The University of Queensland (UQ) in Australia will host a $238 million industry-led research centre to accelerate industrial-scale manufacturing of regenerative therapies for illnesses including heart disease, cancer, arthritis and dementia.
The Federal Government has announced the Solutions for Manufacturing Advanced Regenerative Therapies (SMART) Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), to bolster Australia’s sovereign manufacturing capabilities.
The SMART CRC will help Australian companies bring a 10-year pipeline of life-changing therapies to market, creating an estimated $4.5 billion in economic value and 1500 skilled jobs.
Interim Chief Executive Officer Professor Simon Cool, an international leader in the field from UQ's School of Chemical Engineering, said bottlenecks in manufacturing currently hinder Australia’s access to curative regenerative therapies.
“There is a significant shortage of technical expertise in manufacturing, quality control, analytics, and process development, something that is standing in the way of transformative therapies benefitting Australians,” Professor Cool said.
Partners include Queensland and South Australian governments, regenerative therapy and biotechnology companies, healthcare providers, non-government organisations, universities and research institutes.
