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Australasian Biotechnology (backfiles)
AusBiotech
ISSN: 1036-7128
Vol. 12, Num. 1, 2002, pp. 3,4,6
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Australasian Biotechnology, Vol. 12 No. 1, 2002, pp. 3-4, 6

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Tony Coulepis, Executive Director

Code Number: au02002

2002 is showing early signs of being a very exciting and dynamic year for the Australian biotechnology industry and AusBiotech is certainly positioning itself to make a significant contribution to the development and growth of the industry in 2002.

As we enter the next phase of AusBiotech’s development, the key activities for our organisation will be associated with delivering benefits to Members according to the six key elements of the AusBiotech business plan titled Growing Australian Biotechnology.

In terms of the strategic outlook for AusBiotech in 2002, Peter Riddles has shared some thoughts with you in his President’s report.

The operational development of AusBiotech is closely associated with the four key operational elements, namely, the formulation of policies and their implementation, the strengthening of staff resources, the raising of funds, and the implementation of effective management principles in order to better serve members, stakeholders, and the Australian biotechnology industry. These four operational components will be the basis from which AusBiotech will be able to deliver improved benefits and services to its members.

A brief overview of AusBiotech’s activities over the past few months are as follows:

  • AusBiotech staff resources: As Peter Riddles has mentioned in his President’s report, AusBiotech has moved forward to expand its core staff through two new positions, namely, a Finance & Administration Manager and an Information & Marketing Services Manager, and we welcome John Rutledge and Fiona Corrie respectively to these positions. Both positions were advertised internally amongst AusBiotech’s membership, and we were delighted with a strong response from top candidates for the positions. The interview process was carried out by a panel of three AusBiotech officials in late I)ecember and early January. John Rutledge commenced as AusBiotech’s Finance & Administration Manager on 4 February 2002, and Fiona Corrie will be joining us from Queensland to take up the Information & Marketing Manager position on March 11. These positions will significantly boost AusBiotech’s ability to deliver benefits to its members and we shall have more on John and Fiona’s activities in the next edition of the journal.
  • Membership: We are delighted with the continuing strong trend of membership support as seen throughout 2001 amounting to a greater than 100% increase compared with the same period last year, together with a membership renewal rate of greater than 90%, which is far in excess of renewal rates of between 60% and 80% in past years. We are especially pleased with the new membership over the December/January period, which is usually a very quiet time of the year in terms of membership, but in contrast, we have fifty new members listed in this edition of the Journal, of which 12 are Corporate Members. This represents an increase of 34 new members over the same period last year. Membership is the life-blood of AusBiotech, and provides the Organisation with the backing to be able to speak as the peak ‘industry voice’ on behalf of biotechnology stakeholders. Therefore, it is important to strengthen the AusBiotech Corporate Membership base so that we can indeed speak as the ‘industry voice’, when necessary, and to represent the needs of the industry as required. To this end, Individual and Student Members can play a very significant role by either initiating discussions with their respective organisations, or by facilitating discussions between these organisations and myself or any of the AusBiotech Directors concerning Corporate Membership. The benefits for all categories of members are defined in the executive summary of the business plan that is accessible through the AusBiotech website on www.ausbiotech.org. Should any member require clarification or further information about any benefits listed in the executive summary of the business plan, please feel free to contact me. While branches, directors, the AusBiotech office staff and I shall be actively pursuing discussions with the corporate community, we welcome approaches from companies concerning membership in order to ensure that we can move forward with a significant industry voice.
  • First Board Meeting for 2002: The inaugural meeting of the new AusBiotech Board for 2002 occurred on 24 January in Sydney, and consisted of a two-part meeting Agenda, namely, a strategic discussion and the formal Board meeting. The Directors unanimously endorsed the delivery of benefits to AusBiotech members within each of the six key elements of the AusBiotech business Plan namely, Awareness; Nurturing Biotechnology Enterprises; People; Biotechnology Linkages; Regulatory Environment; and Financial Environment. Sub-groups of Directors were established to provide guidance on the key sectors within the biotechnology industry such as, Human Health, AgBio, Devices, etc as well as the six key elements of the AusBiotech business plan. I look forward to working with the new AusBiotech board, and the various sub-groups of the board, as we move forward to implement and deliver projects and benefits to AusBiotech Members.
  • State/Regional AusBiotech Branches: I was delighted to be able to meet with committee members of AusBiotech branches in Canberra, NSW, Melbourne and Brisbane in January, and to receive their support for the implementation of AusBiotech’s National Agenda through the State and Regional Branch Networks. I look forward to catching up with the Western Australian Branch in the near future and to working with members in South Australia and Tasmania to establish branches in these States.

    Consistent with AusBiotech’s Business Plan, the State/Regional Branches are currently in the process of establishing a ‘twelve-month calendar of events' addressing each of the key elements of the Business Plan, and these calendars will be documented on the website at www.ausbiotech.org. We look forward to the support and input of members at these functions/activities.
  • The AusBiotech National Conference in 2002: As mentioned to Members in previous communications, AusBiotech will be organising an ‘Annual’ major Australian biotechnology conference focused on the commercial and business end of biotechnology. AusBiotech’s Annual Conference falls within the Biotechnology Linkages element of the AusBiotech Business Plan. The Meeting in 2002 will be in Melbourne, and is titled AusBiotech 2002 Biotechnology Confrrence and Investment Forum and will be held in Melbourne between 18 and 21 August 2002. Plans are well under way with several brochures already in circulation; these are available on AusBiotech’s website at www.ausbiotech.org. The main program and registration brochure is scheduled for release at the end of February/early March. I encourage all AusBiotech members to pencil in the dates of 18 to 21 August 2002 into their diaries, as this will be a Conference not to be missed. A three-year plan for the AusBiotech annual conference beyond 2002 will be announced shortly.
  • The AusBiotech Directory/Database Information Service: This project falls within both the Awareness and Biotechnology Linkages elements of the AusBiotech Business Plan and has been undertaken over the past several months in collaboration with VPAC (the Victorian Partnership of Advanced Computing - www.vpac.org). The first stage of the project was the hosting by VPAC of the old Biotechnology Australia/ABA Directory, previously hosted by Biotechnology Australia until December 2001 when the changeover occurred. The second stage of the project will be the updating of the current company data which will constitute the first module of the service and then additional modules such as news, specific search capabilities, crc, will be added sequentially to the Information Service over the next few months The first module of updated company data is expected to be operational by the end of February with the complete Information Service being operational by the AusBiotech 2002 Conference in August, if not sooner. This project will result in a national world-class information service for AusBiotech members and the Australian biotechnology industry. AusBiotech and VPAC welcome expressions of interest from sponsors and collaborators for this national initiative.
  • Cetera Consortium: This project falls within the Nurturing element of the AusBiotech Business Plan and has been undertaken in partnership with Biotechnology Australia (BA). Throughout this project, AusBiotech has worked with approximately thirty Australian companies to assist with initial expressions of interest. The project is now nearing completion with several Australian companies interested in continuing with the establishment of an Australian consortium, subject to agreement on contractual and operational matters. A final result on this project is expected by the end of February at which time the consortium will either be progressing or will be terminated due to contractual or other issues.
  • AusBiotech Recruitment Assistance: As a result of multiple requests from members, AusBiotech is exploring the facilitation of recruitment assistance for individuals and companies, which may be part of the AusBiotech information services mentioned above. This project falls within the People element of the AusBiotech business plan. This project is in the early days of its development, and members will be kept informed as this project progresses.
  • AusBiotech’s Involvement in Conferences during 2002: In addition to AusBiotech’s main conference in August 2002 as mentioned above, AusBiotech is involved in, or assisting with, a number of other conferences during 2002. AusBiotech’s involvement in conferences is part of the Biotechnology Linkages element of the AusBiotech business plan, and a summary of conference participation is as follows:
    • Fermentation and Bioprocessing Conference (FBIG 2002): The FBIG 2002 Conference is between 18 and 19 April 2002 and will be held at the William Angliss Centre in Melbourne Victoria. This Conference is being hosted by the Fermentation and Bioprocessing Interest Group (FBIG), which is a technical interest group of AusBiotech Ltd. The Conference will be a ‘no-frills’ meeting devoted to the science of fermentation and bioprocessing, and is shaping up to be an important gathering of biotechnologists involved in the fermentation and bioprocessing sector of the industry. Consequently, we encourage early registration to ensure that AusBiotech members and potential sponsors are able to participate in this gathering.
    • Business Partnering in Japan: AusBiotech, in association with the Asian Federation for Medicinal Chemistry, is arranging a business partnering opportunity for twelve Australian companies at the 5th Australian/Japan Symposium on Drug Design and Development between 13 and 16 May 2002 at Nara, Japan. Most of the available twelve (12) company business partnering spots have been filled, and therefore if any company wishes to participate in this event, please refer to the AusBiotech webs ite at www.ausbiotech.org for further information.
    • B102002 in Toronto: In response to suggestions and comments arising from Corporate Members following the B102001 meeting in San Diego, AusBiotech is undertaking a project to assist biotech Companies that wish to participate, and have a presence at the B102002 meeting in Toronto, but do not have the resources to support looking afrer a booth while also attending sessions and meeting with potential collaborators. Alternatively, the cost of a full booth, plus the resource to look after a booth may be prohibitive for some companies. Therefore, to assist companies in these circumstances, AusBiotech has taken two booth positions which will be shared by tip to eight biotech companies, enabling them to display their logos, promotional material, and he supported by a person who will take messages, arrange appointments and disseminate company information on their behalf companies interested in further information concerning this initiause by AusBiotech to assist Corporate Members should contact the AusBiotech Office on either 03 9203 4204 or send an email message to mdorevitch@ausbiotech.org.
    • International Biotechnology Federation (IBF): Peter Riddles has mentioned AusBiotech’s participation in the IBF in his President’s report, and this is an exciting development for AusoBiotech which as brought our organisation to the attention of biotechnology industry organisations around the world. Subject to the establishment of the IBF following the inaugural meeting of approximately 20 industry organisations in Zurich, at which AusBiotech will be represented by Peter Riddles, there is a strong possibility of a subsequent IBF meeting to coincide with the AusBiotech 2002 conference in August. This will not only be a significant achievement for AusBiotech, but also for the Australian biotechnology industry. We shall keep members informed of developments associated with the IBF as they occur
  • Taxation project: As members are aware, AusBiotch published a Taxation paper in the September/October edition of the AusBiotech journal, and this paper is also available on AusBiotech’s website. The taxation project falls within the Financial Environment element of the AusBiotech business plan, and was the end result of an extensive consultation process with AusBiotech members which stimulated a significant amount of interest. AusBiotech intends to pursue the recommendations of this Taxation Project as the appropriate reforms are critical to the development of a strong and vibrant environment in which the biotechnology  industry can grow, develop and flourish. Peter Riddles has also covered this point in his President’s report, and we welcome input, ideas and opportunities to collaborate in developing case studies and material examples to present to Government on a regular basis to build a strong case for appropriate and relevant taxation reforms.

I look forward to working closely with members, branches and biotechnology stakeholders in what I believe will be a very exciting year in 2002 as we implement the AusBiotech business plan and we collectively foster the growth of the Australian biotechnology Industry.

Anthony G Coulepis, Executive Director
AusBiotech
The Australian Biotechnology Association

Copyright 2002 - AusBiotech

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