Australasian Biotechnology (backfiles) AusBiotech ISSN: 1036-7128 Vol. 11, Num. 2, 2001, pp. 4-5

Australasian Biotechnology, Vol. 11 No. 2, 2001, pp. 4-5

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Tony Coulepis, Executive Director

Code Number: au01016

It has certainly been a very busy period for the ABA’s Directors and staff since the last edition of this Journal with several significant activities occurring and key milestones being achieved.

On the 1st of March the Executive Summary of the ABA Business Plan, entitled “Growing Australian Biotechnology”, was released and circulated to members through the ABA List Server, the ABA website (www.aba.asn.au) and also the Biomedoz site (http://www.biomedoz.com.au). A Media Release announcing the completion of the ABA Business Plan was also circulated and attracted a significant amount of interest and attention amongst the biotechnology community. The Directors and I have been encouraged by the positive response from the ABA Members and biotechnology stakeholders Australia-wide, and we continue to welcome comments and feedback from our Members. To ensure that all ABA members are aware of the ABA Business Plan, a copy of the Executive Summary has been included with this edition of the ABA Journal.

As outlined in the President’s Report from Peter Riddles, the support of $450,000 from the Federal Government and $80,000 from the Victorian State Government were important key milestones towards the financing of the ABA’s Business Plan. We are now in the process of working with other State Governments, the industry sector, and biotechnology stakeholders in order to secure the financial ability to move forward with all six key elements of the ABA Business Plan. To this end, while the ABA Directors and I will be actively pursuing discussions with a number of organisations, we also welcome approaches from biotechnology stakeholders that have an interest in alliances with the ABA or wish to explore sponsorship opportunities.

Progress towards the implementation of the recommendations arising from the Steering Group deliberations have progressed significantly since my first report to you in the previous edition of the ABA Journal. With the ABA Business Plan completed, and the funding for the Plan well on track following the Federal and Victorian State Government support, the next stage of the transformation of the ABA to Australia’s pre-eminent biotechnology industry organisation now requires the vote of confidence from ABA Members.

As Peter Riddles briefly outlined early in this Journal, the ABA Members will be able to cast their vote of support during a general meeting of the members of ABA (Meeting) concerning the two key issues of a new Constitution and a new name for the ABA.

The date set for the Meeting is 10th of May, 2001 at 5.30 pm at the offices of Blake Dawson Waldron (Blakes) situated at Level 39, 101 Collins Street, Melbourne. Blakes have kindly assisted the ABA to prepare a new Constitution, and the associated documentation, required to firstly bring the Constitution in line with the legal and statutory requirements and secondly so that the new direction of the ABA is appropriately reflected in the new Constitution. The law governing corporations has undergone significant and fundamental changes over the years since the ABA’s existing Constitution was adopted in 1985 and consequently the new Constitution is now consistent with the current Corporations Law.

The new Constitution together with the associated documentation including the notice of meeting, the “Explanatory Notes”, and provision for proxy votes will have been sent out to Members by the time this Journal is released and the documentation is also available on the ABA website. If Members have not received these documents, please contact the ABA office or access the documents through the ABA website. The Directors and I look forward to feedback from Members concerning the new Constitution and to the support of Members so that we can complete the transformation of the ABA which has been ongoing since the ABA 2000 Conference in Brisbane last July.

Subject to the positive support from ABA Members at the Meeting, plans are in preparation for the launch of the new industry organisation, AusBiotech Limited, nationally at the CHIF/ABA Conference in August and internationally at the BIO 2001 meeting in San Diego.

Peter Riddles also briefly touched on the second issue that the ABA Directors will be seeking support of from Members which is the change of name of the ABA to “AusBiotech Limited”.

Changes of any kind are often difficult to deal with but for some reason “name changes” often spark extensive debate that can sometimes overshadow the underlying key issues for the change in the first instance. In the case of the ABA, the underlying issues which have caused Directors to initiate a name change are very important for Members to fully understand. One of the key issues that Directors had to face was the “branding” of the new organisation. That is, in order to generate a strong brand name, both domestically and internationally, the organisation requires a name that it owns and can protect in the critical areas of a “company name”, a “trade mark” and a “domain name” for internet access. The ideal characteristics of an industry organisation name would be one which is clearly identifiable, concise and portrays the image of an industry organisation.

Therefore, in reviewing the suitability of continuing with the ABA’s current name, Director’s were confronted with a number of problems. Firstly, in terms of a name which can be protected, the ABA has registered the company/ business name “Australian Biotechnology Association” and while this name is also available as a “trade mark” it is too long for a domain name. In terms of the “ABA” abbreviation, this not available for use or registration on its own as either a company name, a trade mark or a domain name as these are all owned by various other organisations. In short, to continue using the abbreviation “ABA” on its own, while still being able to protect and register the name in order to achieve our branding strategy, is not possible. Therefore, the options available to us are either to only use the current name in full (with or without the abbreviation “ABA”) or change to a new name. Other biotechnology “industry organisations” around the world are known as BIO in the US, BIA in the UK, Biotech Canada in Canada etc, while long descriptive names ending in “Association”, are usually linked to organisations representing the interests of professionals rather than the industry. These are some of the issues that the ABA Directors have had to consider since the release of the Steering Group recommendations in October 2000.

Therefore, after an extensive research process during which the Directors reviewed names such as AusBio, AustBio, ABio etc., only a handful of names were available in all three regimes of company names, trade mark and domain name. The ability to protect the name in all three regimes is important in being able to use and market a uniform and recognisable name. Consequently, the Directors have selected the name of AusBiotech for recommendation to Members as the new name and identity of the new industry organisation. Therefore, subject to the support of Members, the company name of the new organisation would be “AusBiotech Limited”, the trade mark would be “AusBiotech” and the domain name would be “ausbiotech.org”. Consequently, I hope that Members now can understand the rationale behind the decision to change the name of the organisation. The Directors have completed a detailed process and have certainly not taken the name issue lightly in an attempt to serve the best interest of Members by positioning the new organisation with a new, strong identity which can be protected and marketed clearly both domestically and internationally. .

Another important activity that is in progress to ensure that the ABA can deliver against the six key elements in the Business Plan, is the review of the ABA’s existing facilities, infrastructure, capabilities and location. This process was initiated to define the areas that need to be immediately strengthened in order to cater for the increased volume of communication and activities that have already started and are growing very quickly. A good example of the ABA’s rapid expanding growth is that the number of new members over the past 3 months is 100% greater than for the same period last year. Consequently, as mentioned by Peter Riddles previously, we seek a period and measure of patience from the ABA Membership as we complete the process of upgrading and establishing the elements of our own infrastructure and capabilities. To this end, you will have noticed that the ABA website was recently upgraded and this will be one of the focus areas in the future to establish the appropriate links and evolve the website into a useful and effective tool for the ABA Members, as well as biotechnology stakeholders. I urge Members to visit the ABA website at http://www.aba.asn.au and we welcome comments from Members concerning suggestions that may improve the website as well as general comments and feed-back that may enhance the ABA’s service to its Members.

In addition to the above activities which are primarily associated with the restructure and refocus of the ABA, the organisation has been involved in a number of important activities, as defined in the ABA Business Plan, well in advance of the scheduled commencement of “official operations” on 1 July 2001. One of these activities has been the organisation of an Australian Delegation to attend the first BIO Asia Pacific Conference (BAP) in Hawaii scheduled for 18 - 19 April, 2001. This conference was arranged with a very short notice period and the ABA was instrumental in establishing the Australian Delegation to ensure appropriate representation of Australia and Australian science at the first BAP Conference. Apart from Australia’s participation at this international forum within our immediate neighbourhood, the “strategic intent” of the Delegation activities was to ensure that, should this Asia Pacific initiative continue beyond 2001, Australia would be well positioned to host one of these forthcoming BIO events in the future. This was an event which was put together at extremely short notice. Consequently, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Federal Government, through Invest Australia, and Biotechnology Australia, the Victorian State Government, through the Department of State and Regional Development, and the Melbourne City Council, for their generous sponsorship support and also to maximise the attendance of the Australian Delegates. The Delegation representing Australia at this meeting includes the following companies and organisations: AMRAD, Austrade, Australian Biotechnology Association, Autogen, Biocomm, Blakes Dawson Waldron, Bresagen, Department of Natural Resource & Environment, Department of State & Regional Development, ICON Clinical Research, Melbourne City Council, Monash Institute of Reproduction & Development, Peptech Limited, Peregrine Corporation Limited and the Victorian Institute of Animal Sciences. Given the time constraints associated with this activity we would also like to thank the Delegation companies and organisations for firstly, their willingness to participate and secondly, their patience in working towards the preparations for this meeting.

Finally, another important activity, which the ABA has been involved in, is the CHIF/ABA 2001 Conference between 15 - 17 August, 2001 in Sydney. We urge all Members to visit the relevant website for this meeting which is at http://www.ahi.com.au/chif or contact Marg Scarlet on 9521 8881 or visit the ABA website for further details.

The next few months leading up to the Meeting on the 10/5/01, and then the official commencement of activities on the 1st of July 2000, under the Business Plan, will be a busy time for all associated with the ABA. During this time, the Directors and I plan to meet with existing Members, potential new Members, ABA Branches and biotechnology stakeholders to firstly present the ABA Business Plan and then to work through the implementation strategies within the Plan. I look forward meeting and interacting with Members during this next exciting stage of the ABA’s evolution.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss any of the matters raised in my report, the ABA Business Plan, developments within the biotechnology industry or matters in which the ABA may be able to assist you.

My contact details are as follows: Email: admin@aba.asn.au, Telephone (ABA Office): 9596 8879, Fax: (ABA Office): 9596 8874, Mobile: 0419 436 902.

Copyright 2001 - AusBiotech