It’s been another impressive year for biotechnology and biomedicine in Victoria, further cementing our State at the leading edge of research and capability in this fast-moving sector.
The recent establishment of the Snow Centre for Immune Health at WEHI is a significant step forward. With $100 million in funding over 10 years and a 15-year research program with global collaboration, it’s one of the largest philanthropic investments in our nation’s history and enables research to continue long-term to fight immune disease and highly relevant to the fight against cancer.
And just last week, there was more significant news with the announcement a major new manufacturing and research operations to be built by BioNTech under an agreement with the Victorian Government and La Trobe University. This will see a clinical-scale mRNA manufacturing facility built at La Trobe University to support the design, manufacture and clinical testing of novel mRNA-based therapies.
The manufacturing site will be able to produce novel treatments for a range of cancers such as pancreatic, neck, cervical, oesophageal and colorectal cancers, with more to follow. Peter Mac will be one of the lead clinical delivery partners in this important project that aims to enrol 4,000 Australian patients with hard-to-treat cancers in clinical trials of novel therapies over the next 10 years. Congratulations to all involved.
Great minds are being added to the helm in Victoria too – congratulations to Prof Ken Smith on his appointment as incoming WEHI director, bringing an impressive immunological acumen and a history of forging connections between academia and industry. Prof Jason Payne too began in his role as Chief Executive at Peter Mac recently and joins our board with a stellar background from Austin Health, The Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre, and Mercy Hospital. Both will be assets to the alliance and the state’s biomedical strengths.
It’s also a pleasure to acknowledge Prof Joe Trapani, the Director of the Centre for Cancer Immunotherapy, who was inducted this week as a Distinguished Fellow of Peter Mac. This is the highest honour at the organisation and well deserved – Prof Trapani’s world-leading immunology program has had a tremendous impact on understanding T cells development of CAR-T cells in cancer treatment.
Victoria we already know punches above its weight in the biotech and biomedical research sector. As a state we should be proud of what we are achieving and what this could mean cancer outcomes in the future – being mindful the parallel challenge of ensuring access to the benefits for all Victorians: a key focus for the VCCC Alliance.
One thing that will help us with that focus is the introduction of new, more diverse perspectives and voices on the VCCC Alliance board. Following recent changes to our governance model we sought the right people to guide the alliance forward.
We had an incredibly high standard of applicants from a broad range of backgrounds presenting exciting opportunities for us. I’m thrilled to announce three new independent non-executive directors to the VCCC Alliance board:
Their contributions and insights will be invaluable as we position for further growth and impact, particularly our ongoing efforts to improve equity in access to prevention, treatments, care and outcomes to all Victorians affected by cancer.
Thank you to our outgoing directors from Royal Melb Hospital – Prof Shelley Dolan, St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne – Nicole Tweddle, Austin Health – Adam Horsburgh, The Royal Children’s Hospital – Bernadette McDonald and the Royal Women’s Hospital – Prof Sue Matthews. Under the new governance arrangements, they will continue as a Member Representative at Members Forums or ordinary meetings of the company.
It’s also been exciting to see the speed with which the new Australian Cancer Plan is rolling out following the announcement last month by Cancer Australia. There are some key synergies with our work – not least the new Australian Comprehensive Cancer Network which we are looking forward to contributing to.
The early focus of the plan on data – cancer genomics, infrastructure, and improving data systems – is particularly pleasing and also aligns with our strategic plan. Overcoming cancer can only happen with collaboration and its really encouraging to see this becoming the new normal in so many spheres of cancer.
Finally, that leads me to a particularly important event we are hosting here in Naarm, Melbourne in March. The World Indigenous Cancer Conference comes at an important time, with the gap in cancer outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people remaining extremely wide, as shown in the Cancer in Victoria Report 2022 that was released a few days ago.
This is the only global conference solely focused on improving cancer outcomes for Indigenous people, with national and international speakers presenting across three themes of 'Process, Progress, Power'. It will identify research priorities and foster collaboration between delegates that will reap great rewards in the work to reduce disparities for these groups over the coming years.
I encourage you to register now and join us. Early bird tickets close tomorrow, Friday 15 December 2023.
Professor Grant McArthur AO
Executive Director
