Regular news from state and federal governments.
- ABARE reports on GM products
- Beattie calls on Federal biotech involvement
- Federal bioinformatics grant
- Federal government attacked over Bill delay
- Labor would safeguard PBS
- Lipobay drug recall
- PBAC new guidelines
- Research grants in decline
- Victorian biotech boom
ABARE reports on GM products
10 August 2001 – According to a report by the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics, consumers are becoming less resistant to genetically modified products and are less willing to pay higher prices for GM-free products, the Australian Financial Review has reported. ABARE doubts that GM-free products yield higher returns. Among other things, the report has found that the use of GM wheat crops in the US has increased exports by up to 11 per cent. The increased profits, however, may be offset by the cost of segregating GM and non-GM crops.
[Source: The Australian Financial Review – Brendan Pearson]
Beattie calls on Federal biotech involvement
31 July 2001 – Following the Queensland Government trade mission to BIO2001 this year, Premier and Trade Minister Mr Peter Beattie has called on the Federal Government to recognise the potential offered by biotechnology by sending a leading minister to next year's conference. At his third annual BIO conference as Premier of Queensland, Mr Beattie also welcomed Victoria's first attendance.
[Source: Government Announcement]
Federal bioinformatics grant
8 August 2001 – The Federal Government today announced a $750,000 grant to establish a bioinformatics unit for medical research into health and disease within the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney. The new facility will be named the Peter Wills Centre for Bioinformatics. The grant will be financed out of the government's Biotechnology Centre of Excellence program as part of the Backing Australia's Ability initiative.
[Source: Government Announcement]
Federal government attacked over Bill delay
31 July 2001 – The shadow Minister for Health, Ms Jenny Macklin, has accused the Federal Government of delaying the implementation of a new national electronic health recording system which is expected to save $25 million over the first four years. The Better Medication Management System Bill was not ready because Health Minister Dr Michael Wooldridge's focus group had rejected the Bill because it lacked comprehensive details and had privacy protection concerns, she said.
[Source: The Australian Financial Review – Michelle Singer]
Labor would safeguard PBS
8 August 2001 – Federal Opposition health spokeswoman, Ms Jenny Macklin, said a Labor government would safeguard the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from future bilateral trade negotiations. Her comments were prompted by recent talks of a free trade agreement with the US, where it is feared that the PBS represents a market access barrier. The US pharmaceutical industry body, PHRMA, is highly critical of the PBS which, it says, underprices innovative drugs. The Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, will visit Washington in September to begin free trade negotiations. A spokesman for the Health Minister, Dr Michael Wooldridge, said the PBS was not on the agenda for the upcoming talks.
[Source: The Australian Financial Review – Chelsey Martin]
Lipobay drug recall
10 August 2001 – Cholesterol-lowering drug Lipobay (also under the name Kazak) has been removed from the worldwide market following the death of 31 patients. The Age has reported that as many as 141 adverse reactions in Australia have been associated with the drug. The manufacturer, Bayer, and the Therapeutic Goods Administration have been working together to recall the drug. The adverse reaction, which mostly occurred when the drug was taken with gemfibrozil, has often been caused by a condition called rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of muscles.
[Source: The Age – Brett Foley]
PBAC new guidelines
9 August 2001 – Members of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee are now banned from owning shares in pharmaceutical companies under new guidelines agreed to by the 12-member committee, The Age has reported. New members will have to declare any dinners, trips and other benefits they have received from drug companies, but may hold shares in biotech companies that have not or are not applying for subsidies under the PBS. Members must also declare any investments in managed investment funds that focus on the health and biotech sector, money received from a drug company for research and education purposes, conferences attended as a guest of a drug company, and research conducted on behalf of drug companies.
[Source: The Age – Darren Gray]
Research grants in decline
31 July 2001 – The Australian Vice-chancellors' Committee has revealed that there has been a 6 per cent decline in the number of applicants for postgraduate scholarships, and a 3 per cent reduction in the number of research places offered. The Age reported today that a Federal Government research white paper, prepared last year, put a cap on the number of Commonwealth-funded postgraduate research places, reducing them from 25,000 to 21,500. The decline in applications is also thought to be a result of a drop in the value of Australian postgraduate scholarships compared to those abroad. The Eduction Minister, Mr David Kemp, said the number of Commonwealth-funded postgraduate research scholarships had not dropped and the number of HECS exemptions for research students grew last year.
[Source: The Age – Misha Ketchell]
Victorian biotech boom
30 July 2001 – Launching the Victorian Biotechnology and Bioscience Based Industry report at the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce biotechnology luncheon, the Minister for State and Regional Development, Mr John Brumby, said that Victoria was the number one state for biotechnology business. The report found that 33 new biotechnology enterprises were started in Victoria between January 1999 and June 2001, comprising 40 per cent of start-ups in Australia. Victorian companies comprise more than 50 per cent of the total market capitalisation of the Deloittes Biotech Index, with a total capitalisation exceeding $7.5 billion. 58 per cent of Victoria's biotech companies operate in the health sector.
Following Victoria's 150-strong delegation to BIO2001 in San Diego, the government plans to send a strong presence to Bio Technica in Hanover, BioPartnering in London, Bio Asia Pacific in Honolulu and BIO2002 in the next 12 months.
[Source: Government Announcement]
