Queensland gets new life sciences industry body
Tuesday, 07 December, 2010
Queensland is set to have a new industry body representing the full breadth of the life sciences and biotechnology industries with the establishment of Life Sciences Queensland (LSQ), which will launch in 2011.
The Queensland government has committed to provide funding during the establishment phase as well as the first four years of operation.
LSQ will fold in the existing Queensland Clinical Trials Network (QCTN), which was established in 2005 with support from the Queensland Government as part of its Smart State Initiative.
A number of Queensland institutions and biotechnology companies have also committed to fund LSQ for five years as Foundation supporters.
"Pleasingly, no-one asked twice about supporting it," Mario Pennisi, QCTN Chief Executive Officer, told ALS. "The Foundation supporters have put real cash on the table and committed for five years. That's a real commitment.
The move to establish a body to represent the whole of the life sciences industry came after Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh, saw at the BIO 2010 conference in Chicago how LifeSciences British Columbia operated and what it had achieved for the life sciences in Canada.
"The was a bit of a eureka moment for her," said Pennisi.
The body will work to represent the life sciences industry, serve as the "face" of the Queensland life science industry overseas, organise events and help the industry to better collaborate.
The business model aims to have LSQ be self supporting without requiring government assistance after five years.
A steering group has been formed to help get LSQ off the ground and to supervise the integration with QCTN, with Peter Riddles, who was instrumental in transforming the Australian Biotechnology Association into AusBiotech, as the chairman.
The head of the new body has yet to be chosen, although Pennisi indicated that he would be interested in the post.
Foundation supporters include Alchemia, Australian Insitute of Marine Science, Davies Collison Cave Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys, Ernst & Young, Griffith University, IpediMed, James Cook University, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the Queensland University of Technology, Sanofi Aventis, The University of Queensland and the University of the Sunshine Coast.
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