantages. Advantages need to be leveraged, while disadvantages must be alleviated by specific actions from the ecosystem to provide a more sustainable base from which to build Australian growth.
Figure 3: Australia’s comparative advantages and disadvantages related to the MTP sector
Advantages |
Related disadvantages |
|---|---|
Strong international reputation for quality |
Small market and population |
Diverse culture, social-economic stability and unique location |
Complex federated model Low global competitiveness |
An equitable healthcare system |
Complex federated model Disperse rural and remote populations |
A strong research community |
Low rates of collaboration and Loss of key talent |
Highly skilled and educated workforce |
Changing skills requirements Specialist skills shortages Lack of sector specific management skills Fewer researchers in businesses Lagging STEMM skills pipeline |
Reputable national regulatory authority |
Regulatory inefficiency |
Quality clinical trials |
Slow start-up times for multi-site trials Federated model |
Strong IP protection |
Patents granted too readily |
Quality infrastructure and business environment |
Lagging digital infrastructure Funding gaps Complex federated model Comparatively high corporate tax rate |
Advantages can be lost if not continually invested in
Disadvantages can become advantages by being prioritised and addressed
Based on the global megatrends and Australia’s competitive position, four growth opportunities have been identified. Each opportunity leverages existing research strengths, but requires considerable business and ecosystem actions to overcome challenges, as well as focused science and technology investment.
Vision: To significantly increase the number of MTP businesses designing, testing and manufacturing communicative and responsive devices, bionics and implants for global export. This opportunity would see improvements regarding the approach of the Australian regulatory system to personalised devices, and greater levels of digital integration between individuals, clinicians, researchers and developers, resulting in the development of expert systems.
Key outputs: Examples include anatomically correct 3D printed implants; ingestible smart monitoring devices; integrated bionic limbs that are controlled by neural pathways; expert systems using data from biosensors.
Vision: To cultivate a high-quality and efficient early-stage development environment for pharmaceutical products. This opportunity would result in an increasing number of businesses completing pharmaceutical development in Australia, improving activity in the high-value service sector and an increase in the rate of local research being pulled through to a higher value inflection point and ultimately exported to the global market in the form of IP.
Key outcomes: Improved reputation and benchmarks for Australian trials, increase in value and production of Australia’s pre-clinical and clinical trials industry; increase in clinical products developed and commercialised in Australia.
Vision: To focus Australian manufacturing efforts toward high-value and niche pharmaceutical products that create sustainable export revenue. Australia can leverage advantages around ingenuity, quality and reliability to attract businesses without the capacity to develop complex production processes in-house. This would see an increase in the number of local development teams required to manufacture products for direct export or clinical development.
Key outcomes: Development of novel drug delivery and manufacturing technologies; Australian based contract manufacturing and development of biologics, biosimilars and other complex products for global multinationals, with a focus on distribution into Asia.
Vision: To develop a world-leading sector based on the development and integration of medical diagnostic and informatics platforms. Data security and interoperability is at the fore of this opportunity, and will underlie increased access to de-identified patient and population data. Information packages resulting from this data can be leveraged by local and international businesses for the development of diagnostic products, and preventative and precision MTP solutions.
Key Outcomes: Robust prophylactic services ecosystem for patients receiving genome sequencing and analysis on predispositions; artificial intelligence enabled clinical decision support; population health analytics.
Foresight of the various technology innovations that will enable these opportunities over the next 20 years is impossible. However, by examining emerging technologies and the key technical challenges faced today, research priorities can be extrapolated to help provide a guide for MTP businesses on where to invest effort on research and development – either directly or by collaborating with publically funded research agencies or universities. The list below provides an overview of some of the enabling science and technology required to make these opportunities a reality.
Table 1: Enabling science and technology – future research priorities summary
Smart devices, implants and bionics |
Accelerated pharmaceutical development |
Manufacturing high-value pharmaceuticals |
Diagnostics and informatics products and services |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
While the growth opportunities indicate a bright future, the sector must act quickly or risk losing its place in a competitive global market. Businesses cannot achieve this in isolation, with action requiring an integrated approach across the entire ecosystem. Three enabling change themes were identified concerning approaches to digital infrastructure, regulation and market accessibility, and workforce skills, with actions summarised in Table 2.
Table 2: Enabling changes summary
Digital infrastructure |
Regulatory system and market access |
Sector structure, skills and culture |
|---|---|---|
Business actions |
||
Digital strategy – assess business plans for inclusion of a digital strategy and consider data integration with the MTP ecosystem. Data collection – design or retrofit products and services to collect valuable data that can be used to gain insights, improve products or provide a service of value. Infrastructure – improve digital infrastructure within business, ensuring appropriate cybersecurity safeguards are in place. |
Regulatory knowledge – employ staff with international regulatory know-how or engage regulatory consultants, early in the development process. International access – connect with industry bodies to develop an understanding of the international market requirements. |
Invest in upskilling and management skills – develop structured professional development programs to upskill staff in key required areas, and improve business operations by employing international experts. Graduate or intern programs –provide clear pathways for the development, attraction and retention of graduates. Bring researchers into business – employ researchers to improve transfer of knowledge outside universities. |
Ecosystem actions |
||
Health records – improve the penetration, functionality and usability of national electronic health records. Standards and interoperability – conduct an assessment to identify the requirements for standardising data collection, sharing and application. Infrastructure and cybersecurity – improve internet speeds and capacity in Australia, and develop systems to prevent unintentional and intentional cybersecurity breaches. |
Regulatory agility – address uncertainties regarding reimbursement of bespoke implants and bionics. Regulatory Sandbox – assess the feasibility of a Regulatory Sandbox (see Section 5.2) for medical devices and digitally enabled MTP solutions. International branding and collaboration – develop a unified international marketing message, and incentivise companies to establish an Australian presence. |
Skills development in tertiary education – improve commercialisation, regulation and manufacturing skills for STEMM graduates. Workforce planning – to ensure the skills required to efficiently translate MTP technology are being nurtured, and that they are in-line with global demands. Industry meets academia – incentivise research institutes to employ a higher proportion of experienced industry professionals and provide mentorship programs. |
Globally, the medical technologies and pharmaceuticals (MTP) sector is recognised as having the potential for significant growth.
The Australian MTP sector is small but productive, and with appropriate planning and action can increase in global competitiveness. Growth in the Australian sector will have economic benefits by creating new jobs and revenue, and societal benefits from improving the wellbeing of citizens.
To improve the sector’s competitiveness, it is critical that the right kind of environment is supported to allow for the translation of inventive ideas into innovative solutions; one that encourages strategic and cross-disciplinary research, collaborative business partnerships, efficient development timeframes, agile and reputable regulatory frameworks, and appropriate investment incentives. While collaboration and cross-disciplinary research is applicable to many sectors, it is critical in the development of novel MTP solutions, as these are often underpinned by the convergence of disparate fields of science and technology.
While Australia holds a strong reputation regarding the discovery research that feeds the MTP sector due to high levels of public investment and existing incentives that encourage business spending, there are sub-optimal rates of translation of this research into commercial success. Failure to alter this and foster an environment that allows Australian research to be commercially developed will likely result in the Australian MTP sector reducing in global significance, leading to lost economic value and potential social impacts concerning availability to new MTP solutions.
This Roadmap has been developed by CSIRO through direct industry consultation. The Roadmap aims to complement the work of MTPConnect, the MedTech and Pharmaceutical Industry Growth Centre. MTPConnect have recently released the Medical technology, Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical 10-year Sector Competitiveness Plan (SCP),1 which addresses growth priorities required to improve the sector’s competitiveness and productivity. This Roadmap seeks to complement the SCP by assessing longer-term opportunities for growth, drawing upon the SCP to define enabling actions that will position the sector for sustainable and achievable growth.
Over the next 20 years, Australia’s medical technologies and pharmaceutical sector must capitalise on existing strengths to define a stronger global position, which will enhance the ability of the sector to translate basic research, and lead to an increased volume and value of IP, products and services for international markets.
The Australian MTP sector must endeavour to become more competitive, pushing forward the development of high-value and digitally enabled MTP solutions based on global market needs and trends. To realise growth, the Australian sector needs to focus on increasing its capacity and ability to translate basic research into commercially viable solutions for global markets (Figure 4).
A supportive and efficient business environment is fundamental to increasing the competitiveness of the sector, promoting the success of start-ups and small to medium enterprises (SMEs), and attracting and retaining companies of all sizes to complete on-shore development and manufacturing of high-value MTP solutions. Core to this is enhanced regulatory efficiency and a national approach to data and informatics. Under this vision, four growth opportunities and the relevant actions to enable their success have been identified.
This vision can be considered discretely for each element of the MTP value chain:
Figure 4: MTP value chain and associated 20 year vision characteristics
Basic research > Pre-clinical development > Clinical development > Manufacturing > Market access, marketing and sales
20 year Australian MTP sector vision
Focused research to support growth opportunities
Increased activity with more global and local companies completing clinical development and translation
Increased export of high-value MTP solutions
Improved access to GVCs and increased economic contribution
The ultimate beneficiary of new MTP solutions is the patient, which is implicit to this Roadmap. However, in line with the objective of MTPConnect, the Roadmap is delivered through a lens which primarily considers the economic potential and competitive positioning of Australian MTP businesses.
With that in mind, this Roadmap aims to support the development of Australia’s MTP sector by identifying growth opportunities for the sector that are driven by current megatrends and that leverage the sector’s comparative advantages. For each opportunity, the Roadmap provides key science and technology enablers, and identifies the business and ecosystem actions that need to be undertaken in order to realise the opportunity. The structure of the report is shown in Figure 5.
Throughout this report there will be reference to the ecosystem that supports Australia’s MTP businesses, which includes research institutes (covering everything from basic science to clinical research), industry organisations, funders and regulatory bodies (Figure 6). When effective, this ecosystem should provide Australian MTP businesses with a global competitive advantage.
Figure 5: Structure of this report
2. Australia’s
competitive landscape
What are Australia’s comparative advantages and disadvantages in the global landscape?
3. A changing global
landscape
How is the global
sector changing?
4. Opportunities for growth
Smart devices, implants and bionics
Accelerated pharmaceutical development
Manufacturing high-value pharmaceuticals
Diagnostic and informatics products and services
5. Enabling sector change
Business actions
Ecosystem actions
6. The road forward
Immediate
sector actions
Figure 6: MTP value chain and ecosystem stakeholders
Basic research > Pre-clinical development > Clinical development > Manufacturing > Market access, marketing and sales
Businesses
(Start-ups, SMEs, large medtech, biotech and pharmaceutical companies, including service providers)
Research Institutes (Universities, CRCs, CSIRO, medical research institutes, etc.)
Industry organisations
Funders
Regulatory bodies
*It is important to note that this value chain may vary depending on the MTP solution being produced; pharmaceutical products currently take over a decade to develop and follow numerous sub-stages, devices and wearables generally avoid the need for toxicology and dose studies and have a significantly shorter path to market, and digital solutions require limited clinical development and avoid classic MTP manufacturing entirely.
The development of this Roadmap was industry-led with input provided by various leaders from across Australia’s medical technology and pharmaceutical SMEs, large companies, academia and industry associations. This report was developed alongside the MTPConnect SCP, and leveraged information collected from MTPConnect sector consultations.
Directed consultation for this Roadmap took the form of structured interviews conducted by CSIRO consultants over two rounds. Early interviews focused on identifying key growth opportunities for the sector. The second cohort of interviews focused on refining the identified opportunities, as well as providing new perspectives. Participants were asked to focus on opportunities that met the following criteria:
Contribution from 45 individuals representing
38 businesses, organisations and institutes including:
16 Directors, VPs, Partners or GMs
12 Chairs and CEOs
10 Senior Leaders from CSIRO
7 Company founders
Although in decline, Australia’s MTP sector remains a significant and important contributor to the Australian economy, providing a number of national benefits in the form of highly skilled cross-sector jobs and access to solutions that increase the efficiency of Australia’s healthcare system and wellbeing of citizens. With Australia’s spending on healthcare expected to increase from 9.8% of GDP in 2013–142 up to 15.7% in 2040,3 focus on the successful translation of MTP solutions remains a national priority.
MTP Sector Definition
For this report, the MTP sector is considered to be the businesses and supporting ecosystem participants that are involved in the funding, research, development, clinical testing, regulation, commercialisation and distribution of products and services that make a therapeutic claim, and are therefore regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Act. However, CSIRO also recognises that many technologies that are currently unregulated, specifically numerous digital MTP solutions, are fundamental to the future success of the sector and as such are considered to be in scope.
Historically, Australia’s geographic isolation from other developed countries has created a need for a local MTP sector. Beyond meeting national needs, it has delivered numerous innovative MTP solutions with international success (Figure 7 provides a non-exhaustive snapshot). Currently, the MTP sector in Australia includes businesses of all sizes engaging in research, development, commercialisation, manufacturing and distribution of medical technologies, medical biotechnologies, and pharmaceuticals. The majority of businesses in the sector are SMEs, as highlighted by the medical technologies sub-sector, where it is estimated that over 54% of businesses are start-ups.4
Figure 7: Snapshot of Australian MTP ingenuity
1926 World first electronic heart pacemaker
1961 First ultrasound scanner for obstetrics
1978 First implanted bionic ear, the Cochlear Ear
1981 Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine invented
1992 Spray-on skin developed for treatment of burns
1996 Relenza anti-flu medication developed
1999 Extended wear contact lenses
2006 Cervical cancer vaccine
2011 Hendra virus vaccine developed
2013 Handheld surgical bio-pen 3D prints human stem cells
2015 Bespoke 3D printed implants
2016 Personalised 3D printed devices to treat sleep-disordered breathing
Source: Adapted from Austrade5
Figure 8: Australia’s Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals Sector
$4.4 billion Gross Value Added (GVA) in 2015
$5.0 billion GVA in 2010
48,000 jobs
Companies
$775 million public spending on R&D
$630 million industry spending on R&D
Australia contributes 3% of the world’s biomedical research
Source: MTPConnect Sector Competitiveness Plan6 using L.E.K. Analysis and ABS sources
Currently there is no baseline and consensus view of the metrics that should be used to measure or track the sector. To overcome this, MTPConnect aims to work with sector participants to collect and collate metrics to develop a common and consistent view of the sector. Data shown is the initial analysis by MTPConnect.
The Australian MTP sector is underpinned by a number of comparative advantages that will drive opportunities for growth in the sector over the next 20 years. However, Australia’s competitive position can be rapidly altered as a result of government policies, global disruptions and other significant events. Advantages can be lost if not continually nurtured and invested in, while disadvantages can often be turned to advantages if properly understood and addressed. In order to strengthen Australia’s competitive position globally, businesses, governments and research organisations need to focus on addressing those comparative disadvantages that can be influenced.
Australia’s comparative advantages and related comparative disadvantages are summarised in Figure 9. These advantages and disadvantages were identified through industry consultation and literature review, and are expanded upon in Appendix A.1. These advantages and disadvantages support the discussion of Australia’s global positioning for each opportunity in Section 4.
Figure 9: Australia’s comparative advantages and disadvantages related to the MTP sector
Advantages |
Related disadvantages |
|---|---|
Strong international reputation for quality |
Small market and population |
Diverse culture, social-economic stability and unique location |
Complex federated model Low global competitiveness |
An equitable healthcare system |
Complex federated model Disperse rural and remote populations |
A strong research community |
Low rates of collaboration and Loss of key talent |
Highly skilled and educated workforce |
Changing skills requirements Specialist skills shortages Lack of sector specific management skills Fewer researchers in businesses Lagging STEMM skills pipeline |
Reputable national regulatory authority |
Regulatory inefficiency |
Quality clinical trials |
Slow start-up times for multi-site trials Federated model |
Strong IP protection |
Patents granted too readily |
Quality infrastructure and business environment |
Lagging digital infrastructure Funding gaps Complex federated model Comparatively high corporate tax rate |
Advantages can be lost if not continually invested in
Disadvantages can become advantages by being prioritised and addressed
See Appendix A.1 for more information
*There are a number of broad Australian comparative disadvantages such as high labour costs, a dispersed and geographically isolated market and small population which impact the MTP sector. These are unlikely to disappear in the next 20 years.
Healthcare spending is rising globally, driven by an increased demand for MTP solutions as economies develop and seek a longer and higher quality of life. This spending curve has created an appetite for novel solutions that can help cut costs while delivering a higher standard of care. Much of the innovation in healthcare will stem from the MTP sector, with data-driven insights providing platforms for novel and efficient MTP solutions, reducing the costs associated with their integration into the healthcare system.
North America and Europe are currently the most significant global MTP markets. This is changing, with the emerging BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) markets rapidly increasing in buying power, and North America predicted to lose its ‘largest healthcare market’ tag to the Asia Pacific in the next decade.
Australia represents a very small market, with approximately 1% of global pharmaceutical and medical technology sales,7 however, it is well placed to capitalise on the rapid growth of its densely populated neighbours.
Figure 10: The Global Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals Sector8
Global MTP Snapshot
Global spend on healthcare (USD)
Global revenue from MTP sector (USD)
Largest geographic MTP markets (revenue)
*Medtech includes medical devices, patient monitoring devices, medical imaging equipment, and in-vitro diagnostics.
This Roadmap identifies seven megatrends relevant to the global medical technologies and pharmaceuticals sector that will have significant impact on the development of MTP solutions over the next 20 years.
A megatrend is defined as a substantial shift in social, economic, environmental, technological or geopolitical conditions that may reshape the way a sector operates in the long-run.9 Megatrends occur at the intersection of many trends; they are not mutually exclusive and the trends that make up one megatrend can influence or contribute to another.
Modern MTP solutions allow patients to manage chronic disease and live longer than ever before, however, this comes at considerable cost to the public health systems. By 2040, it is expected that the average age dependency ratio across the OECD will nearly double, meaning that economies may shift from a ratio of four working-age people for every person aged over 65 years to roughly two working-age people.10 As the elderly use the healthcare more and have a lower financial contribution, changes will be essential to adapt health systems to longer lifespans, maximising health and wellbeing at all ages.11
Along with an ageing population, the incidence of chronic disease is increasing globally, resulting in increased demand for healthcare.12 The most common chronic disease groups include cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes. Many factors are leading to the increasing incidence of chronic disease including increased life expectancy, changed diets, obesity rates and increasingly sedentary lifestyles.13
Between 2015 and 2030, the proportion of the global population aged 60+ is projected to grow by 56%.
The global burden from non-communicable diseases is set to rise from 68.4% in 2015 to 73.9% in 2030.14
Significant pressure will be placed on the Australian sector as consumers demand new technologies and improved medicines, and governments and healthcare providers try to find ways to limit the economic burden associated with servicing these demands. The Australian MTP sector needs to work with governments and healthcare providers to ensure research priorities and new technologies will provide improved nation-wide healthcare outcomes at the same or reduced cost, turning care for chronic conditions into a long-term growth and commercialisation opportunities.
Advances in science and technology are enabling MTP solutions that are tuned to the specific needs of the individual, accounting for genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors. Targeted pharmaceuticals and custom technologies will be delivered that provide improved outcomes for individual patients. The technology advances underpinning this include genomics, computational biology, medical imaging, biosensors and data mining. More recently in medical technology, 3D printing has accelerated interest in providing rapidly personalised medical technologies at a reduced cost. 1516
Targeted therapies, together with genetic diagnostic tests will assist the selection of more precise treatments, avoiding costly trial-and-error prescribing.17 By leveraging molecular knowledge (genomics, proteomics, metabolomics) it is possible to predict predisposition to disease, allowing early intervention on lifestyle choices, preventative actions, early diagnosis and monitoring of disease.18 Future treatments will target the individual genes that cause disease.19
Biosensors are a key technology that will enable customised health outcomes, providing clinicians and patients with personalised data. Point-of-care and home diagnostics are two key markets driving revenues and development in the biosensor market. In 2014, health and wellness monitoring applications accounted for 66.3% of biosensor revenue globally, and show promise for applications in a regulated environment.20
Precision MTP solutions will impact on the sector’s supply chain, with an increasing focus on point-of-care optimisation. Real-time measurement and assessment of individual health will create demand for product and service providers that can offer integrated best-fit solutions, rather than single best-in-class products. Key implications for Australian developments is navigating the regulatory process in such a way that reimbursement for bespoke products is achieved.
Recent pandemics highlight the globally transmissible nature of diseases and the threat these can have on human health and agricultural activity, in many cases exacerbated by geopolitical instability, changing climates and limited access to technology. With more frequent travel, globalised trade and greater interconnectedness between countries, infectious disease outbreaks of international concern are becoming inevitable and unpredictable.21 When combined with increased treatment resistance, this creates dangerous situations that require rapid medical technology responses. Clinical leaders are important influencers for combating outbreaks, both by informing the responsible use of medicines to prolong effectiveness, and through development and release of accessible technologies and tools to combat pandemic outbreaks.
Antimicrobial resistance is another complex global public health crisis that threatens the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections. Antimicrobial resistance will make the treatment of infections more difficult, costly, or even impossible.22 For the pharmaceutical sector, medicines that are no longer effective lose their value. Since the 1980s, there has been a ‘discovery void’ with the pipeline for the development of new antibacterial drugs very limited.23
The last completely new classes of antibacterial drugs were discovered during the 1980s.
Growth will occur in markets where the primary customer will be governments concerned with the rapid implementation of biosecurity solutions and long-term risk mitigation. Continued development of technologies to combat global threats will require enabling government policy, access to agile research, clinical development and a capable manufacturing industry. Maintaining strong on-shore advanced manufacturing and research capabilities for biosecurity products will enable Australia to retain access to the products and know-how required to combat such risks.
Future patients will be educated and informed decision-makers, with more information available to them than ever before. Technology and information access are empowering patients to become more proactive in managing their healthcare. Examples of this include the informed selection of clinicians and treatment options; health status tracking via personal health records, wearable sensors and in-home monitors; and directly contributing to personal health data.24 25
Technology and information access are empowering patients to become more proactive in managing their healthcare. 79% of Australians own a smartphone.26
As this trend accelerates, patients will demand prevention-based and patient-centric solutions with improved efficiency, cost and quality,27 as well as access to tools and transparent information to help make informed and value-based decisions.28 Current products and services, and their ecosystems, will need to evolve to meet consumer demands around self-management.
Additionally, patients are more connected than ever before, with over half of the world’s population owning a mobile subscription.29 Smart phones and tablets are enabling consumers to be more connected and informed, but also offer opportunities for MTP sector leaders to create products for a digitally enabled medical market.
The historical model of healthcare provision based on consultation with medical specialists may change to one where medical technologies are part of a consumer-driven, consumer-focused, digitally enabled ecosystem. Opportunities exist for the Australian sector to build clinical product development systems that support consumer-driven decisions and consumer-responsive products and services. Australia could become a preferred region for developing and testing this next generation of medical technology.
With the massive amounts of data generated daily in the healthcare system, there will be significant shifts in how data is exchanged, processed and used. Standardisation of how data is shared across the industry will accelerate the development of new treatments, technologies and predictive systems, targeting both the individual and the wider health system.30 The upside is improved efficiency from R&D through to patient care co-ordination; the downside is a growing cybersecurity risk as more data is exchanged.31 Big Data from a variety of sources (medical diagnostic technologies, population health, clinical research, etc.) can be used to improve the efficiency and productivity of clinical trials, drug discovery, regulatory approval processes, basic research, and patient care co-ordination.32
Advances in technology and increased connectivity of patients, devices and equipment are shaping a digitally enabled and integrated health system (eHealth). This will foster growth in telehealth services, where remote monitoring, video conferencing and remote services allow patients to monitor their health at home, reducing the length of time in hospital. mHealth (mobile health) applications will also grow as the development of mobile applications and communication technologies help patients manage and monitor certain aspects of their healthcare, often leveraging wearable technology.33
Improvements to data standardisation, access, storage and security need to be central concerns for the sector if it is to take full advantage of the digital evolution. Agile countries will gain global advantage by setting and adopting global best practice standards around the rapid development and validation of digitally enabled technologies and by developing the practical use of de-identified patient datasets for not only healthcare research and practice, but also for the development of data-driven MTP solutions.
Demand for healthcare solutions in developing countries is rising along with the growing middle class. Developing markets are responsible for the majority of global sector growth (in percentage terms) and this trend will continue. However, it is important to note that the needs of these markets are at times distinct from developed economies. For example, there is demand for lower-cost solutions such as generics and biosimilars, or diagnostics that can be implemented at the point-of-care.34 Generic brands represent significant sales and volume in many emerging markets, accounting for 75% of the volume of prescriptions in China in 2015, and over 70% in India.35
Approximately US $70–$80 billion worth of biologics will lose exclusivity over the next five years, which will stimulate rapid growth in the market for biosimilars.36 37 Considerable market potential exists for biosimilars in emerging markets where patented biologics are currently deemed too expensive.38
In developing countries, various strategies are being employed to improve access to affordable medicines, where it is estimated that one-third of people are unable to receive or purchase essential medicines on a regular basis. Differential pricing (lower prices in developing countries) and compulsory licences (government authorised production of patented products without the consent of the patent owner) are two strategies that aim to increase access to affordable medicines in the developing world.39
By 2030, China will have one billion people with the purchasing power of an average Australian.40
Developing countries will continue to be a growing market for and strong source of demand for MTP and healthcare solutions. Value can be created by partnering with businesses and governments in developing markets to understand their unique needs and providing know-how and tech-transfer to assist new product development, optimised manufacturing and distribution solutions for their local markets. Australia can leverage its high-quality production advantage in the short term, and collaborate over the longer term to develop solutions to deliver high quality and sophisticated technologies, products and healthcare to developing countries in a more cost-effective manner.
Countries are shifting from highly fragmented healthcare systems to those based on end-to-end integration, driven by the need to meet the changing demands of patients and to improve the efficiency of healthcare delivery which is burdened by an ageing population and rising incidence of chronic disease. This model of care is centred on preventative actions for the individual, providing a continuum of care for both acute and chronic disease management.
A number of technologies, conditions and elements are enabling Integrated Healthcare models to emerge including: increased digitisation of healthcare, such as electronic health records; complex and high quality data collection; improved analytics and sharing of data; greater consumer engagement; education and empowerment to drive demand; multidisciplinary research teams, and individual care plans.41
A new integrated approach to ‘owning the disease’ is beginning to be adopted by advanced medical technology companies, changing from a business model that focuses on intervention to convergent care. Under this new model, companies look to create platforms that enable them to provide solutions along the continuum of care.42
Integrated care programs are associated with a 19% reduction in hospital-admission rates, compared with usual care.43
As demand increases for Integrated Care models, products and devices that can coexist and communicate with other products and information sources will be required. Ongoing integrated patient management will require products that are packaged as part of a broader care proposition to the healthcare system.
As demand increases for Integrated Care models, products and devices that can coexist and communicate with other products and information sources will be required.
Four long term growth opportunities for the Australian MTP sector have been identified, driven by global megatrends and leveraging Australia’s comparative advantages.
The opportunities are considered with a 20 year time to impact. Although described discretely throughout this chapter, the growth opportunities will exhibit a degree of convergence and interaction, as shown in Figure 11.
Each opportunity is described in detail over the following chapter, outlining the ecosystem changes required over the short, medium and long term. Importantly, research priorities from classic MTP fields and convergent technology areas are outlined that will enable the transformational shifts required for opportunity success.
Figure 11: Relationship and interplay between growth opportunities
Manufacturing high-value pharmaceuticals
Capacity in complex manufacturing enhances the trials and scale-up of new pharmaceutical products
Accelerated pharmaceutical development
Diagnostic and informatics platforms will help accelerate the development of MTP solutions
Smart devices provide continuous data inputs for informatics platforms
Smart devices, implants and bionics
Diagnostic and informatics products and services
If realised concurrently, the opportunities have a synergistic relationship. Each opportunity provides reciprocal benefits, and will benefit from the shared cumulative knowledge that is developed in the pursuit of success. As the opportunity outcomes mature there will be the possibility to pursue new opportunities that leverage new sector know-how and enhanced sector characteristics.
Vision
To significantly increase the number of MTP businesses designing, testing and manufacturing communicative and responsive devices, bionics and implants for global export. This opportunity would see improvements regarding the approach of the Australian regulatory system to personalised devices, and greater levels of digital integration between individuals, clinicians, researchers and developers, resulting in the development of expert systems.
Driving megatrends
Precision healthcare – accessibility of technology that allows highly customised implants and bionics is rapidly increasing, driven by long-term patient benefits and improved outcomes.
Digital evolution – as connectivity and data interoperability challenges are overcome, rapid integration of communicative medical technology into consumer and clinical environments will occur.
Consumer control – early adopters are driving the demand for wearable and integrated technology, and will demonstrate the advantages associated with making data-driven medical decisions.
Australia’s MTP sector has the opportunity to become a leading global player in the research, development and manufacturing of smart and connected medical devices. Specifically, this includes personalised implants, bionics and monitoring devices, and the systems required to fully utilise the information captured by these devices (Figure 12).
An ageing global population combined with a rising middle class, will drive demand for the MTP solutions arising from this opportunity. In Australia alone there is a significant potential market for smarter and personalised medical technology; approximately 4.2 million Australians experience some form of physical disability, with over 30% experiencing profound or severe core activity limitation.44 45 Over 357,000 Australians are blind or have low vision; 30,000 have total hearing loss; 20,000 are amputees; and approximately 42,000 hip replacements and 53,000 knee replacements took place in 2013-14. 46 47 48
Increasing Australia’s focus on smart devices, implants and bionics will create skilled jobs and the development of agile medtech companies.
Increasing Australia’s focus on smart devices, implants and bionics will create skilled jobs and the development of agile medtech companies. As the concentration of companies focusing on these technologies grows, international investors and global companies will be attracted to Australian shores. These, together with Australia’s existing mature medical technology companies (see ‘Many mature medtech companies call Australia home’ case study), can be leveraged to access global value chains to export Australian ideas, building the industry brand in the process.
In Australia alone, there is a significant market for smarter and personalised medical technology.
Along with developing industry leadership in novel devices, Australia can also lead the development and implementation of innovative smart information ecosystems – creating an Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) model through the collection, de-identification (where necessary) and interpretation of data from integrated medical devices. This data will provide clinicians with valuable patient and population insights that can be used to help personalise treatments and predict the likelihood of disease, enabling preventative actions and treatments. Data from these devices can be a key input to the different types of diagnostic and informatics products discussed in Section 4.4.
Figure 12: Opportunity Focus Areas
Bionics
Monitoring devices
Enabling information systems
Personalised implants
Cochlear, Cook Medical Australia and ResMed are major medical technology companies with international operating models and major manufacturing centres in Australia. Together these companies are responsible for over 20% of the total inventions in the medical devices field in Australia (based on IP registration).49 As mature international companies, these firms have the ability to set up manufacturing centres in any location, but choose to manufacture products for the Asia-Pacific region and beyond from facilities in Australia.
Cochlear Ltd is an Australian company with global operations. The company’s global headquarters is located on campus at Macquarie University in Sydney, however, Cochlear has direct operations in 20 countries and exports to over 100 countries. For over three decades, Cochlear has been developing and manufacturing a range of implants, investing more than $100 million each year in research and development, with the majority of these R&D activities taking place in Australia. Most of Cochlear’s manufacturing takes place in Australia and Sweden, with smaller sites in Belgium and the USA. In 2016, Cochlear’s Asia Pacific (APAC) sales totalled over $210 million (18% of total sales) while the major markets of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and the Americas totalled over $427 and $519 million respectively.50
William A. Cook Australia Pty Ltd manufactures two key product ranges specialising in IVF and endovascular repair, and exports over 92% to 135 countries at a value exceeding US$100 million. The products are manufactured in the company’s Brisbane facility, which employs over 500 staff. The Australian operations also double as the headquarters for the APAC region. In 2015, Cook achieved an annual sales figure of US $408 million for the APAC region, which is their 33rd year of consecutive growth.51
ResMed Ltd was established in Australia in 1989 to commercialise a device to treat and manage obstructive sleep apnoea. Since then, ResMed has grown dramatically to become an international company, active in more than 100 countries through direct offices and distribution networks, and employing over 5,000 people. ResMed has six manufacturing facilities across the globe, with its largest facility located in Sydney, Australia. This Australian facility manufactures ResMed’s full product range and employs 1,360 staff. Approximately 95% of the company’s products manufactured in Australia are exported to other countries. ResMed’s global R&D spend is approximately $163 million, of which $100 million is expended in Australia.52
Australia faces competition scientifically, commercially and politically from a number of countries that are building capability across relevant technical areas and are establishing attractive economic environments as a method to attract international business investment for the development of growth industries.62 Strong competition in the field of bionics comes from US, Canada, and Germany,63 while competition for customised medical implants is predominantly from the US.64 The US Government has invested heavily in bionics and implantable device research through various projects at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Australia needs to ensure continued investment in these areas to maintain the development of relevant businesses on-shore (see SmartStent case study).
Australia’s MTP sector also faces competition from a number of non-traditional companies. For example, the collection and interpretation of medical data sees strong competition from a range of consumer driven companies, such as Alphabet (Google’s parent company that acquired the artificial intelligence company, Deepmind, in 2014) and Apple (medical data integration into an application ecosystem driven by developer packages such as CareKit and ResearchKit). These companies have total R&D expenditure that rivals entire developed countries, with Alphabet spending USD $12.3 billion in 2015.65
SmartStent is an Australian start-up developing an endovascular electrode array, a sensor for minimally invasive acquisition of brain signals. The technology offers a means for acquiring, translating and transmitting brain signals to robotic devices to aid movement in patients suffering from paralysis or injury.
Funded through grants from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the NHMRC and the Australian Research Council, the technology has been developed in Melbourne with a pool of expertise largely accumulated through the bionic ear and bionic eye research programs, as well as medical research at Royal Melbourne Hospital, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and University of Melbourne.
The company has recently being transferred to the US through establishment of a parent company based in Silicon Valley, Synchron Inc, with the appointment of an experienced medical technology CEO.
Important partnerships required for realising this opportunity include collaborations between researchers, clinicians, funding bodies and commercialisation professionals to ensure products are developed along appropriate pathways through evidence-based research. SMEs are likely to develop solutions that capture this opportunity, with the quickest path to market being partnerships with global companies that provide ready access to global value chains.
Under current modes of healthcare reimbursement, the primary buyers should ultimately be governments and insurance companies. However, the benefits provided by these technologies may encourage some patients and certain companies to source the technologies without subsidy. With early adopters demonstrating the success and cost benefits associated with these types of innovations, governments and insurance companies may be more likely to introduce subsidy programs for the wider population. Examples of key markets that could become early adopters thanks to the benefits from these smart technologies include:
Societal and cultural acceptance (social licence to operate) is required for smart implants that monitor, respond and transmit data, as well as for bionic devices that can be visually confronting. Western cultures, for example, are culturally less accepting of devices that make humans appear robotic, which could hinder early uptake in countries such as Australia.69 In a similar cultural context, there is an underlying apprehension toward devices that collect personal information, based on the potential inappropriate use of data. Cybersecurity risks will need to be mitigated and communicated.
Failing to achieve growth and support research translation will result in Australian patients having to import or travel overseas to access cutting edge medical devices and implants, with the Australian sector losing the value, exports and jobs that may be created.
Australia’s smart devices, implants and bionics in the 2030s
Growth of the sector that includes smart and personalised medical implants and bionics requires significant change in the MTP ecosystem, as well as continued strategic investment in key research. Translation of technology will be jeopardised if appropriate focus is not placed on ensuring an attractive business ecosystem and regulatory systems for product development, testing, commercialisation, and export.
Currently, lack of reimbursement for smart and personalised implants and bionics is restraining growth associated with this opportunity, not only in Australia but across the globe. Access to customised devices is challenging, as many are excluded from the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, making reimbursement impossible. Local growth will require a regulatory environment that is responsive to these technologies and can accommodate the clinical sample size of n=1 that is characteristic of bespoke devices. High levels of customisation not only challenge the regulatory system, but disrupts the existing supply chain, requiring new skills, an accepting culture, and an agile industry structure.
Figure 13: MTP ecosystem actions for smart devices, implants and bionics industry
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Figure 14: Technology outputs of Australia’s smart devices, implants and bionics industry
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Demonstrating the growing importance of customisation in medical technologies is Anatomics Pty Ltd, a Melbourne based medical device company that specialises in the manufacture of patient-specific implants. Operating since 1996, Anatomics has pioneered the use of medical imaging to develop personalised surgical implants that utilise innovative advanced manufacturing techniques such as 3D printing, saving time in the operating theatre and enabling better patient outcomes. The range of customised implants Anatomics designs and manufactures allow surgeons to consider a whole new suite of operations that were once impossible. Implants are manufactured from a range of materials including acrylic, titanium and porous polyethylene.
Anatomics has helped over 4,000 patients with its customised implants. In a world first surgery, one patient received a 3D printed titanium rib and sternum implant after suffering from a chest wall sarcoma that resulted in a large portion of the rib and sternum being removed. The 3D printed implant closely mimics the original bone that had to be removed.
In another world-first, Anatomics recently designed and manufactured a 3D printed vertebrae to replace two cancerous vertebrae from a patient’s neck, allowing anatomically correct replacement for better outcomes.
Technology and research priorities to further enable the development of smart devices, implants and bionics will need to focus on materials and communications. New advanced materials are needed for implants to ensure true imitation, strength and biocompatibility, likewise for bionics, advanced materials will allow for a better product. Overcoming issues around data collection and usage will also be important to the development of this opportunity. The list below provides an overview of some of the enabling science and technology required to make this opportunity a reality. See Appendix A.2.1 for an expanded list.
New advanced materials are needed for implants to ensure true imitation, strength and biocompatibility, likewise for bionics, advanced materials will allow for a better product.
Vision
To cultivate a high-quality and efficient early-stage development environment for pharmaceutical products. This opportunity would result in an increasing number of businesses completing pharmaceutical development in Australia, improving activity in the high-value service sector and an increase in the rate of local research being pulled through to a higher value inflection point and ultimately exported to the global market in the form of IP.
Driving megatrends
Chronic burden – increasing chronic disease will drive the demand for more effective pharmaceutical solutions, ideally curbing the cost associated with maintaining a high quality of population health.
Developing markets – as countries’ build a better understanding of region specific health and medical challenges there will be increased demand for clinical development of pharmaceutical products.
Global biosecurity – developed and developing countries are placing more importance on biosecurity medical counter measures; rapid and agile clinical development is critical to meet the demands associated with combating emerging infectious diseases and microbial pandemics.
Australia’s MTP sector has the opportunity to cultivate a globally competitive pharmaceutical development environment, taking targeted local and international drug candidates/discoveries and accelerating them through to first-in-human phase 1 clinical trials (Figure 15). Successfully reaching phase 1 is a significant milestone in the pharmaceutical development pathway, leading to a major increase in the value of the drug candidate in development.
Accelerated pharmaceutical development involves connecting competitive clinical trials, services in pre-clinical research and development, and efficient ethics and regulatory processes.
Medical Technologies
While the focus of this opportunity is on pharmaceutical products, the pathway is similar, though shorter, for medical technologies/devices. A demonstrated ability to increase the speed at which pharmaceuticals can enter first-in-human trials should benefit development time-frames for medical technologies in Australia.
Annually, the Australian clinical trials industry is estimated to be worth $1 billion to the economy.73 Putting concentrated effort into becoming a global hub for efficient, high quality, early stage, pre-clinical and clinical research will have many positive economic and social benefits for Australia, including:
Figure 15: Australian clinical development pathway (pharmaceuticals)
Australian research / International research
Pre-clinical development
Clinical development
Manufacturing
Market access, marketing and sales
Increasing Australian activity in pre-clinical and phase 1 trials will help the MTP sector extract more value from Australia’s globally competitive medical and biotechnology research investments, leading to more therapies progressing further along the development pathway. Companies that utilise Australia for clinical trials are more likely to pursue market access in Australia, improving access to innovative pharmaceuticals. This opportunity will ultimately enable faster and more efficient translation of therapies and medicines to meet unmet medical needs, while creating value for the Australian MTP sector.
There are multiple research areas where Australia has respectable international standing, such as oncology and cardiovascular disease, and these should be used as inputs to develop critical mass for this opportunity. Areas of national and regional importance, such as emerging infectious disease, can also supply significant pipelines for rapid development to first-in-human trials.
d3 Medicine (d3M) is a strategic advisory company specialising in pharmaceutical development and commercialisation. The company has deep expertise in pharmacology and the pharmaceutical commercialisation process, including clinical trials, drug development and optimisation, regulatory liaison and licensing/M&A plans.74
d3M provides services ranging from strategic advice to active assistance in the drug development. d3M has been engaged by various biotechnology, not-for-profit, larger corporate and life-science investment clients to evaluate, troubleshoot and help overcome various developmental roadblocks to help clients achieve regulatory approval. d3M also helps larger corporate, global not-for-profits and government clients on broader strategic programs, including changing drug development paradigms for large corporates, developing new tools to accelerate medicine development in global health, and advising on R&D ecosystems to address emerging infectious diseases and bioterrorism threats to national interests. In one example, d3M was engaged to lead a national review of capability across areas of antimicrobial resistance, point-of-care diagnostics and advanced/innovative development expertise and manufacturing to influence policy and medical countermeasures preparedness.
d3M has recently become part of Certara, a US company that includes Certara Strategic Consulting (CSC), one of the world’s largest specialised consulting companies for pharmaceutical commercialisation. Certara has assisted in bringing more than 80 drugs to market, and Certara clients accounted for 90% of all FDA approved drugs in 2015.75
Australia is well regarded globally as a clinical development destination based on a number of comparative advantages: 7677
Australia’s perceived advantages for clinical trials often vary depending on the perspective of the company looking to conduct these trials. For example, Chinese companies often look to Australia for transparent approval processes that produce clinical results that are acceptable by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), while US companies look to Australia for cost efficiency and approval timeliness.78
Australia ranks first in the APAC region for scientific research productivity and impact, which assists Australia in standing out from the rest of the region.79
For clinical trials, the key competition Australia faces comes from the greater APAC region. Between 2007 and 2013, the number of new clinical trials in Australia declined due to increasing competition from Asia and other regions. However, this decline has been moderated with growth in numbers over more recent years.80 Despite this recent growth, the proportion of phase 1 first-in-human trials in Australia is still low, representing 17% of all trials initiated in Australia in 2015.81
The main partner and buyer for this opportunity are large global pharmaceutical companies that license or acquire target therapies once success in pre-clinical and phase 1 trials is achieved. Building a sustainable and significant pipeline of drug candidates reaching these milestones may attract companies to Australia that require portfolio expansion or are driven by an acquisition strategy. In the event that Australia can become an attractive destination for large companies looking to conduct early clinical trials, it will be able to capture part of a global market expected to exceed $56 billion by 2020.82 Once present, many global companies may choose to progress drug candidates through phase 2 and phase 3 trials in Australia as well.
Other significant partners could include defence agencies and consortia, such as the Medical Counter Measures (MCM) Consortium, involving Australia, Canada, the UK and the US, where the ability to rapidly develop and test MCM solutions will be highly valued.83
Key regions that represent lucrative partners and buyers of pharmaceuticals developed in Australia include those with rapidly changing demographics, such as members of BRICS and ASEAN economies, who have increasing demands for pharmaceutical solutions and are geographically or politically aligned to Australia.
Headquartered in Sydney, Novotech is internationally recognised in the industry as a leading regional full-service contract research organisation (CRO). Focused on conducting clinical monitoring in the Asia Pacific region, Novotech has been instrumental in the success of hundreds of phase 1 to 4 clinical trials in Australia and more broadly. Novotech provides clinical development services across all clinical trial phases and therapeutic areas including: feasibility assessments, ethics committee and regulatory submissions, data management, statistical analysis, medical monitoring, safety services, central lab services, report write-up to ICH requirements, project and vendor management.84
One company assisted by Novotech is US-based cancer therapeutics pharmaceutical company. This company conducted three phase 1 oncology studies in patients with three types of cancers in Australia. Novotech recruited seven patients from six sites for a metastatic colorectal cancer study, 46 patients from seven sites for a non-small cell lung cancer study, and 56 patients from six sites for a pancreatic cancer study.
The flexibility of the Australian clinical trial process benefitted the US pharmaceutical company, allowing it to adapt and revise the dosing schedule over the duration of the trial. Novotech helped accommodate adaptions by implementing protocol changes and ensuring appropriate training for investigators and site staff on the amended protocol.85
Globally, the APAC region is an attractive destination for clinical research, with over 50% of international clinical trials in 2014 having sites in the region, driven by its low cost advantage and patient access. The cost of conducting clinical trials in countries such as China, India, and Indonesia is generally between 25-40% lower than that in Western countries.86 With China expected to experience rapid growth in clinical trials over the short term, the Australian industry needs to remain competitive by focusing on quality factors as a differentiator.
Failing to position Australia’s early stage clinical trials industry for global recognition and growth could leave patients in Australia with limited access to early new treatments, and reduce the link between basic and clinical research, making development of new therapies more difficult. The ultimate consequence of non-activity is that the Australian sector will have little relevance to global pharmaceutical companies, and with a small domestic market, many will not pursue market access for their products in Australia.
With China expected to experience rapid growth in clinical trials over the short term, the Australian industry needs to remain competitive by focusing on quality factors as a differentiator.
Developing and nurturing Australia’s early stage clinical trials industry to become globally competitive will require a coordinated effort from government, regulators, industry and research. To capture this opportunity a focus should be to increase the number and proportion of early-stage trials completed in Australia. In time, Australia should focus on increasing its capacity to operate phase 2 multi-site trials to complement enhanced competitiveness in early-stage trials.
Accelerated pharmaceutical development in the 2030s
A number of recent Australian reviews have highlighted the importance of this opportunity to the Australian MTP sector and the need for broader ecosystem changes to capture it: the Clinical Trials Action Group (CTAG), established in 2009 put forward 11 recommendations to secure Australia’s competitiveness in the clinical trials sector,87 and the 2013 Strategic Review of Health and Medical Research in Australia: Summary Report (the McKeon Review) made recommendations that reinforced those of the CTAG, listing them as an urgent national priority.88 Furthermore, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is working with States, Territories, clinical trials sites, sponsors and researchers to improve clinical trials in Australia in response to the CTAG and McKeon recommendations by achieving: 89
While a number of these recommendations have now been fully or partially implemented, more work needs to be done to ensure long term growth.
Figure 16: MTP ecosystem actions for accelerated pharmaceutical development
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Figure 17: Outcomes for accelerated pharmaceutical development
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The future vision of an ecosystem conducive to accelerated therapy development, through early-stage clinical trials will be supported by a number of technical developments. Research priorities to enable these technical developments are detailed below.
Vision
To focus Australian manufacturing efforts toward high-value and niche pharmaceutical products that create sustainable export revenue. Australia can leverage advantages around ingenuity, quality and reliability to attract businesses without the capacity to develop complex production processes in-house. This would see an increase in the number of local development teams required to manufacture products for direct export or clinical development.
Driving megatrends
Chronic burden – increasing incidence of chronic diseases has created an increase in demand for pharmaceuticals, many of which are complex to manufacture and require reliable and efficient production environments.
Developing markets – developing economies represent significant markets for all pharmaceutical products, in particular, complex high-quality generics and biosimilars.
Global biosecurity – developed economies like Australia, with an educated and skilled workforce, access to key infrastructure, and stable supply-chains, will be critical for manufacturing therapies needed in markets which endure less stable environments.
Driven by an increased global demand for MTP solutions,92 the Australian MTP sector has an opportunity to create value by developing, manufacturing and supplying international markets with niche high-value pharmaceutical products. Products could include novel biologics, biosimilars, and a range of small molecules from synthetic active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to naturally derived compounds. The commonality between these products is that they require complex manufacturing processes to reach and maintain the required level of quality. Importantly, these products have a high cost per unit weight, which mitigates numerous Australian comparative disadvantages.
Biologics and biosimilars requiring a high degree of manufacturing complexity are of particular significance for the Australian sector with these products exhibiting significant capacity for growth.93 As a class of products, they have gained rapid market share and are expected to comprise over 27% of the global pharmaceutical market by 2020.94 Of the 20 top-selling global pharmaceuticals, eight are biologics set to lose patent protection by 2020.95 As these patents expire, the market for biosimilars will witness rapid growth, especially in developing markets. By 2020, the global market for biologics and biosimilars is expected to generate revenues of over US $290 billion, and US $25 billion respectively.96 Biologics manufacturing has historically been restricted due to several factors including the complex manufacturing processes and high skill sets requirements.97
Beyond biologics, it is anticipated that all categories across the pharmaceutical sector will exhibit growth as economies develop and increase their demand for medical solutions. This will cover everything from patented small-molecules through to over-the-counter drugs and high-value complementary medicines. To capture value, Australia must define which of these are going to benefit most from innovations in manufacturing and production processes, and which markets are going to put most value on quality, reliability and provenance. For manufacturing (contract and in-house) in particular, there must be a level of technological complexity or value-add for Australia to compete with low cost markets.
What is a biologic?
Biological medicines or biopharmaceuticals (biologics) are defined by the TGA as therapeutic goods that are derived from biological sources and are regulated as registered medicines. They include proteins and polysaccharides such as:
Biologics do not include antibiotics and small peptides or molecules <2500 Da.
What is a biosimilar?
A biosimilar is a version of an already registered biologic that has a demonstrable similarity in physicochemical, biological and immunological characteristics, efficacy and safety, based on comprehensive comparability studies.
Source: TGA website (2015). Acronyms and glossary.
IDT Australia is an Australian listed company, headquartered in Melbourne with a minority interest in a clinical trials facility in Adelaide. IDT offers a full range of contract pharmaceutical product development and manufacturing services, from API development through to commercial finished dose manufacturing, specialising in difficult to manufacture drugs.
Traditionally IDT has sold API’s and provided contract manufacturing, drug development and R&D services, however, recently the company has gained approval to market its first proprietary generic drug product, the oral chemotherapy drug temozolomide. In pursuing this opportunity, IDT aims to increase the company’s share of the wholesale price and capture additional value by undertaking the registration and sale of its own drug product portfolio.98 To support the sale of temozolomide and 24 other drugs in development in their pipeline, IDT has established international sales channels through relationships with Mayne Pharma and ANI Pharmaceuticals in the USA and is actively exploring opportunities in other geographical markets.99
Australia faces competition from global contract manufacturers that are rapidly enhancing their portfolios to become commercial development and manufacturing organisations, with up to 40% of global contract manufacturing organisations (CMOs) expected to move to this model over the next few years.101 Further, some CMOs are expanding to focus on pre-clinical development services. There are a growing number of CMOs in emerging markets, particularly in the BRICS economies, however, these competitors may inadvertently strengthen Australia’s global position as a high quality manufacturer of high quality complex pharmaceuticals due to the problems they face with manufacturing, delivery, service and product quality.102
However, the changing operating models of global CMOs does highlight that Australian industry must ensure competitiveness by offering commercial development services alongside the manufacture of complex pharmaceuticals.
Key buyers include global companies looking to leverage Australia’s location, brand and quality to access Asia, as well as companies looking to manufacture product for clinical trials. Small and medium pharmaceutical companies represent key buyers, as they outsource between 60-70% of manufacturing, due to lack of manufacturing infrastructure and skills. It is estimated that big pharmaceutical companies outsource only 20-25% of biologic manufacturing with the remainder kept in-house due to intellectual property concerns.103
In 2009, GSK Australia and the Monash Institute for Pharmaceutical Science (MIPS) collaborated to establish the MIPS-GSK Australian Centre of Innovation and Industrialisation (MIPS-GSK Centre). The centre draws upon Australian pharmaceutical research and manufacturing expertise, combining skills and ideas to develop next-generation formulations and platform technologies. Initially established with $3.3 million of funding from the Victorian Science Agenda Investment Fund and GSK, GSK has since invested over $100 million to expand its manufacturing presence in Victoria.
In October 2016, building on the success of GSK’s collaboration with MIPS, the company announced support for Australia’s manufacturing industry as a founding partner for the Victorian Medicine Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC). The MMIC will provide medicine manufacturers with access to specialist scientific capabilities to solve technical challenges as well as encouraging investment in research and development, high-tech manufacturing, skills development and collaboration.
The success of GSK’s collaborations have played a key role in the decision by GSK to remain in Australia and invest an additional $7.7 million in its ‘blow-fill-seal’ advanced manufacturing capability located in Melbourne, a decision that will create almost 60 new highly-skilled jobs. GSK exports approximately 75% of the medicines manufactured in Australia to 58 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
With the development pipelines of big pharmaceutical companies increasingly focused on large molecule drugs such as biologics, Australia can ensure it is an attractive destination and partnership proposition by demonstrating capacity and capability in complex manufacturing needed for traditional and developing markets, as well as continuing to ensure strong IP protection. While Australia’s limited market size is indicated to be one of the unavoidable disadvantages, the purchasing power of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) provides single point negotiations with annual expenditure of over $10.8 billion, a lucrative buyer for any pharmaceutical manufacturer.105
Other buyers will be those countries and companies that lack the ability or scale to manufacture highly complex pharmaceutical products, and are willing to develop long-term relationships with Australian manufacturers to do so on their behalf. For example, international governments looking to strengthen their biosecurity preparedness might value access to Australian manufacturers that are able to rapidly produce niche products. In this context, remaining a partner and enabler of this opportunity for its own biosecurity measures is an important consideration for the Australian Government. Buyers with a purely cost-focused outcome are not a desirable target.
Partners for businesses looking to capitalise on this opportunity could be research organisations that can help streamline and overcome complex manufacturing problems, and marketing and distribution partners to provide efficient access to high-value markets.
Failing to support growth in complex pharmaceutical manufacturing will result in lower contributions from high-value manufacturing to Australia’s GDP. Australia will instead be an importer of these products from other regions, missing out on employment and economic growth as well as access to high quality pharmaceuticals. Australia is dependent on international manufacturers for products required to combat biosecurity threats and needs to pre-emptively stock-pile. If stock-piling falls short, Australia is dependent on the good-will of allies for continued access to complex pharmaceutical products.
Transitioning Australia into a hub for manufacturing and export of complex pharmaceuticals requires coordination of skills and training, infrastructure and incentives, and needs to be supported by cutting-edge process technologies and research platforms.
Ecosystem changes
There are a number of possible roadblocks that can inhibit the success of Australia’s complex pharmaceutical manufacturing sector; as such, it is critical that businesses align efforts to realise this opportunity.
High-value pharmaceutical manufacturing in the 2030s
Figure 18: MTP ecosystem actions for complex pharmaceutical manufacturing
Short term (0-3 years) |
Medium term (3-10 years) |
Long term (10+ years) |
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SKILLS & INFRASTRUCTURE |
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MARKET ACCESS & SALES |
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Timeframes should be viewed as a guide only. 106
Figure 19: Outcomes for Complex Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
Short term (0-3 years) |
Medium term (3-10 years) |
Long term (10+ years) |
|---|---|---|
OUTCOMES From small scale contract manufacturing … … to a trusted and innovative manufacturing hub |
||
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Timeframes should be viewed as a guide only. 107
Technology developments aim to allow for higher production flexibility, lower input costs and increased yields. These developments might be enabled by improved quality control, fast changeover, greener production lines, and minimised contamination risks.108 Adoption and development of world-class technologies and analytical instruments will help keep Australian industry globally competitive. The list below provides an overview of some of the enabling science and technology required to make this opportunity a reality. See Appendix A.2.2 for an expanded list.
Adoption and development of world-class technologies and analytical instruments will help keep Australian industry globally competitive.
To develop a world-leading sector based on the development and integration of medical diagnostic and informatics platforms. Data security and interoperability is at the fore of this opportunity, and will underlie increased access to de-identified patient and population data. Information packages resulting from this data can be leveraged by local and international businesses for the development of diagnostic products, and preventative and precision MTP solutions.
Driving megatrends
Precision healthcare – the ability to better understand the needs of a patient based on how their profile compares to population data will drive the development of MTP solutions that are more precise and effective.
Digital evolution – as data generation continues at an increasing rate, complex informatics platforms will allow for data to be leveraged for the development of novel MTP solutions, both traditional and digital.
Integrated care – the integration of diagnostic and informatics platforms into models of care will enable a lower cost and more effective, patient-centric health services model.
The Australian MTP sector has an opportunity to develop novel business and service models around the collection, interrogation, interpretation and packaging of medical and population data which is needed for the development of diagnostic products and platforms, and preventative and precision medicine solutions. This opportunity is driven by a need to develop efficiency in healthcare delivery, and will help establish strong growth in the MTP sector via novel data services.
In the past decade there has been an explosion in the variety and volume of health data collected. Patient data sources span research and clinical study data generated from genomics, epigenomics and proteomics, data from traditional clinical diagnostics such as imaging and pathology, through to the numerous options for patients to collect their own physiological data on a daily basis via wearables (see Section 4.1 –Smart devices, implants and bionics). Figure 20 highlights some of the ways value can be captured from the use of de-identified or confidential patient data. So far, patient data has not been effectively utilised as its value can only be realised when integrated with a broader set of patient and population information – a challenge that has nuanced quality, security and integration requirements.
Figure 20: Capturing value from health, medical and population data
1. Patient Data Sources
2. Service Offering
3. Product Offerings
As outlined in the figure, Australia can create a strong competitive advantage by focusing on the development of diagnostic platforms that will generate complex patient data, concurrently developing services around data collection, data packaging and data access. These services will also work with existing data sources. The ultimate outcomes are next generation MTP solutions, driven by complex data.
Beyond the technical challenges, new service and business models will need to address cultural challenges as part of their development process. For example, cultural acceptance of the use of confidential or de-identified patient data can be increased by communicating how preventative and precision products will improve patient wellbeing.
New business models and services will need to be developed in a way that takes advantage of existing infrastructure, and can be scaled up as reliability and performance success is demonstrated. If successful in capturing value from patient data, the Australian sector will gain a strong global advantage in the development of data driven diagnostic and informatics products. A data driven MTP environment in Australia will cultivate the testing and development of truly preventative and precision MTP solutions.
If successful in capturing value from patient data, the Australian sector will gain a strong global advantage in the development of data driven diagnostic and informatics products.
A number of alliances have been established with the goal of integrating genomics data into the broader Australian health and medical ecosystem. A fundamental driver behind these alliances is the need to standardise access to information to develop effective preventative and precision solutions. The Australian Genomics Health Alliance (AGHA) is a network of 47 partner organisations including research institutes, hospitals and universities. It aims to enable Australia to become a global leader in the translation of genomics data for cancer and rare diseases into preventative solutions for the Australian healthcare system.112 Queensland113 and Victoria have similar state based alliances, with the Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance demonstrating that patients get a faster and more accurate diagnosis when genomic sequencing is efficiently utilised, resulting in patients requiring fewer tests as the data can be stored and analysed multiple times.114 These alliances indicate that with limited investment Australia has been able to link together platforms that deal with significant volumes of complex data.
An example of an MTP service model that could be assessed is diagnostic platforms for analysis on an isolated genome sequence. This model relies on a patient’s genomic data being collected and stored securely to be drawn upon as needed. If a diagnostic test is prescribed by a clinician, diagnostic service providers are granted restricted access to a particular gene sequence or section relevant to the syndrome being considered. This prevents the inadvertent risk of making other genetic discoveries or findings for which informed consent has not being given, where results could have significant impacts on patients’ lives.
As well as providing a diagnosis, service providers may, upon receiving consent, indicate a patient’s predisposition to certain conditions, allowing a clinician to prescribe preventative medical services focused on patient wellness. Genomics will also allow clinicians to prescribe tailored treatment plans that will best work for an individual based on their specific characteristics.
Other possible services include examination and analysis of environmental data alongside genome sequencing to make phenotypic projections and pharmacogenomics analysis to understand personalised drug dosages for a patient. When effectively de-identified, this data can be packaged for the development of new technologies.
Figure 21: Potential Services
Whole genome sequenced
Barriers: Ethics, Privacy, Security.
Business opportunities
ASPREE (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) is an international clinical trial that aims to determine whether daily, low-dose aspirin improves quality of life for older people around the world. Specifically, the study aims to assess the ability of low dose aspirin to prevent or delay the onset of age-related illness such as cardiovascular disease (heart attack and stroke), dementia, depression and certain cancers and if the benefits outweigh the risks, such as bleeding and haemorrhagic stroke.
As the largest primary prevention aspirin study ever undertaken in healthy older people (70+ years), the trial has over 19,100 participants across Australia and the US (87% from Australia, 13% from the US). The trial is a randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled study, with participants taking a randomised placebo or low dose aspirin for an average of 5 years. In Australia, the trial is led by Monash University, with the first results expected to emerge in 2018.
The ASPREE trial has created a valuable and rich dataset and biobank with a depth and breadth unparalleled in Australia. Although established primarily to study low dose aspirin, ASPREE has become an important vehicle to study many other aspects of the health of older Australians, with a number of sub-studies investigating the effects of aspirin on specific diseases.115
When pursuing this opportunity, emerging Australian MTP sector participants should consider partnering early with global companies that are driven to develop precision and preventative products. The ultimate buyers will include insurers and governments in search of solutions to change the profile of healthcare spending to one that increases overall wellness and enhances productivity. Consequently, these stakeholders should also be considered in the partnership process.
Insurance companies may wish to leverage medical data services in the development of new products and services to help their customers understand disease profiles and the subsequent preventative measures that can be taken to increase wellness. This is an area that pro-active patients are already showing an interest in. Similarly, insurers have a financial interest in understanding how to deliver precision healthcare, reducing the current trial and error prescription method, and more prosaically reducing Never Events associated with incorrect dosing, therapy contradictions or therapy timing.
As genomics and other complex diagnostics become commonplace into the future, multi-stakeholder partnerships will be required to develop an integrated system that provides easy access to the platforms that will generate the data and insights needed to develop preventative and precision MTP solutions.
Global companies such as Google, Apple, Samsung and IBM, driven by their investments into decision making tools in the health and medical space, will also be searching for well packaged and robust data sets needed for machine learning. The connection between the data and these companies can be developed by Australian based MTP service providers that meet health specific quality and regulatory requirements, and understand how to securely collect and package health data.
The Melbourne Children’s LifeCourse Initiative aims to maximise the value of the extensive population and clinical studies performed at and in collaboration with the Melbourne Children’s to inform better outcomes for children and adolescents across the continuum of care. LifeCourse brings together resources and data to aid new research questions that cannot be addressed using lone studies. LifeCourse includes over 20 separate population-based longitudinal studies, spanning 0-35 years (including two intergenerational studies), involving over 70,000 participants, 1 million data points and over 250,000 aliquots of biological specimens across 10 tissue types.
The initiative aims to lead the national integration of early data to create an unparalleled resource for informing practice and policy. The data can be used to inform best timing and targeting of interventions that prevent disease and disorder, enhance treatment and promote wellbeing. LifeCourse data is available for researchers, service providers, policy makers and industry from across the world to propose questions to be answered using the LifeCourse cohorts.119
Globally, coordinated national efforts are underway to understand the best way to integrate complex patient and cohort information into healthcare systems, as such, the Australian MTP sector faces significant competition for this opportunity. It is likely that countries with more advanced, digitally integrated health systems, such as Denmark and the Netherlands, will provide an environment conducive to the development of the products and services outlined.
Emerging markets, which under the right conditions should be buyers of the technology, have the potential to leapfrog Australia in the adoption of fully integrated digital health models and develop their own health data services.120 Similarly, the patient inputs that make this opportunity viable in Australia face competition from other countries. The Precision Medicine Initiative in the US is an effort to build a national, data-driven research enterprise with over one million volunteers to extend precision medicine to all diseases.121
Keeping up with or ahead of competitors is a necessity, with Australia facing the reality of being left behind if a concentrated effort is not put into pursuing information integration, and the business models that will underpin the exchange and application of this data. Failure to consider this means that MTP businesses will have little incentive to develop precision or preventative health solutions in Australia.
Currently, access to new information generating technologies such as genome sequencing is limited to those willing to pay for it out of pocket.122
Lagging reimbursement standards could present a threat to the significant collection and analysis of patient data. Similarly, Australia’s slow adoption of electronic health records could threaten development of novel diagnostic and informatics products.
Further, it is important that businesses maintain a social licence for the collection and use of patient data. Failure to build safeguards, transparency and effective management of risk for the use of data will result in loss of community trust and acceptance.123
It is important that businesses maintain a social licence for the collection and use of patient data.
Perhaps the most important action required to realise this opportunity is collaboration, as SMEs, the research community, service provides, regulators and clinicians will be required to work together to develop a digitally connected and integrated MTP and health ecosystem. Service models must be considered in the context of clinical trials regulation, reinforcing Australia’s position as an attractive destination to complete the clinical development of next generation precision and preventative MTP products.
Australia’s diagnostic and informatics products and services in the 2030s
The Australian Government is committed to building a nationwide approach to medical data management through the Australian Government’s Australian Digital Health Agency, which commenced operations on 1 July 2016. The Agency is tasked with improving health outcomes for Australians through the delivery of digital healthcare systems and the national digital health strategy for Australia.
In 2016, the Productivity Commission undertook an inquiry into the benefits and costs of options for increasing availability of and improving the use of public and private sector data by individuals and organisations. The Government seeks to increase availability and use of data to boost innovation and competition in Australia.124
A number of ecosystem challenges currently limit the implementation of patient data collection and distribution in Australia, including issues around ethics, privacy and data sharing, regulations and reimbursements. It is critical that MTP businesses consider a digital integration strategy, and develop shared industry data standards.
In 2010, Stephen and Sally Damiani utilised genomic sequencing to isolate the rare and complex disease that threatened the life of their son, Massimo. Massimo was one of the first 20 individuals in the world to have a clinical whole genome sequenced. After searching worldwide, the Damiani’s found Ryan Taft (at the time a research scientist in the University of Queensland, currently Senior Director of scientific research at Illumina), who drove forward the complex project of aligning the three Damiani genomes to identify a unique variation in Massimo that might explain his symptoms.125 By exploring imaging biobanks in the US and EU, nine children with similar symptoms were identified, and were subsequently shown to have mutations in the same gene; this led to the identification of a new disease known as Hypomyelination with Brain stem and Spinal cord involvement and Leg spasticity (HBSL), a subset of a group of genetic disorders termed Leukoencephalopathies. By understanding the mutation and how it causes the body to react, the Damiani family and their clinicians have been able to potentially slow the advancement of the disease in Massimo.
Driven by this success and with significant knowledge behind them, the Damiani family has embarked on a research program to define a therapy that will halt progression of the disease. The program involves a team of international scientists, including members of the University of Queensland, University of New South Wales and Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. This case exemplifies the power of genomic data and the potential it has for rapid identification of rare diseases. In terms of developing MTP solutions, this case exemplifies early success in Australia regarding the process required to leverage medical imaging and genomic data for the identification of diseases that do not currently have an associated pharmaceutical therapy.
Figure 22: MTP ecosystem actions for diagnostic and informatics products and services
Short term (0-3 years) |
Medium term (3-10 years) |
Long term (10+ years) |
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CRITICAL SKILLS AND INFRASTRUCTURE |
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INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT |
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Timeframes should be viewed as a guide only.
Figure 23: Outcomes for diagnostic and informatics products and services
Short term (0-3 years) |
Medium term (3-10 years) |
Long term (10+ years) |
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OUTCOMES |
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Timeframes should be viewed as a guide only.
Data aggregation, storage, handling, security and analytics present key technical challenges that need to be addressed to enable this opportunity. The computing resources and data storage required just to handle complex data will be enormous, and increase significantly when accessibility to the diagnostic platforms that generate the data is increased. For example, the data-storage demands for a single genome is 30 times larger than the size of the genome itself, accounting for errors incurred during sequencing and preliminary analysis.127 The information systems needed to effectively integrate health data from MTP ecosystem via novel service models also need to overcome a number of technical barriers, not least of which is cybersecurity and assurance of patient anonymity through the process.
The computing resources and data storage required just to handle complex data will be enormous, and increase significantly when accessibility to the diagnostic platforms that generate the data is increased.
The list below provides an overview of some of the enabling science and technology required to make this opportunity a reality. See Appendix A.2.3 for an expanded list.
The growth opportunities discussed in this report indicate a bright future for the Australian MTP sector, however, the sector must act quickly or risk losing its place in the global market.
By leveraging Australia’s comparative advantages, businesses will be able to unlock growth opportunities and position the Australian MTP sector for growth over the coming decades. However, businesses cannot achieve this in isolation and will require support from the entire ecosystem.
This chapter discusses common change themes that appear across each opportunity, and suggested short-term actions required to enable change. Actions have been separated into business actions (those which businesses in the MTP industry should proactively lead) and ecosystem actions (those to be led by industry bodies, research, education, investors and governments, in consultation with businesses). The industry growth centre, MTPConnect, has identified seven growth priorities that will underpin short and medium term ecosystem changes to maximise the sector’s competitiveness and long-term sustainability; short-term sector sustainability is critical for capturing the longer-term opportunities outlined in this Roadmap. Taking direct action in-line with these priorities, MTPConnect have established a project fund program. In late 2016, 14 projects were supported covering everything from skills gaps to infrastructure development. Table 3 demonstrates the strong alignment between each MTPConnect growth priority and the four industry opportunities.
Table 3: MTPConnect Sector Growth Priorities alignment matrix
MTPConnect Sector Growth Priorities |
Industry Opportunities for Growth |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Smart devices, implants and bionics |
Accelerated pharmaceutical development |
Manufacturing high-value pharmaceuticals |
Diagnostics and informatics products and services |
|
1 – Identify and invest in Knowledge Priorities focused on current and future market needs |
x |
x |
x |
x |
2 – Create a highly productive commercialisation environment from research to early clinical trials and proof-of-concept |
x |
x |
|
|
3 – Transform the SME sub-sector to support the growth of smaller companies into larger, more stable and successful companies |
x |
|
x |
x |
4 – Strengthen Australia as an attractive clinical trial research destination |
|
x |
|
|
5 – Support the development of digitally enabled MTP solutions: devices and data analytics |
x |
|
|
x |
6 – Position Australia as the preferred partner for emerging Asian markets |
x |
x |
x |
x |
7 – Support advanced manufacturing as a part of the Australian innovation ecosystem |
x |
|
x |
|
A significant enabler for each sector opportunity is the improvement of Australia’s digital infrastructure. Sector growth necessitates a coordinated effort in connecting, securing, storing and standardising medical research and patient data to transform Australia’s MTP sector. Improved infrastructure will facilitate the development, testing, and commercialisation of digitally enabled MTP solutions.
Recognising the crucial need for improved digital health infrastructure, the Australian Government’s Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency) commenced operations in 2016, tasked with improving health outcomes through the delivery of digital healthcare systems and the national digital health strategy.128
A key piece of digital health infrastructure that will have a profound effect on this industry is a national electronic health records system. The My Health Record system is a core component of the national digital health system, with over 4.2 million Australians registered for a My Health Record.129 The My Health Record contain the following types of information: health summaries, event and discharge summaries, medication records, eReferrals and specialist letters.130
Sector growth necessitates a coordinated effort in connecting, securing, storing and standardising medical research and patient data to transform Australia’s MTP sector.
Importantly, infrastructure needs to be put into place around these electronic records to enable de-identified data to be used to inform medical research, derive efficiency insights, and foster industry growth, in addition to improving patient care. This will require sector strategies that consider privacy-preserving analytics, advanced cybersecurity solutions and best practice management of social licence in the collection and use of data. As patient data becomes available from varied sources, electronic health records will need to accommodate increasingly larger data sets, especially genomic data.
As improved digital infrastructure is developed, digital literacy and specialised skills will become increasingly important to ensure the sector is prepared to adopt and realise benefits from emerging technologies. A number of Australian entities are investigating how to implement digital strategies required to leverage medical research and patient data for the development of digital MTP solutions, including Data61, the Australian e-Health Research Centre, AusBiotech via the Digital Health Advisory Group, and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute via the National Digital Health Initiative.
Table 4: Business and ecosystem actions – digital infrastructure
Aligned MTPConnect Growth Priorities
While medical technology and pharmaceutical regulation in Australia is responsible for maintaining high standards, it can also be confusing, slow and costly for companies to navigate and can limit new technologies access to markets. Developments in personalised medical technology and digitally driven MTP solutions are at risk of being lost to countries with more agile systems. Modernisation in Australia’s regulatory practices will facilitate competitive growth of opportunities outlined in this Roadmap, and catalyse the creation of ancillary services such as electronic health knowledge sharing and new digital applications.
Sector consultations raised the proposition for an Australian-based assessment of a new regulatory model based on emerging trends in the global financial technology industry. This trend involves creating a regulatory sandbox (see case study), a basic regulatory system that mirrors the essential features of the operational regulatory environment without the complexity, formality and cost. The development of a regulatory sandbox or similar reform of regulatory processes to address the complexity of regulatory approvals would serve to place the Australian MTP sector in a globally competitive position to exploit emerging opportunities, however, would obviously require limitations in scope.
Tightly linked to international regulatory approval is access to global value chains and international markets; an important factor for the success of Australia’s MTP sector. Increased global confidence in Australia’s MTP solutions will be developed through continual demonstration of the safety, quality and agility of Australia’s regulatory system, and its close alignment with the essential requirements of critical international regulatory bodies.
Access to international markets will be driven by companies banding together to form collaborative cohorts and leveraging established Australian companies, or partnering and licensing with international firms. Either approach is strengthened by collaboration with complementary businesses, and by leveraging trade and brand initiatives already in place by organisations such as Austrade, AusBiotech and MTPConnect.
Table 5: Business and ecosystem actions – regulatory system and market access
Aligned MTPConnect Growth Priorities
In the financial technologies (FinTech) industry, a number of regulators globally are proposing to establish ‘regulatory sandboxes’ to help enable innovation, including the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Australia.131 While there are significant differences between the FinTech and MTP sectors, there are numerous similarities; of particular relevance are the social expectations regarding customer/patient privacy which underpin cross-sector goals concerning data security, integrity and interoperability.
To enable innovation, the sandbox model provides a faster path to market for inventive companies (especially start-ups) by allowing them to test and develop products in a restricted environment, lowering the risk of failure that can be caused by complex regulatory frameworks during the product development phase. Australia seeks to be a leader in FinTech and is currently building on existing initiatives from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to implement a limited industry-wide licensing exemption to allow start-ups to test certain financial services for six months, provided they comply with a limited range of requirements (the ‘regulatory sandbox’ exemption).132
In the context of MTP solutions, the goal of a sandbox is to allow developers to test and optimise digitally driven products and services before embarking on the more complex, time-consuming and expensive regulatory approvals process. It is recognised that this is an unrealistic model for pharmaceutical products where extensive safety studies must be completed prior to efficacy studies, but if structured correctly it may provide the correct framework to allow for rapid development cycles of solutions that are inherently safe, such as data capturing devices. Many of these types of technologies currently fall in a grey area for regulation and are sold direct to the consumer without any efficacy requirements; demonstrating how to efficiently move these products and services to a regulated environment could help establish Australia as a preferred development destination.
Each opportunity detailed in this report requires the dedicated development of specific skills in the workforce. The MTP sector relies on strong research skills across the STEMM fields, and draws upon skills from a variety of other disciplines, including business and commerce, law, nursing and industrial design. Future workforce planning and skilling will also need to consider the effects of digital technologies on the workforce, as well as skills for key service industries to the MTP sector, such as clinical trials, contract research organisations, and pre-clinical services. MTPConnect has identified a number of skills gaps in the sector including:133
Developing, attracting and retaining STEMM research talent is critical to success in this sector, as it provides the ideas pipeline of inventive concepts that can be translated into valuable MTP solutions. Given the importance of researchers in the pipeline of the MTP sector, the decline in the number of full-time researchers in Australia since 2012 has raised concerns over the erosion of Australia’s health and medical research workforce.134
Collaboration, both research-to-industry and business-to-business, is recognised as an important factor for innovation, especially in the MTP sector where SMEs are often spun out from universities or other public sector research organisations. With Australia’s level of research collaboration between research sector and industry amongst the lowest in the OECD,135 collaboration is recognised as a key weakness of the Australian innovation system.
A key cause is the lack of understanding that business and research have of each other; businesses lack understanding on how to effectively engage with researchers, and researchers lack business exposure and appreciation/understanding of industry timeframes and commercial imperatives.136 Networking and industry clusters are two mechanisms that can help improve both culture and collaboration in the MTP industry.
In combination with weak collaboration, Australia has historically lacked funding and investor interest for the translation of MTP solutions. Recent developments such as the $500 million Biomedical Translation Fund (BTF), the $200 million CSIRO Innovation Fund and the $20 billion Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) include success metrics designed to overcome this problem.137 138 139
In addition, there is a responsibility for the MTP community to educate and show the value to the Australian investment community of investment in MTP product and service development. Australia is home to one of the largest stock markets in the world by market capitalisation, however there is poor representation of MTP companies in the ASX200; excluding CSL, less than 2% is derived from MTP businesses.140 The innovation and translation funds must be complemented by investor activity to see real growth in the sector. There has been as increase in the number of incubators and investors, with companies such as Bluechilli or Cicada Innovations providing access to funding as well as product development expertise, and advice and support, to build a sustainable business. These incubators offer increased access to funding for the sector.
Table 6: Business and ecosystem actions – industry workforce and skills
Aligned MTPConnect Growth Priorities
To realise growth opportunities, the enabling business actions and changes discussed in this chapter need to be key components of individual business strategies. Navigating long-term change requires MTP businesses to constantly assess the way they run their businesses – ensuring that scarce resources are appropriately allocated and that business decisions are underpinned with strong underlying market and technology assumptions.
This roadmap can be used as a tool to inform strategic decision making within MTP businesses. Global megatrends, opportunities for growth, and enabling science, technology and business changes can be tailored for specific business needs using the Explore, Choose and Plan steps of the framework depicted in Figure 24. Scenario planning and input for the Create step have been excluded from this report as application is highly company specific, however additional information can be found in CSIRO’s Australia 2030 report.
Figure 24: CSIRO Futures strategic planning framework
Explore
Choose
Plan
Create
Continual monitoring and assessment of strategies and projects
A number of changes are needed to help transform Australia’s MTP sector to achieve the vision for the future and pursue the opportunites for sector growth.
For Australia’s MTP sector to be globally competitive, it is critical that the right kind of environment is supported to allow for the translation of inventive MTP ideas into innovative solutions; one that encourages strategic and cross-disciplinary research, collaborative business partnerships, efficient development timeframes, agile and reputable regulatory frameworks, and appropriate investment incentives.
Building on these enabling sector changes, the four long term growth opportunities highlighted in this report aim to improve Australia’s competitiveness within the global MTP sector. The road forward to capitalising on these opportunities and realising industry growth begins with the common change themes discussed in this chapter. The following table summarises the key themes to help enable MTP sector change.
Developments in enabling science and technology will be pivotal to growth in this sector. Perhaps more than any sector, novel solutions to global MTP demands are underpinned by convergence of disparate fields of science and technology. Convergence of technologies through innovative combinations will transform the sector and create new challenges for researchers, businesses and regulators. The key themes of these enabling technologies across the four growth opportunities are summarised in Table 8.
Convergence of technologies through innovative combinations will transform the sector and create new challenges for researchers, businesses and regulators.
Table 7: Enabling changes summary
Digital infrastructure |
Regulatory system and market access |
Sector structure, skills and culture |
|---|---|---|
Business actions |
||
Digital strategy – assess business plans for inclusion of a digital strategy and consider data integration with the MTP ecosystem. Data collection – design or retrofit products and services to collect valuable data that can be used to gain insights, improve products or provide a service of value. Infrastructure – improve digital infrastructure within business, ensuring appropriate cybersecurity safeguards are in place. |
Regulatory knowledge – employ staff with international regulatory know-how or engage regulatory consultants, early in the development process. International access – connect with industry bodies to develop an understanding of the international market requirements. |
Invest in upskilling and management skills – develop structured professional development programs to upskill staff in key required areas, and improve business operations by employing international experts. Graduate or intern programs –provide clear pathways for the development, attraction and retention of graduates. Bring researchers into business – employ researchers to improve transfer of knowledge outside universities. |
Ecosystem actions |
||
Health records – improve the penetration, functionality and usability of national electronic health records. Standards and interoperability – conduct an assessment to identify the requirements for standardising data collection, sharing and application. Infrastructure and cybersecurity – improve internet speeds and capacity in Australia, and develop systems to prevent unintentional and intentional cybersecurity breaches. |
Regulatory agility – address uncertainties regarding reimbursement of bespoke implants and bionics. Regulatory Sandbox – assess the feasibility of a Regulatory Sandbox (see Section 5.2) for medical devices and digitally enabled MTP solutions. International branding and collaboration – develop a unified international marketing message, and incentivise companies to establish an Australian presence. |
Skills development in tertiary education – improve commercialisation, regulation and manufacturing skills for STEMM graduates. Workforce planning – to ensure the skills required to efficiently translate MTP technology are being nurtured, and that they are in-line with global demands. Industry meets academia – incentivise research institutes to employ a higher proportion of experienced industry professionals and provide mentorship programs. |
Table 8: Enabling science and technology – future research priorities summary
Smart devices, implants and bionics |
Accelerated pharmaceutical development |
Manufacturing high-value pharmaceuticals |
Diagnostics and informatics products and services |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
The Australian MTP sector is underpinned by a number of comparative advantages that will drive opportunities for growth in the sector over the next 20 years. These advantages and related disadvantages are detailed below.
Australia has built a strong international reputation for its stringent regulatory systems, quality management and standards, helping to differentiate Australian research, services and manufactured products in a global marketplace. Globally, Australia was rated as the fourth most reputable country in the Reputation Institute’s 2016 rankings, behind Sweden, Canada and Switzerland.141
In Australia, companies are required to gain approval from the TGA to manufacture and sell pharmaceutical agents and must adhere to Good Manufacturing Practice among other quality assurance frameworks. This has built a reputation for high quality, clean and safe production processes resulting in growing demand from Asia for Australian manufactured products, including pharmaceuticals.142
Australia’s social-economic stability and resilience, demonstrated by 25 years of uninterrupted annual growth, together with its well-regulated business environments and comparatively high access to resources provides beneficial supply chain security and a safe, low-risk environment for investment.143 Australia’s high living standards, culture, climate and lifestyle act as significant drawcards in attracting skilled people to Australia, with Melbourne named as the most liveable location in a 2015 survey of 140 global cities.144
With 28.2% of Australia’s resident population born overseas,145 Australia’s MTP sector has access to a predominantly English speaking, ethnically diverse population – a valuable advantage for Australian clinical trials and the development of health and medical data sets. Similarly, the large proportion of Australian residents that have emigrated from Asia provides cultural familiarity for Australian market access into this region, adding to Australia’s proximity advantage.
The MTP sector can uniquely leverage Australia’s proximity to Asia to form partnerships with global companies. As many companies investigate market access into the region, Australia’s location and its many existing cultural, business and academic links make it a great base and partner for development activities.
Australia’s stability has led to high levels of healthcare accessibility for citizens through a well-developed national healthcare system (Medicare), providing high levels of baseline care. Private health insurance remains fair and ethical due to the guidelines established by the Private Healthcare Insurance Act,147 resulting in 55% of Australian’s covered by private insurance in 2012-13.148 Access to prescription medicine is subsidised by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). The PBS decides which products will be reimbursed to the public.
This structure enables Australia’s healthcare system to perform well on a global scale, ranked as the 6th most efficient healthcare system internationally in 2014 (based on life expectancy and cost of health care), above the UK, Canada and the US, with average life expectancy exceeding the OECD average by two years.149 150 Much like Australia’s broader stability, this helps to remove a variable when conducting clinical trials or collecting population data.
Australia has a rich history in strong scientific research, home to a network of globally influential research organisations, universities and medical research institutes that are prolific in the production of high impact research.
Australia produces approximately 3.8% of the world’s medical research outputs (publications)151 from an estimated 1.1% of global health research dollars.152
Australia’s MTP research community is supported by $775 million in public spending on R&D, and $630 million of industry R&D spend.153
Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) is a $20 billion vehicle for investment in health and medical research.154
Translation of MTP research is a key priority for 2017, supported by the launch of the $500 million biomedical translation fund (BTF).155
Analysis shows that of Australia’s most influential research institutions, half of the top 22 organisations have concentrations in the categories of health and medicine, with the most notably recurrent areas in terms of impact being oncology, cardiovascular and diabetes research.156
Australia has demonstrated success across a number of research fields. An assessment of Australia’s publication output indicates that Australian research ranks amongst the top 10 in the world for basic research in the following health and medical areas:157
The development of MTP solutions depends on a diverse, skilled and educated workforce. Australia is recognised globally for its highly educated workforce, which has been a traditional source of advantage to the sector. Australian tertiary level education rates have grown each year since 2001 and are now well above the OECD average.162
In the global landscape, Australia has competitive strengths in the access to and quality of its education system, ranked 9th globally for higher education and training.163 As Australia moves to a knowledge-driven economy and as new technological advancements are realised in the MTP sector, jobs will change, becoming reliant on highly skilled employees with a significant focus on digital literacy.
In 2016, nearly 30% of Australians aged 20–64 held a bachelor degree or higher.164
Australian tertiary level education rates have grown each year since 2001 and are now well above the OECD average.
Australia’s National Regulatory Authority (NRA), the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is responsible for regulation of all therapeutic goods that are supplied in Australia, including medical devices and medicines. The TGA plays a critical role in protecting the Australian community by managing the registration of products for which therapeutic claims are made on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG). The TGA has an excellent reputation both internationally and domestically and is widely respected for its work in ensuring the availability of high quality, safe and efficacious therapeutic products on the Australian market. Compared to NRAs in other countries, the TGA performs well in its regulation of medicines, however, performance in the regulation of devices is less notable, lacking timeliness and predictability.170
Recognised as a critical enabler for Australian clinical trials, the TGA offers a comparatively simple process for trial commencement which reduces the regulatory burden on clinical trial sponsors (see section A.1.7).171
Australia has a strong ability to complete high quality clinical trials across numerous therapeutic areas (Figure 25), with particular strengths in oncology and cardiovascular disorders. Australia also has a strong and growing service industry for clinical trials with reputable contract research organisations helping differentiate Australia as a global destination for early stage trials. Australia’s reputation for these early stage clinical trials is based on comparably high cost efficiency, regulatory speed, flexibility and quality,174 as well as being the home to world leading key opinion leaders. As addressed in Section A.1.2, Australia also has comparative advantages in its access to an ethnically diverse, English speaking patient population; this is leveraged by operating many single-site trials using healthy and diverse volunteers, creating a key advantage. Seasonal differences between the Northern and Southern hemisphere allow trials dependent on seasonal factors to continue in Australia.
Australia is generally recognised as an expensive destination for trials, however this is balanced by other factors including data quality, timeliness of start-up and capacity to recruit.175 However, while expensive compared to low cost economies – Australia is 28% cheaper before tax incentives and 60% cheaper after R&D tax incentives compared to US trials.176
Australia’s regulatory system has also been recognised as a key international drawcard for clinical trials, allowing flexibility without compromising quality. Clinical trials in Australia operate through either the Clinical Trial Notification (CTN) or Clinical Trial Exemption (CTX) schemes. The CTX scheme is an approval process through the TGA, while the CTN scheme designates responsibility for trial approval to Human Research Ethics Committees (HREC), with the TGA simply notified. While the TGA has the authority to audit the management of a clinical trial, the CTN process eliminates duplications and avoids costly preparation of extensive regulatory applications, allowing clinical research to start much sooner, saving time and money. 177 178
Figure 25: Active Clinical Trials/Studies in Australia, July 2014
Active = Not Yet Recruiting + Recruiting + Recruiting By Invitation + Active, Not Recruiting
Source: Medicines Australia180
Australia’s IP system is competitive, ranked 18th globally by the World Economic Forum in 2016 based on its capacity to protect inventions developed.181 Companies commercialising medical technologies and pharmaceuticals rely on strong IP protection to recoup the expenses of development. Australian IP law is designed to encourage innovation and protect companies that develop original IP, providing them with a competitive advantage. The pharmaceutical sector benefits from other specific IP arrangements such as an extension of term, where further to the 20-year term applying to the majority of patents, pharmaceutical patents can qualify for an additional five years of protection.
Australia has a transparent and well-regulated business environment. Businesses are incentivised to engage in Australian research and development through R&D tax incentives; these incentives are currently under review.183 In a broader context, Australia has held AAA sovereign debt rating for over a decade and is one of the 20 largest stock exchanges in the world, which indicates a culturally pragmatic approach to economics that should be leveraged by the MTP sector.184 185
Australia’s research community and MTP industry is supported by internationally competitive scientific facilities, ranked 12th in the world for quality.186 Research clusters, such as the Parkville precinct in Melbourne, encourage and enable development of the MTP sector. Initiatives under the Australian Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda are mapping the long term research infrastructure needs for Australia, ensuring Australia’s research community will be continually advantaged through access to advanced infrastructure that assist in the translation of inventive MTP solutions. The 2016 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap (draft) identifies nine focus areas, a number of which align with the needs of the MTP sector, including: digital data and eResearch platforms; characterisation; advanced fabrication and manufacturing; biosecurity; complex biology; and therapeutic development.187
Many of the activities recommended in this report require investment in R&D. In addition to the R&D tax incentives available, the table below lists national and state-based funding schemes available to Australian SMEs and start-ups that support innovation and commercialisation.202 A complete list of Federal grants is available on the Federal Government Business website.203
Table 9: Co-contributing funding schemes for Australian SMEs and start-ups
Program |
Project |
Eligibility / Notes |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Name |
State |
Value |
SME Contribution |
|
Innovation Connections |
All |
< $50k |
1:1 cash |
$1.5m - $100m turnover, 3+ years in business. |
CSIRO SIEF STEM+ Business |
All |
< $105k p.a. |
1:1 cash |
$1m - $100m turnover. |
Accelerating Commercialisation |
All |
< $1 mil |
1:1 |
< $20m turnover. |
ICon Proof of Technology grant |
ACT |
$5k-30k |
1:1 cash |
< $2m turnover. |
ICon Accelerating Innovation grant |
ACT |
$5k-10k |
1:1 cash |
< $2m turnover. |
TechVouchers |
NSW |
< $15k |
1:1 cash |
< $30m turnover, < 20 employees, 1+ years in business. |
BISI Innovation Voucher |
NT |
< $25k |
40% |
< 100 employees. |
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships |
QLD |
< $50k |
1/3 cash |
< 200 employees, 2+ years in business. |
Innovation Voucher program |
SA |
$10k -$50k |
1:2 or 1:1 |
< $200m turnover, 1+ years in business. |
Business Transformation Voucher |
SA |
< $50k |
1:1 cash |
1+ years in business. |
BioSA Industry Development program |
SA |
$50k-250k repayable |
|
Early-stage/start-ups. |
SBDF Start-up business grant |
SA |
< $20k |
1:1 cash |
To contribute to starting a new business or buying a business. |
SBDF Business Expansion grant |
SA |
$10k-100k |
1:1 cash |
< 20 employees, 1+ years in business. |
Innovation Vouchers |
WA |
< $20k |
At least 20% |
< $500k turnover, < 200 employees. |
Defence Materials Technology Centre – Medical Countermeasures Program |
All |
Variable |
> 1:1 |
Projects must be translational and in alignment with a Medical Countermeasures priority. Contribution from project participants must exceed DMTC funding. |
MTPConnect – Project Fund Program |
All |
100K-3M |
1:1 |
Matched funding from a non-government consortium required. For example, if MTPConnect funds $600k and CSIRO $300k, the consortium must contribute $900k. There must be at least two businesses in each consortium. |
The following reports provide deeper insights into some of the specific trends and concepts covered in this Roadmap:
This report is the second of a series of roadmaps being developed by CSIRO.
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145 ABS Website (2016). 3412.0 - Migration, Australia, 2014-15, [Online] Available from: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/allprimarymainfeatures/66CDB63F615CF0A2CA257C4400190026?opendocument Accessed 14/12/2016.
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148 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2014). Australia’s health 2014 – Australia’s health system. [Online] Available from: http://www.aihw.gov.au/australias-health/2014/health-system Accessed 14/12/2016.
149 Bloomberg (2014). Most Efficient Health Care 2014: Countries, [Online] Available from: http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/best-and-worst/#most-efficient-health-care-2014-countries Accessed 19/12/2016.
150 OECD (2016). OECD Better Life Index, Australia, [Online] Available from: http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/australia/ Accessed 19/12/2016.
151 Deloitte Access Economics (2016). Australia’s health and medical research workforce: Expert people providing exceptional, Deloitte, Canberra.
152 Access Economics (2008). Exceptional Returns The Value of Investing in Health R&D in Australia II, Australian Society for Medical Research, Canberra.
153 L.E.K. Consulting Pty Ltd (2016). Medical Technology, Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Sector Competitiveness Plan, MTPConnect, Clayton.
154 Australian Government (2016). Australian Medical Research and Innovation Strategy 2016-2021.
155 Australian Government, National Innovation & Science Agenda website (2016). Biomedical Translation Fund to commercialise promising discoveries, [Online] Available from: http://www.innovation.gov.au/page/biomedical-translation-fund Accessed 19/12/2016.
156 Thomson Reuters (2015). Australian Research & Innovation, A whitepaper.
157 Custom analysis from InCites Analytics by Thomson Reuters (2016).
158 Australian Government, Department of Education, Department of Industry (2014). Boosting the commercial returns from research.
159 Deloitte Access Economics (2016). Australia’s health and medical research workforce: Expert people providing exceptional, Deloitte, Canberra.
160 NHMRC (2015). 2015 NHMRC Project Grant Outcomes Explanatory Guide, [Online] Available from: https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/file/grants/fellows/funded/attachment_3_2015_nhmrc_project_grant_outcomes_explanatory_guide_v3.pdf Accessed 19/12/2016.
161 ATSE (2014). Research alliance calls for long-term vision to lock in prosperity, [Online] Available from: http://www.atse.org.au/Documents/media-release/research-alliance-mr-23042014.pdf Accessed 19/12/2016.
162 OECD (2016). Education at a Glance 2016: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris.
163 Schwab, K., (2016). The Global Competitiveness Report 2016–2017, World Economic Forum, Geneva.
164 ABS (2016). 6227.0 - Education and Work, Table 27, Canberra.
165 Arico, S., & Srinivasan, V., (2014). Enabling Australia’s Digital Future: cyber security trends and implications, CSIRO Futures, Canberra.
166 Australian Medical Association website (2012). Severe shortage of GPs and other specialists looms, [Online] Available from: https://ama.com.au/ausmed/severe-shortage-gps-and-other-specialists-looms Accessed 20/12/2016.
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169 The Australian Industry Group (2015). Progressing STEM Skills in Australia.
170 Sansom L., et al (2015). Expert Panel Review of Medicines and Medical Devices Regulation.
171 Frost & Sullivan (2016). Australia: Preferred Destination for Early Phase Clinical Trials.
172 Sansom L., et al (2015). Expert Panel Review of Medicines and Medical Devices Regulation.
173 Australian Government, Department of Health (2016). Australian Government Response to the Review of Medicines and Medical Devices Regulation, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.
174 Frost & Sullivan (2016). Australia: Preferred Destination for Early Phase Clinical Trials.
175 Health Outcomes International (2015). Australian Government Department of Health Analysis of recently conducted clinical trials, Australian Government, Department of Health.
176 Frost & Sullivan (2016). Australia: Preferred Destination for Early Phase Clinical Trials.
177 Frost & Sullivan (2016). Australia: Preferred Destination for Early Phase Clinical Trials.
178 Australian Government, Australian Clinical Trials Website, Why conduct a clinical trial in Australia, [Online] Available from: https://www.australianclinicaltrials.gov.au/why-conduct-clinical-trial-australia Accessed 04/10/2016.
179 Health Outcomes International (2015). Australian Government Department of Health Analysis of recently conducted clinical trials, Australian Government, Department of Health.
180 Medicines Australia (2015). Medicines Australia Facts Book, 4th Edition, Canberra.
181 Schwab, K., (2016). The Global Competitiveness Report 2016–2017, World Economic Forum, Geneva.
182 Productivity Commission (2016). Intellectual Property Arrangements, Inquiry Report No. 78, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.
183 Ferris, B., Finkel, A., Fraser, J., (2016). Review of the R&D Tax Incentive.
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187 Australian Government (2016). Draft 2016 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap, Canberra.
188 Baller, S., Dutta, S., Lanvin, B., (2016). The Global Information Technology Report 2016, World Economic Forum and INSEAD, Geneva.
189 Productivity Commission (2015). Efficiency in Health, Commission Research Paper, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.
190 Akamai (2013). Volume 6, Number 3 - The State of the Internet 3rd Quarter, 2013 Report, Cambridge.
191 Akamai (2016). Volume 9, Number 2 – Akamai’s State of the Internet Q2 2016 Report, Cambridge.
192 Australian Government, National Innovation & Science Agenda website (2016). Biomedical Translation Fund to commercialise promising discoveries, [Online] Available from: http://www.innovation.gov.au/page/biomedical-translation-fund Accessed 19/12/2016.
193 ASX 200 List (June 2016). [Online] Available from: http://www.asx200list.com/ Accessed 19/12/2016.
194 Frost & Sullivan (2016). Global Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Organization (CMO) Market, Mountain View.
195 Frost & Sullivan (2016). Analysis of the Global Biologics API Market, Mountain View.
196 Mattick J., et al. (2014). The impact of genomics on the future of medicine and health, Medical Journal of Australia
197 Frost & Sullivan (2015). Management of health information - Trends and Innovation, Mountain View.
198 Mattick J., et al. (2014). The impact of genomics on the future of medicine and health, Medical Journal of Australia.
199 Ashley, E.A., (2016). Towards Precision Medicine, Nature Reviews Genetics.
200 Frost & Sullivan (2015). Global Clinical Next-generation Sequencing Market, Mountain View.
201 Frost & Sullivan (2016). Innovations in Global Proteomics Technologies Market, Mountain View.
202 For more information on the funding schemes available to Australian SMEs and start-ups see CSIRO’s SME Connect Program http://www.csiro.au/SMEConnect
202 For more information on Federal funding mechanisms see https://www.business.gov.au/assistance
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Dr Keith McLean
Director, CSIRO Manufacturing
t +61 3 9545 2599
w www.csiro.au/en/Research/MF
Dr Rob Grenfell
Director, CSIRO Health and Biosecurity
t +61 3 9662 7322
w www.csiro.au/en/Research/BF
James Deverell
Director, CSIRO Futures
t +61 2 9490 8456
e futures@csiro.au
w www.csiro.au/futures
Simon Hanson
Director, SME Connect
t +61 3 9545 2752
w www.csiro.au/SMEConnect