Research Australia and Vaxxas put Australian Health Innovation on the national agenda

The national peak body for health and medical research and innovation, Research Australia, partnered with Australian biotech company, Vaxxas, for a Health Innovation roundtable in Federal Parliament last month.

Together they brought around 70 health innovators together with Government representatives on 26 June to identify policy solutions to support the uptake of Australian health innovations on home soil.

The Policy Roundtable, hosted by the Australian National University, explored what is required by Australian enterprise to enable it to more consistently articulate the vital next steps, from R&D to procurement, to subsequent marketing and sales.

After the Roundtable, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Hon Milton Dick MP, hosted a Parliamentary Friends of Health and Medical Research event in the Speaker’s Courtyard at Parliament House. The Minister for Health, Mark Butler MP, and Shadow Health Minister, Minister Senator Anne Ruston, also attended.

Nadia Levin, CEO and Managing Director of Research Australia, said Australian health innovation represented 28% of all Australian R&D activity.

“Australia is leading the world in many health technologies and bringing them to market is key to facilitating better commercial, economic and social outcomes for Australia and Australians,” she said.

“The Australian Government’s recently announced ‘A Future Made inAustralia’ initiative and the National Reconstruction Fund are welcome, innovative new public policies, but more can be done to drive Australian medical, biotech and health innovation for the benefit of Australians’ health and wealth," she said.

“Today we put Australian health innovation on the national agenda,” Ms Levin said.

Vaxxas President and CEO, David Hoey, said Vaxxas took its role as a leader in Australian health innovation seriously.

“We want to do everything we can to support a flourishing national health innovation sector,” he said.

“We know first-hand the challenges Australian health innovators can face in accessing procurement and traversing complex regulatory pathways, among others."

“It’s great to be working with Research Australia to bring everyone together to identify policy solutions that can advance the whole sector.”

The key insights gathered from the Roundtable will be developed into policy proposals for future consideration by Federal Government and all political parties at the Commonwealth level.

Written by Sally Dillon in collaboration with Research Australia