Image: MTPConnect
Australian accelerator will back startups to help commercialise medical products
Australia’s Targeted Translation Research Accelerator for heart disease and diabetes is to invest A$28.5 million to help commercialise treatments being developed by small and medium-sized businesses.
The accelerator, an initiative of the national Medical Research Future Fund, aims to turn research on promising drugs and medical devices into commercially sustainable ideas. It is run by MTPConnect, an independent organisation set up by the government to boost the growth of medical products in Australia.
The funding round for startups will open to expressions of interest this month.
MTPConnect chief executive Stuart Dignam (pictured) told Research Professional News that while Australia was well recognised for the quality of its research, the country “is way down the global league table” when it comes to commercial translation.
Australia ranks 30th in the world in “innovation outputs”, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s 2023 Global Innovation Index.
“The more we can do to link researchers with industry, the better off we’re going to be,” Dignam said.
Recipients of the accelerator’s grants will have access to industry experts from the Australian biotech giant CSL and the medical devices maker Roche, who will provide expertise on the path from research to growing a medical technology business.
Dignam said that by targeting chronic health problems like cardiovascular disease and diabetes, the programme would build on Australia’s medical industry capabilities and boost the country’s ability to make more products.
National priorities
The announcement comes shortly after the Australian government designated health as one of its five national science and research priorities.
The updated priorities released in August put a focus on the development of new medical diagnostic tools and treatments that can be easily deployed across Australian communities.
Science and research communities need to work towards “improved preventive health through new screening, diagnostic and treatment techniques and models of care”, the priorities blueprint said.