New strategic alliance to unlock global gateway for Queensland’s bioscience industry

Queensland’s peak industry group Life Sciences Queensland (LSQ) has taken to the world stage to form a partnership with India’s Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE), enabling Queensland organisations to access unique innovation and collaboration opportunities in India’s thriving $12 billion USD biotechnology sector.Announced at the prestigious BioAsia 2020 conference in Hyderabad, India this week, the formal alliance will see the two leading industry associations promote, develop and grow the bioscience sector across the Australian and pan-India regions for the next five years.With specific focus on biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, clinical trials, startups and the international bioeconomy, the ABLE-LSQ Collaborative Alliance will act as a nexus for innovation, investment opportunity and collaboration.LSQ Chief Executive Officer Clare Blain said the alliance is an important initiative that will help shape the future of the life sciences industry in Queensland and beyond.“LSQ is thrilled to continue to represent Queensland’s bioscience industry in our mission to feed, fuel and heal the world,” she said.“This Memorandum of Understanding with ABLE is not only a testament of mutual recognition of each other’s strengths in life sciences — it will create increased opportunities for our organisations to use our existing networks, resources and expertise, and share agendas to form new collaborations and help diversify and strengthen the biosciences industry on an international scale.”As part of this collaboration, Queensland organisations stand to benefit from synergies in the life sciences ecosystem, including regular roundtable meetings with key Indian industry stakeholders, reciprocal delegate exchange, and a start-up exchange program providing budding Queensland bioscience organisations the opportunity to accelerate their growth on a global scale. The initiative will also open new doors for Indian companies to explore research and industry collaborations in Queensland.ABLE Chairperson Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said this type of international partnership is vital for industry growth."This is the way forward in collaboration between innovative companies in Queensland and India, to co-create many exciting products and solutions in biotechnology that will tackle the challenging healthcare needs of our communities. While an MoU is the first step, the real task is to make it a reality quickly with meaningful collaborative projects from both sides," she said.Trade and Investment Queensland Commissioner Gitesh Agarwal said: “As India and Australia come closer than ever before, the time is right to find real solutions for real problems. Queensland is poised to be an ideal partner for India to collaborate and co-create with.”The ABLE-LSQ Collaborative Alliance was formally established with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding at the BioAsia 2020 conference this week, followed by an interactive session for members to address initial Indo-Australian collaboration opportunities to kick-off the five-year partnership.Full press release