The MTPConnect Podcast

Omico is leading Australia’s largest cancer genomics initiative –giving 23,000 Australians nationwide with advanced or incurable cancers, access to genomic profiling to detect unique genetic variations in their tumours to identify potential matches to new targeted treatments options. It is opening up new treatment pathways, extending lives and attracting more international trials to Australia.

Professor David Thomas, renowned for his groundbreaking work in precision oncology, is the founder and Chief Science and Strategy Officer of Omico - the Australian Genomic Cancer Medicine Centre. 

In this episode, host Caroline Duell speaks with Professor Thomas to find out more about his mission to open up new treatment options for all cancer patients using genomics, the impact of pan tumour therapies on our healthcare system, and why we need to change the way we look at cancer care and cure right now before more people die unnecessarily.

Biocom California is the US state’s advocate for the life sciences industry with a network of over 1700 members. With offices located in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Washington, D.C, and Tokyo the group is focused on building international collaborations and networks to bring new medicines to patients.

MTPConnect recently signed an MoU with Biocom California during a visit to San Diego for the 2024 BIO Convention to strengthen ties between the US and Australian life sciences sector. 

In this episode, MTPConnect CEO Stuart Dignam joins host Caroline Duell to chat with Co-founder, President and CEO of Biocom California, Joe Panetta, about the Biocom California journey that began more than thirty years ago to advocate for the Californian life science sector, one of the leading innovation hubs in the world. Joe shares his top tips for Australian companies looking to move into the US market and talks about Biocom California’s upcoming Global Life Science Partnering and Investor Conference in February 2025 in La Jolla which will provide an important avenue for companies to connect with investors. Australian biotech companies are encouraged to attend this event!

Back in June, MTPConnect led the Australian delegation at BIO 2024 in San Diego organising a range of activities to showcase Australia’s innovative life sciences sector to the international biotech industry. With a powerful #TeamAustralia focus and a 500-strong delegation from Australia, BIO2024 was the biggest and best ever! 

In this BIO Bites episode, hosts Caroline Duell and Stuart Dignam catch up with Australian and global companies, entrepreneurs and researchers doing business at BIO and find out what all the buzz is about at the world's largest biotech partnering event. 

We take a tour around San Diego’s ecosystem catching up with Rachel Rath from the Blue Knight Initiative at J&J Innovation’s JLABS who are supporting early-stage companies, and Dena Marrinucci from US startup Truvian Health who are working with Planet Innovation on a portable blood testing platform. At the Australian Pavilion we chat with University of Adelaide ’s Prof Mark Hutchinson on defence and the SABRE Alliance and find out how statistics and AI are adding value to the life sciences sector with Adelaide Data Science Centre’s Dr Melissa Humphries. Topelia Australia’s David Fox talks about their antiviral therapeutic targeting coronavirus infections, Bridgewest Ventures’ Saum Vahdat explains their investment in drug manufacturing in Australia and Attentive Science Australia’s Holly Stefl discusses their recent expansion into the clinical trial ecosystem in Australia. 

Back in June, MTPConnect led the Australian delegation at BIO 2024 in San Diego organising a range of activities to showcase Australia’s innovative life sciences sector to the international biotech industry. With a powerful #TeamAustralia focus and a 500-strong delegation from Australia, BIO2024 was the biggest and best ever! 

In this BIO Bites episode, hosts Caroline Duell and Stuart Dignam catch up with Australian and global companies, entrepreneurs and researchers doing business at BIO and find out what all the buzz is about at the world's largest biotech partnering event. 

We take you to the Australian Global VIP Networking and Business Reception held on Coronado Island, as special guest John F Crowley, BIO’s President and CEO, welcomes guests in a very inspirational way and Australia’s Minister for Industry and Science the Hon Ed Husic MP who spearheaded the delegation, makes an address to the global audience to raise Australia’s credentials as a global hub for advanced biomanufacturing and clinical trials. We take in a site visit tour around San Diego’s ecosystem and catch up with Illumina’s Dr Emma Ball about the latest in DNA sequencing technologies enabling research discovery and personalized health. And head to the Australian Pavilion to chat to Pending AI’s David Cardoso about their drug discovery platform enabled by artificial intelligence and quantum mechanics, Gelomics’ Christoph Meinert discusses their 3D cell culture technology for animal-free research and Bellberry’s Kylie Sproston discusses the lure of Australia as an attractive destination for clinical trials.

Diabetes affects one in 20 people. An important initiative to set up a ‘virtual’ emergency department designed for people living with diabetes has launched in Melbourne, Victoria during National Diabetes Week, with the aim of preventing unnecessary trips to hospital. 

The Victorian Virtual Emergency Department-Diabetes Service will be added to the existing Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED) giving patients 24/7 online video access to emergency nurses and doctors. As a world first, this new model of care will add a roster of diabetes specialists on weekend and evening shifts, when diabetes patients are most likely to present to a hospital emergency department.

Joining the podcast to talk about this new initiative is endocrinologist Professor Elif Ekinci, Director of Diabetes at Austin Health, Head of Department of Medicine at University of Melbourne, and Director of the Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations(ACADI). ACADI was established in 2022 through MRFF funding from the Australian Government’s Targeted Translation Research Accelerator (TTRA) program, delivered by MTPConnect.

Also joining the discussion is Northern Health’s Dr Loren Sher, an emergency specialist who led development of Australia’s first virtual emergency department model, now operating as a Victorian state-wide service. Loren has been instrumental in working with Elif to get the diabetes service up and running. 

Hosts are Caroline Duell, MTPConnect’s Director Media and Communications and Lauren Kelly, Senior Director of the TTRA program.

ARM Hub is a technology adoption hub based in Brisbane, with a focus on robotics, AI and design for manufacture for biomedical, energy and defence industries.

The not for profit was recently appointed as one of four AI Adopt Centres by the Government to provide a service for SMEs that demonstrates how data and AI can modernise business, build skills and boost productivity. ARM Hub is also leading the Australian Manufacturing Capability Network (AMCN) as an Industry Partner Organisation for the Industry Growth Program to help participating small and medium businesses bring new products and services to market.

Podcast host Caroline Duell caught up with ARM Hub’s Chief Operating Officer Samuel Jesuadian at BIO 2024 in San Diego, where MTPConnect and ARM Hub unveiled a joint accelerator to help biomedical companies harness the power of data and artificial intelligence (AI).

The Biomedical AI Sprints Accelerator will provide matched funding up to $50,000 to upskill a selected number of high growth companies in the use of AI and data analytics, provide access to affordable data management infrastructure, and create a tech-ready workforce. Find out more about the program and how to apply – EOIs close 30 July 2024.
Visit the ARM Hub website.

The Clinical Translation and Commercialisation Medtech (CTCM) program aims to boost commercialisation of home-grown medical products. It is delivered by MTPConnect on behalf of the Medical Research Future Fund.

WA-based VitalTrace is one of the companies participating in the CTCM program and developing a groundbreaking medical device to revolutionise fetal monitoring during childbirth. The company has set up an Australian-based manufacturing facility, received FDA Breakthrough device designation and will soon start its first clinical trial with mothers and babies. 

Joining host Caroline Duell on the podcast is Dr Chuong Phan, VitalTrace’s Manufacturing Lead, to share more about the progress and translation of DelivAssure, a unique biosensor innovation.

This episode comes to you from a special medtech event held in Melbourne and hosted by MTPConnect’s CTCM program and QUT’s The BridgeTech Program. The Design to Manufacturing Tours brought together a number of medtech startups to visit some of Australia’s leading medical manufacturing operations.

Back in 2022, the Government of Western Australia issued a global challenge for a world-leading medical research and innovation solution to resolve a pressing problem of health service delivery in the remote Pilbara region.

Ten projects were selected as finalists and given 12 months proof of concept funding to deliver their solution on the ground in the Pilbara. With the competition ending in October, the best solution will be selected to take home the $5 million prize supported by WA government’s Future Health Research and Innovation Fund, Rio Tinto and BHP. 

To give us an update, we catch up with the WA Minister for Medical Research, the Honourable Stephen Dawson MLC and RioTinto’s Dampier Salt General Manager Operations, Laura Thomas.

Joining Caroline Duell on the podcast is co-host Dr Tracey Wilkinson, MTPConnect’s Director of Stakeholder Engagement in WA at the WA Life Sciences Innovation Hub. 

To find out more about The Challenge and the ten finalists visit the website. 

The Australian Stroke & Heart Research Accelerator (ASHRA) was established in early 2022 as part of the Targeted Translation Research Accelerator – a program delivered by MTPConnect for the Medical Research Future Fund.

This is a research centre with a difference. Lead by Australia’s foremost heart and stroke researchers, ASHRA is aiming to transform the field of cardiovascular and stroke research in Australia by bringing a new sector-wide focus on clinical impact and entrepreneurship.

ASHRA’s Director, Professor Clara Chow in Sydney and ASHRA’s Deputy Director Professor Stephen Nicholls in Melbourne, join host Caroline Duell to discuss why a research accelerator of this kind is needed, how ASHRA’s pioneering model is bringing together a likeminded academic and clinical community to drive change, and how they are collaborating with industry to deliver improved outcomes for Australians. 

Professor Clara Chow is a distinguished cardiologist and clinical researcher, Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney and serves as the Academic Director of the Westmead Applied Research Centre.

Professor Stephen Nicholls is a world-renowned cardiologist, inaugural Director of the Victorian Heart Institute and a Professor of Cardiology at Monash University. He also leads the Victorian Heart Hospital (VHH) - Australia's first dedicated heart hospital.

This is the first episode in series on ASHRA. 

Radiopharmaceuticals are precision nuclear medicines used for medical imaging and treatment that allow doctors to diagnose and deliver targeted therapies for diseases such as cancer. 

A new discussion paper from MTPConnect, ‘From Mines to Medicines. Australia’s Radiopharmaceuticals Future’ reveals how Australia is ready to play a leading role in the rise of the global radiopharmaceutical industry, as advanced therapies drive significant investment and rapid expansion. South Australia is identified as the ideal location to lead the development of Australia’s radiopharmaceuticals future, with end-to-end capabilities – from unique mining assets and a robust research ecosystem through to cutting-edge clinical services and specialised workforce. 

In this feature length episode, hosts Caroline Duell and Dana Bell, MTPConnect’s Partnerships Director South Australia, speak to experts in South Australia along the supply chain - from mines to medicines including: 

• UniSAs Professor Eva Bezak, Deputy Director of the Australian Research Council’s Industrial Transformation Training Centre (ITTC) for Radiation Innovation (Time code: 10.32) on researching new radiopharmaceuticals and building a highly skilled workforce to scale up,  

• SAHMRI’s Chady Barkil, Director, Molecular Imaging and Therapy Research Unit (MITRU) (Time code: 35.43) on manufacturing nuclear medicines and the supply chain challenges,

• EntX's Dr Massey de Los Reyes, Principal Scientist and Facilities Manager, on developing technology to transform mining waste into medical isotope production (at Time code: 57.36),

• Novartis ANZ’s Matt Zeller, Country President (Time code: 1.17.03) on how the company is reimagining cancer care with its precision nuclear medicine pipeline,

• Artesian’s Stephanie Morris, Investment Manager (Time code: 1.36.02) discusses the investment activity and interest in the growing radiopharmaceuticals market and,

• Department for Industry, Innovation and Science’s Dr Judy Halliday, Director Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Time code: 1.48.06) outlines South Australia’s strengths as a first mover to unlock the radiopharmaceutical industry opportunity.