Queensland biotechnology report 2006

This report provides an overview and update of the state of play in the Queensland biotech industry. The report is based on publicly available data plus the results of a survey that was sent to 84 core biotech companies and 68 R&D institutions (including R&D centres) in the State. The survey was conducted in December 2005. Since 2003, when the 2003 Queensland Biotechnology Report was published, the Queensland government has committed further funding under the Queensland Biotechnology Strategy. In an industry where time-to-market can be many years, it is difficult to measure concrete progress in just two years. Nevertheless, there are clear signs of progress in many areas and the industry in the State is holding its own against larger States. In addition to tracking progress within the State, the report has benchmarked Queensland internationally in areas where international data were available and were directly comparable. Where this was achieved, it shows that Queensland, along with the rest of Australia, is in its infancy in relation to commercial biotechnology developments when compared to major markets in the US, Canada and Europe. However, both Queensland and Australia have much more substantial activity than many other countries. Further, the size and strength of the biotechnology industry other countries demonstrate the potential of biotechnology to contribute to the State's, and the country's, economy. This report is divided into 9 sections, all of which cover both companies and R&D institutions. The first section covers general economic performance. The second section covers commercialisation performance. This is followed by sections on R&D performance, education/skilling and conclusions. The methodology, comments on data sources and references are at the end of the report.