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Australasian Biotechnology (backfiles)
AusBiotech
ISSN: 1036-7128
Vol. 12, Num. 1, 2002, pp. 2
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Untitled Document
Australasian Biotechnology, Vol. 12 No. 1, 2002, pp. 2
FROM THE PRESIDENT
Peter Riddles, President
Code Number: au02001
Well,
Members, AusBiotech began 2002 with a running start, as we not only appointed
two new senior members to our organisation, but saw the recently elected Directors
join existing Board Members in the first meeting for the year in Sydney to plan
and work with the Executive Director to implement the AusBiotech Business Plan
as well as to establish new directions.
Our two new senior appointments are John Rutledge who joins as our Finance
& Administrative Manager, and Fiona Corrie who joins as our Marketing &
Information Services Manager.
These appointments are significant for AusBiotech because they considerably
strengthen our ability to manage the growing resource base and to provide services
to our members. On behalf of AusBiotech Directors, I wish them well and encourage
AusBiotech Members to make John and Fiona feel welcome and support them as they
join the dynamic world of biotechnology. Tony Coulepis will discuss more about
their roles in his Executive Director's Report.
It was decided at the Board meeting that each Director was to undertake an
advisory and monitoring role on behalf of AusBiotech in each of the key elements
of the AusBiotech Business Plan and also in certain key industry sectors. This
decision affirms our support for the Business Plan and to key sectors such as
medical devices, aghiotechnology. and human health. and this year will see strategies
emerge for a much higher level of engagement by AusBiotech in each of these
sectors. The planning for the AusBiotech 2002 Conference is well under way and
the one point which I would like to emphasise is that we expect to attract a
record number of international delegates to AusBiotech 2002 with an increasing
focus on providing opportunities for investment and partnering with Atistralian
members. Ausbiotech's mission is to assist Australia industry in commercialising
Australian biotechnology in the international marketplace, and we need to spend
as much energy as possible in understanding and dealing with the issues in that
marketplace.
Where there is an opportunity, usually connected with other activities, I promote
AusBiotech and Australian biotechnology on the international stage. This sometimes
yields benefits, such as a visit to the UK last year when I met the Executive
Director of the BIA (Biolndustry Association of UK), Crispin Kirkman, which
has resulted in a significant UK delegation attending AusBiotech 2002 in Melbourne.
Of course, all members of AnsBiotech are ambassadors for Australian biotechnology
and it is something I would encourage of all of you to do when you travel.
I will have a similar opportunity later this month, when I will meet the heads
of nearly 20 biotechnology trade and industry organisations in Zurich and participate
in discussions on issues that need to be considered at the international level.
IF looms as one such issue. I refer to an article published in the Wall Street
Jonrnal which indicated that leaders of more than 200 non-governmental organizations
plan to launch an initiative to pressure for an end to patents per se on a majority
of biotechnology products. This is the kind of issue that needs to be discussed
and managed at the international level and there are many more examples of such
issues that need to be dealt with on a global scale.
Many of the industry leaders meeting in Zurich hope to join an expanded IBF
(International Biotechnology Forum) which currently consists of only the USA,
Canada, Japan and the UK and we in Australian are playing a leading role in
the discussions leading up to this. We are planning for attendance of most of
these industry leaders at the Melbourne Conference in August 2002, which may
be one of the IBF Meeting locations.
Back home, taxation remains a very important issue for Australian industry
and AusBiotech will be strongly encouraging the Federal government to accelerate
changes to the rules in order to encourage investment and the participation
of key people, through modification of the employee share option scheme particularly,
which currently is uncompetitive and well below world's best practice. We were
reminded of this at a recently held AVCAL/ AusBiotech CEO luncheon held in Sydney
in January at which the guest speaker, Peter Farrell, the CEO of Resmed, indicated
that this issue was as important now as it was when he was starting Resmed.
We need to change policies now in order to create an environment in which the
biotechnology indtistry can grow, develop and eventually flourish. The CEO luncheon
held with AVCAL was a great success and a strong indication of how two organlsatlons
working together can make a difference and a bigger splash. We share AVCAL'S
concerns regarding, for example, the tax issues above as they have already successfully
championed changes to free up the use of limited liability partnerships. We
look forward to working with AVCAL and other organisations in joint activities
of mutual interest to members.
These are just a few of the issues that have been occupying our thinking over
the past few months and I am looking forward to another exciting year working
with all of you.
Peter Riddles
President
AusBiotech Ltd
The Australian Biotechnology Association
Copyright 2002 - AusBiotech
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