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Vous trouverez dans ce quatrième numéro un dossier spécial sur les meilleurs salons professionnels d'Australie, un résumé de l'actualité des secteurs porteurs ainsi qu'une présentation des services d'appui aux entreprises proposés par la FACCI.

Nous vous invitons à surfer sur la vague d'opportunités que présente l'Australie !

20 Avril | Old age and new bugs

23 Avril | Victoria well-placed to deliver bionic eye

Article paru le 23 Avril 2009 dans la lettre d'information publiée par " Invest Victoria "

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Victorian Innovation Minister Gavin Jennings welcomed the Federal Government’s $50.7 million investment to develop an advanced bionic eye and said Victoria was well-placed to deliver the project.

The new fund, to be administered by the Australian Research Council, will help to develop a high resolution bionic eye implant capable of restoring reading vision to people suffering from degenerative retinal conditions that account for 48 per cent of all adult blindness in Australia.

"I commend the Rudd Government on its decision to fund the accelerated development of a bionic eye as part of its response to last year’s 2020 summit as this funding is the crucial next step in advancing this technology,” Mr Jennings said.

“Victoria is well-placed to receive the lion’s share of this funding and will be assisting a world-class consortium to bid for the project.

“This funding is exactly the kind of support needed by Bionic Vision Australia’s outstanding researchers to help make bionic eye technology a reality for Australians with degenerative or inherited retinal diseases.”

“Australia has a proven track record for world-class research and technology innovation. We know the technology for developing a bionic eye is achievable and that Australian researchers are at the forefront of this research,’’ he said.

Mr Jennings said Bionic Vision Australia, a Victorian-headquartered partnership set up with the help of a $600,000 grant from the Brumby Government, had the technology skills needed for the bionic eye project.

“This funding announcement is excellent news for Australia and we encourage the support of the Bionic Vision Australia partnership, recognised as the Australian group with the skills and the technology knowledge best placed to advance this research,” he said.

Launched in November last year, Bionic Vision Australia is a partnership between the University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales, the Victoria Research Laboratory of National ICT Australia (NICTA) and Melbourne’s Bionic Ear Institute and Centre for Eye Research Australia.

Since 1999 the Victorian Government has invested more than $3.39 billion into Victoria’s innovation and technology programs, the largest such commitment of any state government.

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Article paru le 28 Avril 2009 dans la lettre d'information publiée par " Invest Victoria "

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A $14.7 million upgrade to the new beamline at the Australian Synchrotron in Melbourne will allow scientists to research cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis more quickly and accurately.

The upgrade means the Australian Synchrotron will become one of only three facilities in the world to use synchrotron technology for the treatment of cancer.

Victorian Premier John Brumby said the upgrade would help enable biomedical imaging of human tissue that allows scientists to see the early signs of cancer tumour formation.

“This is another example of this successful collaboration to bring world-leading expertise and technical capabilities to Australia’s research and clinical communities,” he said.

The Australian Synchrotron, which is about the size of football field, accelerates electrons to near the speed of light and deflects them through magnetic fields to create extremely bright light. The light is then channelled down beamlines to where scientists can work out the structure of matter by looking at the patterns of light. Most synchrotron work is research rather than treatment-related.

The synchrotron is also involved in the ongoing research into possible treatments for emerging diseases such as pandemic flues, including swine flu.

Victorian Innovation Minister Gavin Jennings said scientists from Monash University will use the synchrotron’s new beamline for microbeam radiotherapy (MRT) which allows cancer radiation treatment to be more accurately targeted to prevent damage to healthy cells surrounding a tumour.

“The investigation of heart disease and type II diabetes will be a use of the beamline while scientists will also use the facility to develop x-ray imaging techniques to determine the precise location of implanted stem cells that have been designed to treat and repair damaged tissue,” he said.

“The new facility will allow faster and more accurate research into areas such as osteoporosis, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis and lung development of premature babies. It will also support non-medical x-ray imaging applications, such as forensics, archaeology, mineral research and art conservation.”

Mr Jennings commended the researchers from around Australia, in particular Monash University, who secured the funding for the new beamline from the National Health and Medical Research Council.

The Commonwealth Government has contributed $13.2 million towards the new facility and the Victorian Government has provided $1.5 million.

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07 Mai | World-class cancer centre to be built in Melbourne

Communiqué paru le 07 Mai 2009 sur le site web du "Premier of Victoria " www.premier.vic.gov.au

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A $1 billion world-class cancer centre will be built in Melbourne to drive the next generation of progress in the prevention, detection and treatment of cancer.

The Parkville Comprehensive Cancer Centre will house the nation’s leading cancer researchers and is set to speed up the discovery of new treatments.

The centre will be jointly funded by the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments, contributing $852.2 million, with the remainder to be funded from the sale of surplus land, the private sector and philanthropic donations.

“This purpose built centre will ensure Australia stays of the global forefront of cancer care,” Victorian Premier John Brumby said.

“Our aim is for this centre to be one of the top ten cancer centres of the world.

“The new centre will draw together the very best in cancer research and education, but will also ensure that cancers, including rare and complex cancers, are able to be treated at the very highest standard.

“Investment in the Parkville Comprehensive Cancer Centre will enable Victoria and Australia to save lives and improve quality of life for thousands of people,” he said.

Over 100,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed each year. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare estimates that one in three men and one in four women will be diagnosed with cancer before the age of seventy-five.

Last year, the Victorian Government launched its $150 million Cancer Action Plan which aims to increase cancer survival rates by a further 10 per cent by 2015 - saving 2000 lives.

Mr Brumby said the new cancer facility will be a significant research, training and knowledge resource for this ambitious target to be achieved.

“This project is another example of the Victorian Government working shoulder to shoulder with the Commonwealth Government to deliver world leading health facilities,” he said.

Federal Health and Ageing Minister Nicola Roxon said Australia had a leading reputation in the provision of cancer care.

“While there have been significant increases in survival rates over the last 20 years for most types of cancer, the number of new cases and deaths from cancer is steadily rising with the ageing of the population,” Ms Roxon said.

“This new facility will accelerate the development of new cancer treatments and improve cancer care for sufferers.”

Built on the former dental hospital site in the Parkville precinct, the new centre will bring leading cancer research and treatment institutes; the Peter McCallum Cancer Centre; the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Melbourne Health which includes the Royal Melbourne Hospital; the University of Melbourne; the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and the Royal Women’s Hospital under one roof.

Victorian Health Minister Daniel Andrews said this alliance would provide a unique environment for the sharing of ideas and knowledge, which will in turn translate into improved patient outcomes.

“The centre will improve patient access to clinical trials, and improve care for patients with rare tumours and others forms of cancer,” Mr Andrews said.

“It will also give young cancer specialists, researchers and medical staff first-rate training and experience – helping us develop a new generation of world-class cancer experts.”

The new facility would include 194 in-patient beds, 110 same-day treatment places and eight medi-hotel beds, as well as more than 30,000 square-metres of research space capable of accommodating up to 1400 researchers and a clinical trials facility with 24 treatment places.

“Evidence from around the world shows conclusively that co-location of cancer research and treatment provides the best possible patient outcomes,” Victorian Innovation Minister Gavin Jennings said.

Demolition works on the site will commence in June with construction of the comprehensive cancer centre to begin in the first half of 2011. The centre is expected to be completed in by 2015.

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Article paru le 12 Mai 2009 sur le site web de "Ausbiotech ", l'association officielle de l'industrie des biotechnologies en Australie

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On 12 May 2009, the Federal Budget delivered much-needed tax credits that will benefit biotechnology companies.
In a well-earned win for biotech and small innovative companies, Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research made a welcome announcement of 45% refundable tax credits for research and development, which will be available to companies in tax loss. This will provide significant benefit to biotechnology companies with a turnover under $20M.
In the announcements totalling $8.58B, which Minister Carr said “constituted a 25% increase, the largest annual increase in spending in science and innovation since records began in 1978/79,” were measures to flow through to the private sector, including:

• 45% refundable tax credits for companies with turnover under $20M;
• 40% tax credits for companies with revenues over $20M;
• $196.1M for a Commonwealth Commercialisation Institute, with the details to be determined as part of a consultation process with key stakeholders, including industry;
• $83M for follow-on funding for venture capital; and
• a National Enabling Technologies Strategy of $39M to allow the National Measurement Institute to provide for the establishment of a mature national policy framework for enabling technologies such as nanotechnology and biotechnology.

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25 Mai | US biotech selects Sydney for Asia-Pacific headquarters

Article paru le 25 Mai 2009 sur le site web du "NSW Department of State and Regional Development"

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The Australian Minister for Trade, Simon Crean, has welcomed the decision by the United States healthcare and technology company, Entra Health Systems, to choose Sydney for its Asia-Pacific headquarters.

Entra Health Systems’ MyGlucoHealth’ diabetic meters will be the world’s first Bluetooth-enabled blood glucose meters available in Australia, New Zealand and the Asia Pacific. The company’s Sydney headquarters will manage the roll out of the diabetic meters across the Asia Pacific region.

Mr Crean said that Entra Health Systems’ decision to select Sydney as its Asia Pacific headquarters reinforces Australia’s strong global reputation within biotechnology and biomedical fields.

“Australia is the leading location of biotechnology companies in Asia Pacific,” he said. “There are 471 biotechnology companies of which 49 per cent are involved in therapeutics, 15 per cent in agricultural biotechnology and 13 per cent in diagnostics.”

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Article paru le 29 Mai 2009 dans le supplément " Business Day " du quotidien The Age

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The US government has placed a $US180 million ($232 million) order with CSL for vaccine antigen to swine flu as part of its preparations to combat a flu pandemic.

CSL said on Friday the vaccine antigen for A(H1N1) influenza would be manufactured in Australia.

The contract has been signed with a CSL subsidiary, CSL Biotherapies.

The vaccine will be manufactured at CSL's facility in Parkville, in Victoria, and will be tested in clinical trials funded by US Department of Health and Human Services.

CSL said the contract also provided the US government with the opportunity to use CSL's antigen filling and finishing capability at the company's manufacturing plants in Kankakee, Illinois, in the US, and in Marburg, in Germany.

"CSL will maintain its commitment to supply seasonal influenza vaccines to Australia, the US and other markets," CSL said in a statement on Friday, including the Swine flu vaccine.

"CSL's partnership with HHS to address the serious threat to public health that the A(H1N1) virus represents, is confirmation that we are a leader in the global influenza vaccines market," CSL chief executive Brian McNamee said.

CSL said the $US180 million order was an initial amount.

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