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Industry unites through COVID-19

Australian industry has a vital role to play in the COVID-19 response, with regard to both developing novel solutions and consolidating supply chain strength in the face of this and potential future pandemic threats. Australian industry has a critical role in ensuring supply of essential therapeutics and active pharmaceutical ingredients for vaccine and drug development.

The challenges and opportunities around industry engagement will be a key topic to be discussed and explored at the Ausbiotech + Invest 2020 conference later this month.

• Dr Felicia Pradera, Program Leader of the Medical Countermeasures Program at DMTC will be involved in the session titled Australian life science industry unites through COVID-19 , an expert panel discussing Industry’s response to COVID-19 on 28 October.
• Dr Leigh Farrell, Head of Health Security Strategy at DMTC, will chair the Evidence-Based Medicine and Precision Dosing session on 29 October. Dr Farrell will also introduce Professor Tanya Monro, Australia’s Chief Defence Scientist who is the keynote speaker on the final day of the conference. Professor Monro is also a member of DMTC’s Medical Countermeasures Stakeholder Group.

DMTC has been actively involved in the pandemic response, working closely with its industrial, government and academic partners, particularly through its Medical Countermeasures (MCM) Program, which is guided by a whole of government Stakeholder Group, including Commander Joint Health and Surgeon General of the ADF, the Chief Defence Scientist and other senior Government stakeholders. DMTC is well placed to rapidly mobilise and utilise its network of industrial and academic partners to contribute to the national pandemic response.

One of the diagnostic projects in the MCM portfolio has been able to pivot from broad spectrum bacterial and viral diagnostics to SARS-COV-2 detection, and another from viral sample processing to SARS-COV-2 sample processing. Meanwhile, two other MCM projects are involved in developing flow chemistry manufacturing supply chains for therapeutic assets. Lessons learnt from COVID-19 show how crucial these sovereign supply chains are in averting shortages of both active pharmaceutical ingredients and therapeutics that are in high global demand, and building in-country capabilities in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

AusBiotech + Invest 2020 – Australia’s largest life science conference is back and will be delivered online live 28 – 30 October and on-demand. More information on the conference and how to register can be found here.