Palaszczuk Government marks anniversary of important life sciences resource

Minister for Innovation, Science and the Digital Economy Leeanne Enoch today (Wednesday) acknowledged the first 12 months of the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Partnering Office @ QUT.

Ms Enoch said the Brisbane office was a hugely important resource for Queensland’s life sciences industry.

“It plays a vital role in growing and nurturing our early-stage life sciences innovators, providing them with the skills and ideas they need to move their research along the commercialisation pipeline,” Ms Enoch said.

“Most of our biotech companies in Queensland have high levels of technical expertise. But that doesn’t always translate well into business success.

“We have set out to rectify this as part of our $420 million whole-of-government Advance Queensland initiative and we see the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Partnering Office @ QUT as an important partner in this space.”

Ms Enoch said the office was established after a meeting between the Premier and representatives of Johnson & Johnson Innovation at the 2015 BIO International Convention in the US.

“Queensland has enormous capability in life sciences – from our strong research infrastructure and scientific expertise to the energy and drive of our industry bodies,” she said.

“However to drive the industry forward - to really make Queensland a life sciences hub in the Asia-Pacific region - we need to develop key strategic alliances with some of world’s biggest players.

“This is to give us the connections to feed into global markets, and this is why we’ve sought out and built a partnership with Johnson & Johnson Innovation.”

The office is located at the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation at QUT’s Kelvin Grove campus.

It caters for healthcare and biotechnology researchers from across Queensland’s universities, as well as leading clinicians, entrepreneurs, investors, lawyers and IT specialists.

The office provides access to Johnson & Johnson Innovation’s vast international networks of experts to help develop the next generation of healthcare solutions across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and consumer healthcare.

In the past year, the office has held networking events, education seminars, roundtables and meetings for Queensland innovators, helping them develop the skills they need as they travel down the commercialisation route.

QUT Vice Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake said as a university for the real world, QUT was keen to see its research as part of the global innovation value chain and working with organisations like Johnson & Johnson Innovation was one of the steps on this journey.

“QUT is the host for the partnering office, but the office is an asset for all institutions in Queensland and the Asia-Pacific region,” Prof Coaldrake said.

ENDS

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