Palaszczuk Government announces new Life Sciences competition

The role of science and innovation in Queensland’s diverse economy has been dominating discussion at the Life Sciences in Parliament event today, when Minister for Science Leeanne Enoch announced a competition that will put our state’s life sciences industry on the map.

Minister Enoch said the first ever ‘Experience Queensland Life Sciences’ online competition was targeted at life sciences industry representatives in Australia and overseas and would encourage attendance at this year’s AusBiotech Conference, being held in Brisbane later this year.

Speaking at the sixth annual Life Sciences in Parliament event today, Ms Enoch said it was important to spread the message about the role science and innovation plays in feeding, fuelling and healing the world’s population.

“Our state’s science industry body, Life Sciences Queensland, which is running today’s Parliament event, has been essential in our competitive life sciences industry in Queensland,” Ms Enoch said.

“It is working to enhance our state’s national and international reputation as a leader in life sciences, and this is also what the online competition is aiming to achieve.

“The prize is for two full delegate conference passes to attend this year’s AusBiotech Conference in Brisbane, from 31 October to 2 November, which is the major life sciences industry event in Australia this year.

“It includes return airfares, accommodation and an opportunity to link in with visits to life science institutes in regional Queensland for satellite events and a glamping experience.”

Ms Enoch said the annual AusBiotech conference would attract representatives from the life sciences industry, including medical device manufacturers as well as medical, industrial and agricultural biotechnology firms.

“We anticipate that almost 1000 business leaders, investors and scientists from Australia and overseas will attend the conference, which is great news for Queensland,” Ms Enoch said.

“The Palaszczuk Government recognises the industry’s potential as a major income-earner for the state and as vitally important to the Government’s commitment to diversify the Queensland economy.”

The Minister said the Queensland Government would also use the upcoming BIO International Convention (BIO) in Boston from 4-7 June to attract international interest in the competition.

Life Science Queensland CEO Mario Pennisi said Life Sciences in Parliament provided insight into the successes the industry has had over the past 12 months as well the challenges it faced and what some of the solutions might be.

“The industry is growing in Queensland. We are getting some good runs on the board. But we are definitely an industry that is in it for the long-haul – any overnight successes in life sciences were fifteen years in the making. That’s the nature of the industry. The development of a medical drug can take up to 20 years, with Gardasil a good example of that,” Mr Pennisi said.

“But Queensland has some really important strengths that I think gives us the edge globally – we’ve set up an ecosystem that is strongly committed to translating research into commercial outcomes.

“We are very good at research. We have very good research facilities. We have a strong entrepreneurial culture. We have a great location in the Asia-Pacific region, with strong links to growing markets in Asia. And we have strong government commitment through initiatives like the Advance Queensland program. The industry is paying dividends now, but I think it will pay big time down the track.”

Entrants in the ‘Experience Queensland Life Sciences’ competition are required to write in 25 words or less why they want to experience Queensland life sciences during the AusBiotech conference. The two best entrants will be judged the winners.

The competition is open from today and closes on 30 June with the winner to be announced shortly after that.

For more information, visit http://www.lsq.com.au/ and http://ausbiotechnc.org/competition 

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