Concept to clinical care: what's holding back healthtech?

Australia is globally recognised for its exceptional medical research output. Success stories like ResMed, a global leader in sleep technology, demonstrate Australia’s ability to translate scientific discoveries into improved patient care.

Australia’s Medical Science Co-Investment Plan notes, “Australia’s health and medical research is an outperforming sector … Australia is ranked 5th in the World Index of Healthcare Innovation.”

However, despite our nation’s strong research activities and outputs, we have too many failures in the journey from research to product. Australia has some of the best medical research in the world, so why isn’t it making its way into clinical care?

Five critical challenges

Translating medical research in Australia from the lab bench to patients’ bedsides is challenging for several reasons.

The first one, and one that I am sure many of you are familiar with, is that of regulatory barriers. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approval process is essential for ensuring patient safety but is a significant financial and time cost for a healthtech startup. This was exacerbated by the TGA’s lack of funding and stagnant approval process.

Australia is a comparatively small market, so there is a larger incentive to focus regulatory efforts in the United States or European markets. The Medical Research Commercialisation Landscape Report highlights that these regulatory hurdles are a major reason Australia lags in commercialising our medical research.

The second is global market dynamics. Medical intellectual property (IP) is highly portable and much of Australia’s medical IP is exported for commercialisation in more competitive economies that have the full value chain of companies needed in a medical science ecosystem. Australia’s medical science priority areas output remains exceedingly low, at only 0.3% of the nation’s GDP.

The third is that of funding accessibility. Government programs, such as the $450 million Medical Research Commercialisation Initiative funded by the $22 billion Medical Research Future Fund, provide valuable contributions, but the Australian Medical Device Venture Investment Summary Report notes that in 2023, Australia invested less than $350 million in the medical device sector. The report estimates that on average, Australia would require at least $660 million to sustain and graduate 10 innovative healthtech companies a year.

Turning obstacles into opportunities

There’s no sugarcoating that launching a healthtech startup in Australia is hard. However, despite the challenges, there are many opportunities that can help startups in this sector go on to become a global success.

Very importantly, healthtech founders should always focus on major unmet health needs, like women’s health, for example, which has only a fraction of the venture capital allocated to other sectors. To address this, UNSW Founders, in collaboration with The George Institute for Global Health and Virtus Health, has launched a Women’s Health Accelerator. The program supports innovation in women’s health, growing more companies like 23Strands, which are revolutionising reproductive health through genomics.

Forging teams is also really important. CardioBionic, which develops innovative heart assistive technologies, combines deep clinical and mechanical engineering expertise and a track record of bringing similar technology to market. With successful preclinical results, Cardiobionic is preparing for its first human implantation. As Parisa Glass, Director of Operations at UNSW’s Clinical Research Unit, explains, “Connecting health innovators with healthcare providers and consumers early on is a game changer. When they team up from the get-go, innovators can really zoom in on the actual needs and challenges that providers and patients face.”

One should also seek tailored support for health innovators. The synergy between universities and industry, such as UNSW’s Health 10x Accelerator, provides supported platforms for healthtech commercialisation.

Tailored support for health innovators

As Dina Titkova, Health 10x Program Manager, says, “We have provided tailored health commercialisation education and support to over 150 teams, which includes access to our 500+ mentor network, and because of this support, the five-year survival rate of our healthtech startups is above 80%.” Health 10x has backed startups like Preview Health, which is developing the world’s first commercial diagnostic test for Parkinson’s disease. By leveraging AI, the test can detect Parkinson’s up to 15 years earlier than current methods.

Leveraging strategic partnerships with international research institutions, global investors and industry is essential for scaling healthtech innovations. Nuroflux is a healthtech startup developing a non-invasive continuous stroke monitoring device. By partnering with The George Institute for Global Health, Nuroflux was able to cost-efficiently accelerate its path to clinical trials, a critical step in bringing its product to market.

Finally, no startup will make it past the research stage if it can’t be adequately funded. Over $1 million in federal government funding enabled the national expansion of the Health 10x program. This was further bolstered by a generous $1 million donation from Maha Sinnathamby AM, one of Australia’s most iconic entrepreneurs, recognised as one of Queensland’s 50 greatest thinkers of all time by NewsCorp in 2014. This early-stage support now needs to be followed by continued funding for healthtech startups to scale, manufacture and conduct clinical trials onshore.

Australia has proven it can turn its world-class research into life-saving medical products. Australia has the talent and research output to lead in healthtech commercialisation. With the right support systems in place, Australia’s healthtech sector will thrive, creating economic prosperity for Australia and bringing transformative solutions to global health challenges.