In Case You Missed It: Here’s What The MTPConnect Team Has Been Up To in December

13 January 2023

MTPConnect Publishes 2022 Annual Report Out Now
We published our 2022 Annual Report highlighting our growth activities and the six strategic funding programs for DISR and the Medical Research Future Fund that have so far injected $141.2 million into Australia’s medical products sector, supporting 184 medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical projects – with more funding to be deployed in coming years.

TTRA Announced Indigenous-Specific Priority Research Areas for Third Round Projects
MTPConnect announced the three priority areas for an upcoming round of funding under the Targeted Translation Research Accelerator (TTRA) initiative focused on addressing unmet health and medical needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in rural, remote, regional and urban centres. We launched our Round 3 guidelines ahead of the third round of TTRA Research Projects, which opens 30 January 2023. An Information session is scheduled for 6 February 2023.

Podcast Featured Minomic and Bonus TTRA Indigenous Health Research Webinar
This month's episodes featured a podcast version of our recent TTRA webinar, 'Principles of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research and engaging meaningfully with community'. And in our final episode for 2022, host Caroline Duell chatted with Minomic International's CEO and Managing Director, Dr Brad Walsh about the MiCheck Prostate Cancer Test and the company’s commercialisation journey towards its US launch.

WA Life Sciences Innovation Hub Celebrates Innovation and Collaboration
The WA Innovation Hubs celebrated another year of innovation and collaboration in December. MTPConnect’s Manager Stakeholder Engagement, WA Dean Nedelkos, presented 22 highlights from the WA Life Sciences Innovation Hub alongside colleagues from the WA Data Science Innovation Hub, WA AustCyber Innovation Hub, and the Creative Technology Innovation Hub. Guests also heard from the Hon. Stephen Dawson, WA Minister for Innovation and Medical Research, about the importance and opportunities of innovation in the WA ecosystem.

CSIRO Leads Health and Medical Research Delegation to Korea
MTPConnect joined a health and medical research delegation to Korea at the end of November organised by CSIRO and Austrade. The program involved briefings and site visits with companies, research groups and hospitals operating in the cities of Seoul, Sejong, Osong and Songdo, Korea, including Samsung Biologics, Cytiva, Celltrion, Daewoong Pharmaceutical Company, National Research Council for Science and Technology and KoNECT (Korea National Enterprise for Clinical Trials). The purpose of the visit was to better understand Korea’s capabilities in clinical trial research and the advanced manufacturing of biologicals, including workforce training, to strengthen relationships for potential industry (and government) collaborations.

TTRA Research Centre ASHRA Holds Inaugural Annual Partnering Summit
The Australian Stroke and Heart Research Accelerator (ASHRA) held its first Annual Partnering Summit at Westmead Innovation Centre on 9 December 2022. Hosted jointly with MTPConnect’s Targeted Translation Research Accelerator (TTRA) program, the Summit focused on ‘Acceleration: mapping the right routes, avoiding speed bumps and planning for a successful journey’.

Closing the Skills Gap in Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing - Launch of Good Manufacturing Practice Training for Human Health Products
Developed by the Centre for Biopharmaceutical Excellence (CBE) with support from our Researcher Exchange and Development within Industry (REDI) initiative, the recently launched GMP Uplift programs recognised the need for sovereign manufacturing and will help close the skills gap in the Australian MedTech Pharma sector.