GSK Australia has developed the GSK Graduate Researcher Program, with support from MTPConnect’s Researcher Exchange and Development within Industry (REDI) initiative. The multinational pharmaceutical company gives PhD postgraduates a 12-month placement assigning them to lead on core projects in areas such as early product development, medical affairs and regulatory affairs. The idea is to build Industry capabilities of Australian researchers and establish their career foundations. MTPConnect hosts Caroline Duell and Jarrod Belcher, Director REDI program, catch up with Abraham Daniel, one of the graduate researchers selected for the first cohort in 2020, and his Manager Dr Lachlan Gray, a Medical Manager at ViiV Healthcare Australia, to find out more about the impact of this exciting program. ViiV Healthcare is an independent global specialist HIV company operating as a joint venture between GSK, Pfizer and Shionogi.

Australian company Synchron has developed a brain chip called the Stentrode that helps people with paralysis communicate by controlling digital devices with their thoughts.  The groundbreaking medical device is implanted into the motor cortex without open brain surgery. It has been trialed successfully with several Australian patients and is the first device to be approved by the FDA for a US clinical trial starting later this year. The project is making headlines around the world and is funded through MTPConnect’s BioMedTech Horizons program, an MRFF initiative. We catch up with the founders - Associate Professor Thomas Oxley, Synchron’s Chief Executive Officer, Vascular and Interventional Neurologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, and co-head of the Vascular Bionics Laboratory at the University of Melbourne, Australia and Associate Professor Nicholas Opie, Synchron’s Chief Technology Officer and co-head of the Vascular Bionics Laboratory at the University of Melbourne, Australia. www.synchron.com 

Australian MedTech startup, Vantari VR, has developed a virtual reality technology-based on flight simulation for medical training.  It’s already being used to teach life-saving medical procedures in several Australian hospitals. The technology is so good it’s attracted funding from one of the world’s largest video game developers! Dr Nishanth (Nish) Krishnananthan and Dr Vijay Paul, are clinicians, Co-CEOs and founders of this futuristic health tech which is revolutionising medical education and reducing medical error. We caught up with the duo to find out more about their bid to raise $2 million to support the US scale-up plans, and how demand has taken off for virtual reality training during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Strep A is a highly contagious bacteria responsible for more than half a million deaths every year and is developing resistance to antibiotics. In Australia, diseases caused by Strep A, such as rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease, disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The good news is an Australian led global initiative supported by the Medical Research Future Fund - the Australian Strep A Vaccine Initiative (ASAVI) - is aiming to free the world of this deadly infection by developing a vaccine. We chat with the co-directors of the initiative - Professor Jonathan Carapetis of the Telethon Kids Institute in Perth and Professor Andrew Steer at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne.

In this episode, we take you to our recent Collaboration and Skills Summit where we brought together a panel of industry experts to share their tips and experiences on how to maximise virtual partnering success at biotech conferences and meetings. 

You will hear from Colin Denver, CEO of SpeeDx Pty Ltd,  an Australian diagnostics company developing tests for infectious diseases including COVID-19. Colin shares his top tips for raising capital as a small company and doing deals online in the age of COVID-19.

If you are seeking new strategic partnerships for funding or collaboration this episode is packed full of helpful insights.  

SpeeDx is supported with funding from MTPConnect’s Biomedical Translation Bridge (BTB) Program. 

In this episode, we take you to the launch of our new report into Australia’s Clinical Trials sector held on International Clinical Trials Day in Melbourne.  MTPConnect brought together a panel of thought leaders to discuss the importance of clinical trials.

Hear insights from our esteemed panel chaired by Dr Dan Grant, MTPConnect's Managing Director and CEO.

• Carrie Bloomfield, Co-Chair,  R&D Taskforce, and Director Clinical Operations  GlaxoSmithKline Australia
• Dr Janelle Bowden, Managing Director AccessCR
• Dr Megan Robertson, Group Chief Research Officer @St Vincent’s Health Australia, and Chair AusBiotech Clinical Trial Advisory Group
• Prof John Zalcberg, Head, Cancer Research Program Monash University
• Dr Rebecca Tunstall, Senior Director Stakeholder Engagement  MTPConnect

MTPConnect's report 'Australia’s Clinical Trials Sector: Advancing innovative healthcare and powering economic growth' has been developed in partnership with L.E.K Consulting and will provide an essential reference for the sector. Download the report at www.mtpconnect.org.au/reports.

In this episode we take you to our recent Collaboration and Skills Summit where we brought together a panel of industry experts to share their tips and experiences on how to maximise virtual partnering success at biotech conferences and meetings. 

You will hear from Dr Nina Webster, the Managing Director & CEO of Dimerix Limited who shares the highs and lows of forming relationships and doing deals online in the age of COVID-19.

If you are seeking new strategic partnerships for funding or collaboration this episode is for you. 

This week’s edition of the MTPConnect podcast checks in with the Australian Technology Competition - Australia's national Competition, late-stage accelerator and partnerships program designed to identify and accelerate homegrown scaleups with global potential. Last year, Electrogenics Laboratories won the Australian Technology Company of the Year and also took out the Medtech and Pharma Award, for developing its MOSkin Sensor Technologies, an affordable wireless radiation sensor technology that precisely measures radiation skin doses. Host Shannan Osrin meets their Executive Chairman Kim Lyle who looks back on the impact of the win and the experiences gained, and shares tips on start-up success. Also joining the discussion is Patrick Mooney, Chair of Impact Tech Ventures, the organiser of the Competition. Now in its 11th year, the Competition is supported by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, MTPConnect and other Industry Growth Centres, and industry partners. Entries are now open for the Competition in eleven categories, including the Medtech & Pharma Award, and close on 10 May 2021. 

Tune in for part 2 of our 100th episode special, following our chat with Professor Kate Schroder, head of the Inflammasome Laboratory and Director of the Centre for Inflammation and Disease Research at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), University of Queensland and Professor Ian Henderson, the Director of IMB. We explore the story behind the milestone research discovery that could lead to a treatment for conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, Motor Neurone Disease – even asthma. The innovation was developed out of the UQ, in partnership with Trinity College in Dublin. And the start-up company spawned by the research – Inflazome - was recently acquired by Roche in a deal worth around $600 million, making it one of Australia’s largest ever biotech deals. We also explore the broader work of IMB and the international collaborative approach underpinning its research successes.

Happy 100th episode subscribers! We bring you part 1 of a special double episode following our chat with Professor Kate Schroder, head of the Inflammasome Laboratory and Director of the Centre for Inflammation and Disease Research at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), University of Queensland and Professor Ian Henderson, the Director of IMB. We explore the story behind the milestone research discovery that could lead to a treatment for conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, Motor Neurone Disease – even asthma. The innovation was developed out of the UQ, in partnership with Trinity College in Dublin. And the start-up company spawned by the research – Inflazome -- was recently acquired by Roche in a deal worth around $600 million, making it one of Australia’s largest ever biotech deals. We also explore the broader work of IMB and the international collaborative approach underpinning its research successes.