A boost for innovation in medical technologies and pharmaceuticals sector

The new industry led Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals Growth Centre will help the sector become more productive, innovative and internationally competitive.

Launching the Growth Centre, headquartered at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Mr Pyne, said the Growth Centre would help the sector seize the enormous opportunities ahead.

“Australia has world class researchers and businesses developing medical technologies and pharmaceutical goods,” Mr Pyne said.

“A key goal for this Growth Centre will be to forge better links between industry and Australia’s world-class researchers."  

While the Growth Centre will create a national footprint through additional ‘nodes’ situated within key universities across Australia. The Growth Centre will also work closely with a number of Cooperative Research Centres.

“The Government’s $225 million Industry Growth Centres Initiative is establishing five Growth Centres in key growth sectors,” Mr Pyne said.

The Growth Centre is to be established under the federal Government’s $225 million Industry Growth Centres initiative, designed to boost Australian industry’s competitiveness, productivity, and capacity to innovate.

The Growth Centre will be co-located with the Institute for Biomedical Engineering and Technology, in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies.

Professor Archie Johnston, dean of the faculty said: “We are delighted to have been recognised for our strength in medical technologies and pharmaceuticals research and industry engagement.

“The new Centre will draw on The University of Sydney strengths in a number of key areas including biomedical engineering and associated technologies.

“We also have the capacity to engage a network of over 1500 medical and biomedical researchers from our multidisciplinary research centres such as the Charles Perkins Centre and Brain and Mind

Research Centre and many university linked medical research institutes.

“The Growth Centre will allow the university to expand its engagement with medical technology and pharmaceutical companies nationally and internationally, including leading Australian medical technology companies to address their major technology and engineering challenges, to develop innovative products and processes and to ensure graduate skills align with industry needs,” Professor Johnston said.