Remarkable Journeys with Jess Fox: Conversations with our clients, people and community. Listen now.
30 Oct 2020 3 min read
However, we do most of the front-end work – the R&D – before the IP is exported overseas for manufacture and commercialisation. That’s where the ROI is – in the years of research and clinical trials we conduct here on home soil – but we rarely reap the benefits of.
As you will see from other sections in our ‘Federal Budget: A 10 year retrospective’ report, we have really clear data from the Government for most industries. But not life sciences. As part of the broader health and innovation funding pool, the life sciences industry benefits indirectly from funding in healthcare and CSIRO spend, such as the $500m Biomedical Translation Fund, and the $20b Medical Research Future Fund under the Department of Health.
We know from peak industry body, AusBiotech, that the life sciences industry has grown 16% since 2017 – adding $5b in gross value each year to the Australian economy, and attracting an average of $1b in venture capital each year. Australia’s life sciences sector certainly punches above its weight; ranked amongst the top 4 destinations in the world.
Now, we are even more optimistic about the long term prospects for life sciences in Australia. Medical manufacturing is a priority industry of the modern manufacturing initiative. We saw the proposed changes to the R&D incentive rolled back and an additional $2b of investment injected into the R&D Tax Incentive scheme. Investor appetite for medical devices and pharmaceuticals – always strong – is now even higher off the back of COVID. Now is a great time to gauge the market and talk to potential investors. The market is fickle but at the moment investors are attentive, they're open, and they're listening.
In our report we cover:
We were initially writing the ‘Federal Budget: A 10 year retrospective’ report before COVID-19 as an advocacy piece for more industry investment and support. Of course, the way the year started is not the way the year is ending. Many sectors that had been left to their own devices are now key for our recovery. Sovereign capability. Jobs. Digital economy. Modern manufacturing. Renewable future. Deregulation. Innovation. These are the terms we will use as we settle into COVID-normal.
Our report looks retrospectively at 13 different industries, the investment made into them by Government and their contribution to GDP. This is then overlaid with the opportunity we see for industry in this new normal based on recent Government announcements.
With the Australian economy the weakest it has been in 23 years, Labor has handed down its third Federal Budget delivering its second consecutive surplus, and setting the Government’s agenda as we head into an election cycle.
The government has said the economy needs to ‘grow’ out of the recession. Innovation will be to key to this.
There is an overlooked economic opportunity in Australia’s mid-sized businesses – with the right incentives and tax policies in place, they can grow in size, scale and reach. They can employ more people, collaborate with other Australian businesses, and better contribute to Australia’s bottom line.
The 2019 Biotechnology Industry Position survey conducted by Ausbiotech and supported by Grant Thornton has revealed that new technologies across regenerative medicine and medicinal cannabis are disrupting the industry, and Australia's global strength in clinical trials continues to drive contributions to the economic and social fabric of the country.