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Australasian Biotechnology (backfiles)
AusBiotech
ISSN: 1036-7128
Vol. 12, Num. 1, 2002, pp. 3,4,6
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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 AusBiotechs 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 Presidents 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 AusBiotechs activities over the past few months are
as follows:
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AusBiotech staff resources: As Peter Riddles has
mentioned in his Presidents 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 AusBiotechs 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
AusBiotechs 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 AusBiotechs ability to deliver benefits to its members and we shall
have more on John and Fionas activities in the next edition of the journal.
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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.
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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.
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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 AusBiotechs 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 AusBiotechs 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.
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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. AusBiotechs 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 AusBiotechs
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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AusBiotechs Involvement in Conferences during 2002:
In addition to AusBiotechs main conference in August 2002 as mentioned
above, AusBiotech is involved in, or assisting with, a number of other conferences
during 2002. AusBiotechs involvement in conferences is part of the Biotechnology
Linkages element of the AusBiotech business plan, and a summary
of conference participation is as follows:
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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 AusBiotechs participation in the IBF in his Presidents 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 AusBiotechs 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 Presidents 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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