Biotechnology brains flock to regional Australia, but trials still based in metro areas – ABC News

James Campbell is pretty proud of the groundbreaking work he is involved in to help patients better battle cancer.

The CEO and managing director of the publicly listed company, Patrys Limited, is helping drive the development of a potential cancer drug that can cross the delicate blood-brain barrier, and help reduce tumour sizes and increase patient survival.

It's just one of the many potentially life-saving ideas and developments that some of Australia's brightest minds will be bringing to Albury for this week'sBioshares Biotech Summit.

While regional Australia is not often the first place people think of when it comes to biotechnology, Dr Campbell, who also sits on the board of Australia's biotechnology industry organisation AusBiotech, said it was where a lot of the action was happening.

"I think regional Australia is really important," he said.

"Biotech is not an industry many people think is amenable for being in the regions, but I think we have seen in the past few years that with the right approach, the right attitude, the right infrastructure and technology, folks can work from pretty much anywhere.

"Why wouldn't you work from regional Australia when we have so many advantages?

"You don't need to be in a capital city to really push some of these technologies along."

While the biotech ideasmay fly thick and fast, thesector is one that also requires a lot of patience.

It takes on average between 10 and 14 years, and a funding injection of about $2.5 billion, for an idea to be delivered to patients.

Much of this development relies on the backing of private investors.

It can take even longer for these treatments to reach patients in regional areas, despite some of the minds behind the groundbreaking developments working from there.

"What I'd say is it's always important for patients to be having that discussion with their doctors: 'Can we please try to get me enrolled in clinical trials?', even if that means trials in the capital cities," Dr Campbell said.

The CEO of Australian pharmaceutical company Amplia, John Lambert, is another leader who will be visiting Albury for the conference.

Dr Lambert's teamis working on an experimental treatment that attacks tumours thathave built up a strong resistance to the immune system and chemotherapy and are difficult to treat, including those in the pancreas and ovaries.

The company's experimental drug aims to disrupt the protective barrier around those tumours and enhance the effectiveness of cancer treatment.

It's another exciting project happening in the biotech sphere and an example of one that could potentially be developed in regional areas if the right infrastructure wasin place.

"A large regional hospital that has access to adequate facilities and a number of patients go there for treatment would be a real magnet," Dr Lambertsaid.

But for now, the majority of the trials that need to be conducted in controlled clinical environments remain in major cities.

"Being from the city, we recognise the inconvenience and disruption that people participating in clinical trials, and for that matter even getting routine treatment for people with serious illness, can encounter," Dr Lambert said.

"The trial our company is about to commence will initiate recruiting people who do live in larger state capitalsbut, as we expand the trial if we see early signs of success, we would hope to push the trial into regional centres, and if the drug is approved it would be available for everyone.

"People in the regions need treatment just as much as everyone else, and they have the additional burden of having to travel often to get that treatment."

Posted9 May 20229 May 2022Mon 9 May 2022 at 5:52am, updated9 May 20229 May 2022Mon 9 May 2022 at 8:04pm

View post:
Biotechnology brains flock to regional Australia, but trials still based in metro areas - ABC News