ClubBio 2002 – Biotechnology with a Sunshine Coast twist
In brief: Lorien Beazley discusses last week's 'ClubBio 2002 – Biotechnology with a Twist' conference, held in Coolum on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.
This was the second time the Queensland Chapter of AusBiotech has held its own conference. Following the successful meeting last year at SeaWorld on the Gold Coast, the Queensland biotechnology community rallied together again, this time on the Sunshine Coast, to talk shop, non-stop for the day
Top of the Pops
Members of the Queensland biotechnology sector take their science and their businesses very seriously. The science is dazzling and the wheeling and dealing that went on between sessions was equally so.
While the overall news about the industry is much the same as it was in August 2002 when the national AusBiotech conference was held (reviewed in a recent edition of Biotech News), the mood at this conference seemed far more positive. There was a clear indication that biotechnology businesses were planning for the future.
Key themes
Unlike AusBiotech 2002, there was not a strong focus on the financial aspects of biotechnology business. The message is still that venture capital funding is more selective, investors are still risk averse and the IPO window is still shut. However, there was a clear focus on organisations getting their house in order now, to be ready to jump when the market opens up.
Intellectual property protection remains a hot issue. In each of the business case studies presented by biotechnology companies, the speakers emphasised the need for the early protection of relevant (but not all) intellectual property. One company told how the company's patent attorney took the inventor of the technology to the US to convince the US Patent Office examiners that the Patent Office should allow the company to make broad patent claims. There is a clear recognition that the need for well thought out and organised IP protection is fundamental to the success of the company, and also to whether a potential US partner will take an Australian company seriously.
Program
The program was varied and included some new offerings, such as sessions on 'What makes biotechnology newsworthy?' and 'Dealing with the media'.
The plenary speaker was David Raksin, Business Analyst from diaDexus Inc who spoke about West Coast US experiences and also announced a licensing deal with Australia's largest medical research institution, the Queensland Institute of Medical Research.
While there were the usual sessions on 'emerging technologies', 'finance and start-ups' and 'commercialisation', the speaking line-ups came from unusual fields. For example:
- it was refreshing to hear physicist John Boldeman, Technical Director of the Australian Synchrotron Project, talk physics rather than biotechnology, explaining how and why the synchrotron is a valuable research tool for all industries, including biotechnology;
- unusually for a VC fund, the presentation from Queensland BioCapital Fund's Stephen Barnard (the Queensland Investment Corporation $100m venture capital fund), ended with a request for submissions for funding; and
- moving away from the focus on human biotechnological research, a whole session was dedicated to agricultural biotechnology. CSIRO Livestock Industries has a large presence in Queensland and both the CRC for Tropical Plant Protection and the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations are based in Queensland. This session covered plant biotechnology, sugarcane as a 'biofactory' and livestock issues.
Attendees
The event was another success for the local industry with numbers up on last year. Members of the Queensland State Government, including the Minister for Innovation and Information Economy, were there en masse as a sign of the State's commitment to the sector.
Also, a most encouraging sign for the industry was the number of university students who attended, most taking breaks from end of year exams to attend the conference. The industry has been screaming for business savvy scientists and it seems the students are listening.
ClubBio 2002 was organised by Ausbiotech Ltd (Queensland).