Covid-19 pandemic has underlined the need to keep investing in sciencePAUL PERREAULT

For some years, CSL’s vaccine business Seqirus has been developing the next generation of mRNA technology. Picture: Che Chorley

• 3:37PM JULY 25, 2021
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AUSTRALIA HAS SUCCEEDED AS A PROGRESSIVE NATION, BUILDING PROSPERITY AND OPPORTUNITY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS, WITH A VISION TOWARDS THE HORIZON OF POSSIBILITIES. I HAVE LONG ADMIRED AUSTRALIA’S ABILITY TO “PUNCH ABOVE ITS WEIGHT” ON THE GLOBAL STAGE, PARTICULARLY IN THE LIFE SCIENCES.

AN OUTWARD-LOOKING AND ASPIRATIONAL MINDSET HAS BEEN BACKED BY DETERMINED RESILIENCE IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY. NOW AT THIS PIVOTAL MOMENT IN HISTORY, LEADERS IN ALL FIELDS ACROSS AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY CAN CONSIDER WHAT CAN BE – NOT SIMPLY WHAT IS.

THE HISTORY OF CSL – FORMERLY COMMONWEALTH SERUM LABORATORIES, ESTABLISHED IN 1916 – IS ONE OF AN AMBITIOUS VISION TO PROTECT AUSTRALIANS SUFFERING FROM SERIOUS DISEASE AND TO IMPROVE PUBLIC HEALTH. WORLD-CLASS MEDICAL RESEARCH AND INGENUITY, COUPLED WITH SKILLED BUSINESS STRATEGY, HAVE CREATED A TRULY GLOBAL SUCCESS STORY.

THREE KEY CHARACTERISTICS HAVE EMERGED GLOBALLY AND LOCALLY THAT CAN DRIVE AN EFFECTIVE RECOVERY FROM THE IMPACTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ACROSS POLICY, POLITICS, REGULATION, HEALTH AND COMMERCE. THEY ARE AGILITY, RESILIENCE AND SPEED – WHICH HAVE BEEN EVIDENT IN THE LOCAL RESPONSE. HOWEVER, THERE IS MUCH MORE THAT CAN BE DONE TO DEAL WITH BOTH SHORT-TERM ISSUES AS WELL AS SETTING THE NATION UP FOR A BRIGHTER LONG-TERM FUTURE.

AT CSL, WE BELIEVE SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION WILL LEAD THE WORLD OUT OF THE PANDEMIC. OVER THE PAST YEAR, WE HAVE SEEN INSPIRATIONAL SOLUTIONS TO TREAT AND PREVENT COVID-19 – DEMONSTRATING THAT THE ECONOMIC IMPERATIVE TO INVEST IN SCIENCE CANNOT BE IGNORED. THERE IS A HUGE OPPORTUNITY FOR HIGHLY EDUCATED AND INNOVATIVE COUNTRIES – LIKE AUSTRALIA – TO INVEST FURTHER IN WORLD-CLASS MEDICAL RESEARCH AND, CRUCIALLY, THE GROWING ECOSYSTEM THAT TURNS SCIENCE AND INNOVATION INTO COMMERCIALISED PRODUCTS.

FOR EXAMPLE, EARLY EDUCATION INVESTMENTS IN THE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHS (STEM) CURRICULUM WOULD GO A LONG WAY IN FURTHER SUSTAINING THE FUTURE WORKFORCE.

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THERE HAS BEEN MUCH DISCUSSION OF THE NEED FOR SOVEREIGN CAPABILITY IN KEY MANUFACTURING PROCESSES AS THE PANDEMIC QUESTIONED LONG-HELD ASSUMPTIONS ON TRADE FLOWS AND PRESENTED PREVIOUSLY UNSEEN CHALLENGES IN GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS. OUR BELIEF IS BALANCING SOVEREIGN NEEDS AND THE MAINTENANCE OF AN OPEN ECONOMY IS ACHIEVABLE. THEY SHOULD NOT BE JUDGED AS MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE POLICY AGENDAS.

FEW IF ANY INDUSTRIES OPERATE IN DOMESTIC ISOLATION, SO WE SHOULD NOT TURN SO FAR INWARD THAT WE DISCONNECT FROM THE GLOBAL ECONOMY. AUSTRALIA’S PROSPERITY RELIES ON A STRONG VACCINATION ROLLOUT, A CLEAR PLAN FOR THE FUTURE THAT FEATURES INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT AND THE ABILITY TO ATTRACT GLOBAL EXPERTISE, AND AN OPEN ECONOMY.

CSL CHIEF EXECUTIVE PAUL PERREAULT. PICTURE: STUART MCEVOY

AND THIS IS WHERE AGILITY AND SPEED ARE CRUCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE NATIONAL RESPONSE.

CONSIDER THAT BEFORE COVID-19, THE WORLD DID NOT HAVE A SINGLE APPROVED MRNA VACCINE. NOW, IT IS A HOUSEHOLD PHRASE. THE DATA ON MRNA VACCINES IS VERY POSITIVE, PROMPTING GOVERNMENTS THE WORLD OVER TO REVIEW THEIR LOCAL MANUFACTURING CAPABILITY.

WE SUPPORT THE GOVERNMENT’S FOCUS ON BRINGING MRNA MANUFACTURING TO AUSTRALIA AND ENCOURAGE IT TO BE INTEGRATED WITH A BROADER LONG-RANGE VISION FOR THE BIOTECH SECTOR.

FOR SOME YEARS, CSL’S VACCINE BUSINESS, SEQIRUS, HAS BEEN DEVELOPING THE NEXT GENERATION OF MRNA TECHNOLOGY – CALLED SELF-AMPLIFYING MRNA TECHNOLOGY – BEYOND THE VACCINES WE SEE ON THE MARKET TODAY.

ESSENTIALLY, THE NEXT-GEN TECHNOLOGY IS DESIGNED TO DO MORE WITH LESS. IT IS AN IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT IN OUR VACCINE PIPELINE, AND EARLY RESULTS SHOW EXCITING POTENTIAL, WITH HUMAN CLINICAL TRIALS DUE TO COMMENCE NEXT YEAR.

THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT BRIDGE BETWEEN DEVELOPMENT-SCALE TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRIAL-SCALE CAPABILITY IN TERMS OF CAPITAL EXPENDITURE, FACILITY FIT-OUT, PROCESS OPTIMISATION AND THE PRODUCTION OF LARGE COMMERCIAL VOLUMES. TO BUILD A NEW ADVANCED MANUFACTURING FACILITY REQUIRES A SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT AND TAKING ON MEASURED BUSINESS RISK.

TO MAKE SUCH A FACILITY VIABLE, A COMMERCIAL PLAN THAT EXTENDS BEYOND THE EMERGENCY OF A PANDEMIC IS NEEDED. ONGOING INVESTMENT IN TECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT REQUIRES THE FACILITY TO RUN SUSTAINABLY IN ALL OPERATING ENVIRONMENTS. IMPORTANTLY, FACILITIES OF THIS TYPE DO NOT SURVIVE IF THEY ARE ONLY SERVICING POPULATIONS THE SIZE OF AUSTRALIA. THEY NEED TO COMPETE ON A GLOBAL SCALE.

WITH INNOVATION AS ONE OF OUR CORE VALUES, CSL IS AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST PRIVATE SECTOR INVESTOR IN MEDICAL RESEARCH. WE ARE IN THE EARLY STAGES OF BUILDING AN $800M STATE-OF-THE-ART INFLUENZA VACCINE FACILITY IN MELBOURNE’S TULLAMARINE AIRPORT PRECINCT.

ALSO, WE HAVE INVESTED NEARLY $2BN TO EXPAND OUR ADVANCED MANUFACTURING FACILITIES IN BROADMEADOWS OVER THE PAST DECADE – AN INVESTMENT THAT MEANT WE HAD THE ONLY FACILITIES IN AUSTRALIA CAPABLE OF MANUFACTURING THE ASTRAZENECA COVID-19 VACCINE AT SCALE AND AT PACE, AND HAD A SKILLED WORKFORCE READY TO QUICKLY PIVOT TO THIS PRODUCTION.

ADDITIONALLY, WE ARE PLANNING TO INCLUDE A BIOTECH INCUBATOR HUB TO FOSTER RESEARCH COMMERCIALISATION IN THE BIOTECH PRECINCT AT OUR NEW HEADQUARTERS IN MELBOURNE.

SUCH SCALABILITY IS ONE OF THE KEYS TO CSL’S SUCCESS, AND WHY WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CONTINUE MAKING THE LARGE INVESTMENTS WE DO IN R&D, TO KEEP DRIVING INNOVATION.

NO ONE SHOULD BE UNDER ANY ILLUSIONS THIS IS AN EASY TASK. FOR ONE, SUSTAINED INNOVATION REQUIRES COMMITMENTS AND INVESTMENTS WHICH TRANSCEND GOVERNMENTS AND POLITICS. ADDITIONALLY, THERE WILL BE A REQUIREMENT FOR A HIGHLY SKILLED WORKFORCE, CAPABLE OF ADAPTING AS THE PATHOGEN LANDSCAPE CHANGES, AND THIS CANNOT BE TURNED ON LIKE A TAP – IT’S WHY PANDEMIC READINESS FACILITIES MUST BE UNDERPINNED BY A YEAR-ROUND PRODUCTION STRATEGY.

LIKE ALL NATIONS AT THIS TIME, AUSTRALIA FACES A WATERSHED MOMENT AS A SOCIETY AND AN ECONOMY. STAYING TRUE TO THE ATTRIBUTES FOR WHICH IT IS GLOBALLY ADMIRED WILL HELP NAVIGATE THE CHALLENGES OF COVID-19 TO A BETTER PLACE.

IT’S IMPORTANT THE COUNTRY’S HOMEGROWN CAPABILITIES IN KEY AREAS, ESPECIALLY THE SCIENCES, ARE STRENGTHENED WHILE KEEPING ITS VISION FIRMLY OUTWARD-LOOKING AND OPEN TO THE MANY GREAT POSSIBILITIES – AND IT’S A JOURNEY CSL LOOKS FORWARD TO BEING A PART OF.

PAUL PERREAULT IS THE CEO AND MANAGING DIRECTOR OF CSL.