Australia’s leading research-intensive universities, the Group of Eight (Go8), has renewed calls for a collaboration premium as part of an incentive package to encourage universities and industry to work together on life saving clinical trials.
In its submission on the Government’s Draft R&D Tax Incentive (RDTI) Determination on clinical trials for an unapproved therapeutic good, the Go8 said stronger incentives for researchers and partners to engage in clinical trials were of paramount importance to build sovereign capacity and enhance Australia’s attractiveness as a preferred location for clinical trials.
Group of Eight Chief Executive Vicki Thomson said the Go8 had long advocated for a collaboration premium in the RDTI to drive greater engagement between Australian business and our world class university research sector.
“It is imperative that we support research and development in the biomedical sector, where we have the capability to be world leaders, but where the risk remains high for industry and investors. We must also send a clear signal that Australia is receptive to attracting clinical trials while creating and enabling new economic and health benefits for Australians.
“Improved incentives for clinical trials via the RDTI will attract onflow investments from both domestic and overseas sources, provide certainty to support commercialisation activity and lead to the development of new markets and manufacturing bases in Australia,” said Ms Thomson.
The Go8 supports the clarity and certainty that the proposed R&D Tax Incentive Determination on clinical trials (Phase 0-III) for an unapproved therapeutic good provides, in the expectation it should assist industry partners and research colleagues better ascertain if their R&D activities may be eligible for the RDTI and will provide for streamlined recommendations.
The Go8 also supports the appropriate consideration outside the determination by the IISA Board of whether some activities of phase IV clinical trials or clinical trials of generic medicines can meet the definition of core R&D activities.
Well-known products to emerge from Go8 biomedical research and related clinical trials include the Cochlear hearing implant (University of Melbourne), ResMed’s sleep apnoea non-invasive treatment (CPAP) (University of Sydney), the Vaxxas needle-free vaccine delivery (University of Queensland), Gardasil (University of Queensland), and Elastagen’s elastin technology (University of Sydney), among others.
Australia’s research universities are powerhouses of innovation and key to meeting tomorrow’s challenges and enhancing the lives of future generations.
