Australia has a strong base in biotechnology with many incentives for R&D and commercialization, including tax offsets for R&D activities and sources of capital like the Medical Research Future Fund and Biomedical Translation Fund. The country has been successful in generating public life sciences companies like CSL, ResMed, and Cochlear. In recent years, private Australian biotech companies have raised significant venture capital funding, showcasing the latest life sciences innovations coming out of Australia.
One of these companies is AdvanCell, which is developing a scalable and reliable supply of radioactive isotopes to kill cancer cells. The company raised A$18 million (US$11.4 million) in a Series B round in August 2022. Another company, Loam Bio, is working on ways to supercharge the agricultural sector and cut carbon emissions from the soil using microbes. In October 2021, Loam Bio raised a A$40 million (US$30 million) Series A round led by Time Ventures to finance the development of the technology.
Nutromics is a company working to speed up diagnostics in the clinical setting, particularly in intensive care units. The company’s skin patch device can carry out blood tests continuously, allowing clinicians to monitor the blood in real time. Nutromics raised a US$14 million investment round in September 2022, which will help the company to expand across Australia and the U.S.
OccuRx specializes in the development of small molecule treatments for conditions involving tissue scarring known as fibrosis. The company raised US$14.5 million in a Series B round in September 2022 and has a lead candidate drug due to enter phase 3 testing in 2023.
Finally, Provectus Algae is using algae as minifactories for valuable chemicals such as food flavorings, cosmetics, and food supplements. The company raised A$11 million (US$8 million) in late 2021 to fund the research and commercialization of products in its pipeline.
While Australia has many strengths as a home for biotech companies, there are challenges for the sector, including a lack of access to capital, limited support for translating research into benefits for patients, and a lack of coordination of giving incentives and support. The government has pledged to support all parts of the R&D pipeline and provide further incentives for cementing the nation’s biotech expertise.
