Australasian Biotechnology (backfiles) AusBiotech ISSN: 1036-7128 Vol. 11, Num. 1, 2001, pp. 2

Australasian Biotechnology, Vol. 11 No. 1, 2001, pp. 2

FROM THE PRESIDENT

Peter Riddles, National President

Code Number: au01001

Welcome to the first edition for 2001 of the ABA Journal.

While this is only my second President’s address, and a few months into the term of the new ABA Board, it certainly seems that my fellow Directors and I have been working together for much longer. The simple reason for this is that there is much happening within the ABA, and within the Australian biotechnology community. It is certainly a very exciting time to be a part of this organisation, as you will appreciate as you read this edition of the Journal.

One of the recent developments which has been the topic of many discussions was the announcement by the Prime Minister of a series of measures to support innovation in Australia. This announcement, in general terms, is a much awaited and welcomed development.

Given Australia’s overall performance, level of investment in research and our commitment to generating benefit from that research, I view the federal government’s package as a positive step forward and symbolic of where we could, and should, be going.

There are two measures targeted specifically for biotechnology, namely, the:

• International Centre(s) of Excellence; and
• The doubling of funds for the Biotechnology Investment Fund (BIF), together with a range of other general measures which are meant to encourage and support industry growth.

There are some aspects of the strategies, such as the 175% taxation R&D concession initiative, that are of concern as it is not clear whether these will result in real benefits to biotechnology industry growth. However, our position within the ABA will be to work with government agencies to maximise the benefit of these strategies to industry and, in the longer term, to encourage and foster better and greater attention to the needs of our sector.

The other key activity of the ABA is the ongoing process to implement the recommendation arising from the Steering Group proposal to strengthen the ABA in moving forward to meet the needs of the developing biotechnology sector in Australia, as outlined in the previous edition of the ABA Journal. A major milestone in this implementation process is the appointment of the ABA’s “founding” Executive Director. To this end it is a great pleasure to announce to members the appointment of Dr Tony Coulepis to a term as the ABA’s Executive Director. Tony has already provided considerable energy and commitment to the tasks at hand, which has meant that we have been able to move with greater determination, speed and professionalism. A brief profile of Tony is presented in this edition of the Journal as well as Tony’s first Executive Director’s Report.

This is a significant step in the growth of our organisation and represents the longer term commitment by the ABA Directors to increasing services to members. Tony’s focus has been to prepare a detailed three-year business plan, in conjunction with Directors, which describes tangible outcomes, defined “deliverables” and expansion of services to corporate and individual members, as part of the strengthening of the strategic role of the organisation.

The Business Plan, entitled “Growing Australian Biotechnology”, underpinned by financials and implementation details, has been the focus of Tony and the ABA Directors over the past several weeks. Since I wrote to you last before Christmas, your new council of Directors has literally “rolled up their sleeves” and met directly three times, in addition to telephone conferences, in order to progress the finalisation of a three-year Business Plan, building on the various inputs such as the Steering Group report, as well as dealing with the ongoing business of the ABA. This Business Plan is essentially an “operational” document, which should be available close to the timing of the release of this February edition of the journal. I would encourage all members and branches to read the Executive Summary of this plan and offer their comments, criticisms and support to Directors or the Executive Director.

In a busy week for the Executive Director and myself we met with the Executive Committee of the Canberra region branch, members of Biotechnology Australia and the Shadow Minister and staff for Industry, Innovation and Technology. Our goal is to gradually increase our interactions with key stakeholders of the biotechnology industry, so that our policies and position are articulated clearly and in a timely fashion.

In addition to the above, I am also pleased to announce a combined meeting with CHIF (Commercialising Health Innovation Forum), managed by the Australia Health International, scheduled for August (15th -17th August 2001 in Sydney). Consequently, while Directors have been busy with the Business Plan, some of our Directors, mainly Shanny Dyer, have rolled up their sleeves even further, and have been working with CHIF to organise the CHIF/ABA2001 meeting in Sydney. This again is part of the ABA Board’s commitment to working with other groups to maximise the benefit to our members with high quality networking and partnering opportunities. As part of its participation in the joint CHIF/ABA meeting, the ABA will be including CEO breakfasts, building on the successful model of the Brisbane meeting, as well as a variety of other sessions focused on business development.

There is much more in the “melting pot” but this will have to do for the time being - however, watch this space, and I look forward to sharing further developments as they come to fruition.

I wish all of you a successful “biotechnology” year, I look forward to your increasing participation in our activities, and I hope that you enjoy reading this edition of the Journal.

Copyright 2001 - AusBiotech