By Sandra Kerr
What struck me at AusBiotech this year wasn’t just the scale: three days, 60+ sessions, 250+ speakers. It was the remarkable consistency of message. From ministers to CEOs to returning expats, the same urgent themes emerged: sovereign capability, global ambition from day one, and the critical need to bridge the gap between brilliant science and commercial leadership.
Get these three elements right, and Australia transforms from a talented R&D destination into a genuine biotech powerhouse where companies go the distance.
Building Global Leadership Through Sovereign Capability
Australia must evolve beyond being exceptional at early stages of commercialisation to become a sovereign platform for biotech success. While we excel at early translational work, our ecosystem must now actively support companies that expand globally while deliberately bringing value—capital, IP, and capability—back home.
The most successful companies will be those that use our ecosystem tactically—leveraging our talent pools, clinical trial excellence, and capital access—while maintaining laser focus on building businesses that can compete and win globally.
It’s encouraging to hear government leaders positioning biotech and medtech as pillars of economic resilience, not just health policy. We have undeniable strengths: clinical excellence, world-class universities, a quality workforce, and established supply chains. Our challenge? A domestic market too small for global scale. The solution requires companies to expand internationally while strategically reinvesting at home.
Senator Ananda-Rajah captured it perfectly, positioning Australia as one of only ten countries with a true science cluster. Her commitment to smoothing the researcher journey from feast-or-famine cycles signals important policy evolution. Meanwhile, practical collaboration through Austrade, state bodies, AusBiotech as examples, helps companies navigate our vast geography and connect meaningfully.
But we must shift our focus from celebrating “the ecosystem” to building transformative companies that change patient lives.
Bridging R&D Excellence with Commercial Muscle
David Gall from the National Reconstruction Fund laid bare our early commercialisation funding gap. With 15% of their pipeline in medical sciences, the unmet demand for scale-up capital is clear.
The critical question: How do we connect Australia’s world-class R&D with the commercialisation expertise needed for later-stage development, market entry, and scaling?
A fundamental mindset shift is emerging. “Getting to first-in-human trials” isn’t the endgame. True leadership means ensuring patients benefit across multiple markets while maintaining control of your company’s destiny.
Mark Womack’s “as-if” principle resonated deeply: act now like the company you intend to become. Choose your clients, set your standards, and behave as if you’re already that scaled, global company—not a hungry startup taking whatever comes.
If we want more Cochlears and Telixs, we must stop just celebrating “grant funded” or “Phase I completed” as victories. Success means defining the endgame, acting “as if” from day one, and building the commercial capabilities to get there.
Tech-Savvy, Borderless Leadership for Tomorrow
The AI conversation has matured significantly. It’s no longer optional. Boards should be asking: What’s our AI strategy? How are we governing it? How will it accelerate time-to-patient and reduce cost-of-goods?
Leading companies already integrate AI holistically—as tool, tactic, and strategy—with explicit governance around where AI will and won’t be deployed. The emphasis is refreshingly practical: define your problem first, then determine AI’s role. Companies that don’t embed AI into drug discovery, project management, and manufacturing will fall behind rapidly.
The geographic centre of gravity is shifting decisively. Asia-Pacific has evolved from sideshow to rising biotech investment hub. Australian companies must design multi-jurisdictional strategies from inception: where to generate data, where to launch, and how to structure partnerships that return value to Australia.
Our biggest underutilised asset? Our diaspora. AusBiotech’s survey revealed that of 1,300+ trained Australian medical research professionals overseas, 60% would consider returning if opportunities existed. Many would contribute as advisors even before relocating. The barrier isn’t willingness—it’s how easy we make reconnection.
Too many Australian biotechs operate with 1-2 year horizons rather than endgame vision. Companies that scale from $4 million to $100 million in a few years do so by acting “as if” from day one—in their hiring choices, client selection, and quality standards.
Five Concrete Moves for Biotech Leaders
- Define your global endgame and act “as if” today Map your 10+ year vision: which markets, which patients, what scale. Make every current decision—hiring, quality systems, partnerships—as if you’re already that company.
- Design a sovereign-plus-global strategy Explicitly determine what stays sovereign (radiopharma production, core IP) versus where you need global partners (manufacturing, distribution). Use international revenue to deliberately strengthen Australian jobs, infrastructure, and training.
- Build deliberate commercial leadership pipelines Map your gaps in late-stage development, market access, health economics, medical affairs, and business development. Engage diaspora talent through advisory boards, fractional roles, and secondments. Value international experience rather than discounting it as “different.”
- Establish board-level AI governance Set clear guardrails around ethics, data, and IP with priority use-cases: trial optimisation, portfolio modelling, process analytics, knowledge management. Ensure leadership understands AI as strategic capability, not IT project.
- Diversify funding beyond government support Treat R&D tax incentives and grants as leverage, not life support. Build early relationships with strategic pharma partners, specialist life science investors, and corporate venture—particularly in Asia-Pacific where growth capital is re-emerging.
The Path Forward
Australia’s biotech sector stands at an inflection point. We have the science, the talent, and increasingly, the political will. What we need now is the commercial leadership courage to think bigger, act bolder, and build companies that don’t just participate in the global biotech revolution—but lead it.
The message from AusBiotech 2024 was clear: sovereign capability and global ambition aren’t competing priorities. They’re two sides of the same coin. The companies that understand this—and act accordingly—will define Australia’s biotech future.
Sandra Kerr is a Life Sciences and Health Leadership expert and Partner, Executive Search at Future Leadership. Connect for a strategic discussion about your talent pipeline.
