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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-02-11 Daily Xml
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Macular Degeneration

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (14:34): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Science and Information Economy a question about how this government is supporting the fight against macular degeneration.

Leave granted.

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS: Macular degeneration is a debilitating blinding condition which affects up to 480,000 South Australians. Can the minister update the chamber about how a grant provided through the Innovation Voucher Program is being used to combat macular degeneration?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:35): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. I am very pleased to belong to a government which values and invests in the state's inventors and which proudly supports collaborations between businesses and researchers.

Our latest investment is research into the treatment of macular degeneration, a debilitating eye condition, as the honourable member outlined. Macular degeneration is all too often something that affects us as we age, with one in seven people over 50 years of age suffering at least some degree of macular degeneration. With an ageing population, any research into combating this condition is obviously going to have considerable impact.

Ellex Medical manufactures and distributes leading-edge ophthalmic laser and imaging technology for use against blindness. There are approximately 20,000 Ellex ophthalmic laser and ultrasound systems in use worldwide. Ellex Medical has a strong manufacturing history right here in South Australia, where they currently employ 100 staff. I am very pleased that the state government is providing $45,000 to Ellex Medical, which will be used to conduct research, including clinical studies in collaboration with the Royal Adelaide Hospital. With matched funding from Ellex Medical, the total commitment to this particular research is $90,000. These trials will improve the performance of retinal rejuvenation laser.

We know that some diseases which cause blindness, like age-related macular degeneration and diabetic eye disease, are due to retinal damage. Unfortunately, combating these diseases at the moment with current laser technology may actually cause further damage to the person's retina. That is why Ellex Medical's 2RT laser is so important. They have managed to develop this extremely safe retinal laser which has already been used in clinical trials on patients with diabetes at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and further testing on effects on retinas has also been undertaken in laboratory settings.

The innovation voucher provided by the government will enable Ellex Medical and the RAH to expand on this existing work to patients with macular degeneration, to further improve the effects and safety of 2RT laser. It is not only South Australians who are affected by macular degeneration, so any developments in early treatment found by this research could bring significant benefits to South Australia. The commercialisation of the 2RT laser could see significant growth in the 100 staff currently employed in the Adelaide manufacturing facility.

Research and commercial flow-on effects are why the Innovation Voucher Program is so important. This is a $1.2 million program shared equally between the Office of Science, Technology and Research and the manufacturing and small business groups of the Department of State Development. Vouchers valued up to $50,000 are awarded on a competitive basis to projects designed to enhance productivity or industry diversification. Participating businesses provide a funding contribution based on their annual turnover. The Innovation Voucher Program has seen very exciting collaborations to date, and I look forward to updating the chamber about these results in relation to this laser in the near future.

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