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INVESTING IN NSW > Key Industries

Biotechnology


  • Sydney is home to 80% of multinational pharmaceutical companies in Australia, 70% of pharmaceutical companies with regional headquarters in Australia and 40% of Australia's biotechnology industry.
  • In 2003, the pharmaceutical industry in Australia spent A$520 million on research and development.
  • Ernst & Young ranks Australia as the number one biotechnology country in the Asia Pacific and sixth worldwide.
  • KPMG reports that that for biomedical R&D, Australia ranks second after Canada as the most cost-effective location ahead of the UK, US and Germany, in terms of labour, salaries, utilities and income tax.

Sydney and New South Wales (NSW) are at the forefront of biotechnology and pharmaceutical development and production in Australia.

Pharmaceutical operations
Global pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, Merck, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Wyeth, Abbott Pharmaceuticals and Schering Plough have established regional operations in Sydney to take advantage of its highly skilled, multilingual workforce, mature bioscience sector and competitive costs.

Eli Lilly operates a clinical outcomes and research institute in Sydney, where it designs, manages and analyses clinical research data for Australia, Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Canada.

Bioscience alliances
International alliances accounted for about 70% of the 84 Australian biotechnology alliances announced in 2004. Multinational pharmaceutical companies are forming alliances with world class NSW biotechnology companies to bring advances to the global marketplace.

Schering-Israel has engaged Sydney's Brain Resource Company to supply neurological data services to a multiple sclerosis study being conducted in Israel.

Human therapeutics
Organisations such as The Garvan Institute, St Vincent's Hospital, PacMab and Pharmaxis are conducting research into areas such as rheumatology, immunology, infectious diseases, oncology and neurology.

G2 Therapies is engaged in a major collaboration with Denmark's Novo Nordisk A/S to develop, manufacture and commercialise anti-inflammatory therapies.

Platform technology
World recognised companies including as Proteome Systems, Minomic and Medsaic are leaders in genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics, microarray technology and nanotechnologies.

Life Therapeutics has developed cell separation technology to isolate healthy sperm to increase the likelihood of fertilisation.

Diagnostics and biologics
Diagnostic testing for infectious diseases, biomarkers and toxins in foods are some of the areas covered by companies such as Cellabs and Dermatech.

Cellabs has won significant international support for its malaria test kits now being used in developing countries.

Clinical trials
Australia is ranked the third most cost-effective location for clinical trials after the Netherlands and Canada. Having a broad multicultural population and highly trained clinicians, Sydney leads clinical trials in Australia with large clinical research organisations such as GlaxoSmithKline, Covance, Quintiles, Roche, Novotech, Datapharm and ICP Firefly.

The George Institute for International Health has more than 100 staff working on collaborative trials and projects spanning 40 countries to treat problems including heart disease, injury and mental illness.

Biomedical devices and technology
World recognised NSW medical device companies such as ResMed, Cochlear, Ventracor and Portland Orthopaedics have expertise in instrumentation, electronics and engineering, with successful applications in cardiovascular treatment, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, hearing implant technology and sleep apnoea.

Complementary medicines
Companies such as CompleMED, Blackmores and Global Therapeutics are engaged in product development, research into efficacy, training and clinical trials.

NSW Government support for biotechnology
The NSW Department of State and Regional Development offers companies involved in life sciences:

  • programs to help develop bioscience operations
  • opportunities to build alliances
  • business planning support
  • intermediary support
  • advocacy within government
  • other assistance on a case by case basis.

For more information

Investment Division | +61 2 9338 6641 | investment@business.nsw.gov.au