A Chinese fund has invested A$45 million to accelerate the development and commercialisation of translational health and medical research outcomes from South Australia.
The new Adelaide China Biotech Investment Fund is backed by a group of private investors based in Nanjing, China. Led by Mr An LuFan, Executive Director of D&R Pharmaceuticals, one of China's leading drug development companies, the fund will focus on drug development and clinical diagnostics.
The investment will enable researchers from the University of Adelaide, University of South Australia, the state's hospitals and other institutions to develop proof of concept, undertake clinical trials, and bring new drugs and technologies to the global market.
The fund's establishment was led by Dr Stephen Rodda from the University of Adelaide and Dr JC Tan from UniSA Ventures.
'This new fund will enable our research to be taken to the next level, creating opportunities for the South Australia's health and biotech industry,' says Dr Rodda, Executive Director Innovation and Commercial Partnerships at University of Adelaide.
'Importantly, this will in turn create healthcare outcomes for the community, particularly in the form of new drugs that otherwise would not have existed without such funding support.'
'The fund would help advance a number of early-stage health technologies where funding is currently scarce,' says UniSA Ventures CEO Dr Viraj Perera.
'It will help break down the barriers that many health innovations face in obtaining the money they need to move their projects to stages where they become attractive for further capital injection.'
Adelaide is home to one of the largest multi-disciplinary health precincts in the Southern Hemisphere. This includes the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, the Royal Adelaide Hospital , University of South Australia Cancer Research Institute and University of Adelaide Health and Medical Sciences building.
