Cell Therapy Manufacturing

The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland) (14:43): My question is to the minister for health industries. Minister, what is the latest milestone for South Australia's growing cell therapy sector and what potential does this have for South Australia's health industries?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:43): Last week, I visited the Cooperative Research Centre for Cell Therapy Manufacturing at Mawson Lakes. What the CRC does is quite remarkable, and there is great potential for South Australia as a result. It is Australia's only facility exploring cell therapy manufacturing techniques, and it is a step closer to commercialising potential life-saving medical technology following a deal with a global leader in blood component and cellular technologies. The aim of the CRC is to develop cell therapies that treat previously incurable or intractable conditions such as type I diabetes to make those treatments both affordable and accessible.

What I learnt when I visited Mawson Lakes is that CRC has recently concluded its first commercial transfer of intellectual property to Terumo BCT Australia, which holds more than 400 patents and has about another 300 patents pending. This is an important milestone for an impressive facility, expected to create more than 2,000 jobs across Australia by 2020-21, most of which will be located here in Adelaide. It will be a hub for cell research in the Asia-Pacific.

I want our government to be a strong advocate for this type of research and this industry. Our newly formed Health Industry South Australia and its new chief executive, Marco Baccanti, who started on Monday, will be pushing strongly for more medical research to call South Australia home. When complete, the South Australian health and biomedical precinct will be one of the largest health precincts in the Southern Hemisphere. We will be well positioned to develop innovative solutions for all types of medical problems. It is important that research is commercialised to accelerate the development and delivery of world-class health care and to open the door for new industries and new jobs for South Australians.

A key plank of that biomedical precinct will be, of course, the SAHMRI, which will tonight play host to a symposium about affordable cell therapy. I will be there to listen to what some of the leading researchers in the cell therapy sector have to say. This is an exciting future in health research and we want South Australia to be a leader in the field.