Exploring ‘bench to bedside’ investment opportunities

The Health Partnerships for the Future event, hosted by UQ’s Faculty of Health Sciences, will be held on Tuesday 30 October at Brisbane Customs House.

The event focuses on providing investors with insights on how to maximise opportunities arising from Queensland’s rapidly growing biotechnology industry.

The guest speaker will be Dr Robert A Fildes, past president and CEO of Cetus Corporation and past president and co-founder of Biogen Inc.

Fildes will share his experiences in the US biotechnology arena, including his time with the company that discovered PCR, a technology now used in many laboratories throughout the world.

Guests from both biomedical science and financial organisations will also hear about local bench to bedside partnering opportunities from Prof Nick Fisk, director of the UQ Centre for Clinical Research.

UQ Foundation 2006 Research Excellence Award winner, Assoc Prof Greg Montieth, will use the event to identify prospective early stage research collaboration and investment ventures, such as ‘FLIPR’ing’ out for future cancer research.

Executive dean of UQ’s Faculty of Health Sciences, Prof Peter Brooks, said the event will highlight the health/biotech connection impacting on the economic future of Queensland.

“Partnerships between health and business enterprises hold the key to potential medical breakthroughs, many of which will shape the future of global healthcare,” Brooks said.

“Our Health Partnerships for the Future showcase events make it possible for investors to establish connections with research organisations and play an important support role in influencing positive clinical outcomes.”