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| Commercial Ready Programs Scrapped |
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26 May 2008 Commercial Ready was a competitive, merit-based program delivered by AusIndustry, providing between $50,000 and $5 million in dollar for dollar research project funding. Funding between $50,000 and $250,000 was provided through Commercial Ready Plus. The decision to drop the programs comes after the announcement in January 2008 of the Government’s review of the National Innovation System, but well before publication of the results of the review. A Green Paper from the review panel is expected to be delivered to the Government in July, followed by a Government White Paper later in the year. Replacement programs are expected to be announced concurrently with the White paper, but in the interim, several industries face a funding dilemma in continuing research programs within Australia. Ausbiotech CEO Dr Anna Lavelle says they have heard from a number of CEOs of biotechnology companies that they are considering offshore options as a result of the annoucnement. Dr. Lavelle said, “one in three dollars from the Commercial Ready programs went to emerging biotechnology companies to assist them with commercialisation and proof of concept. The program gave assistance to biotechnology companies that couldn’t access R&D tax concessions because they were not yet revenue positive.” Of course, the concern is that this situation will result in a drop in skills retention in industry in Australia and a reduced rate in the protection of intellectual property and the commercialisation of existing opportunities on these shores. It is anticipated that Senator Kim Carr, the Minister for Innovation, Science and Research will be keen to push for the development of programs designed to ensure long term growth of innovative industry in Australia, so we eagerly await announcements of replacement programs. On the Bright Side in Biotech….. The BioBusiness Proof of Concept Grant helps NSW life science companies take projects from research to early stage commercialisation. The program supports proof of concept projects to stimulate innovation and drive productivity in the life science industry. Applications must be made on the BioBusiness Proof of Concept Grant application form. The BioBusiness Proof of Concept Grant application form and guidelines, including eligible expenditure, can be downloaded from: http://www.business.nsw.gov.au/industry/biotechnology/proof_of_concept.htm. Successful applicants for the second round of funding will be decided and publicly announced by Wednesday 1 October 2008. For advice and guidance on eligibility of projects and expenditure and on completing the application form, contact the Department of State and Regional Development on telephone (02) 9338 6622 or email
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