A scientist holding a pipette.

Australian Biotech Growth Partnerships

CSIRO's Australian Biotech Growth Partnerships supports the growth of the biotechnology industry and is currently working with over 50 companies.

• 29 April 2009 | Updated 14 October 2011

• Medical Biotechnology
• Frontier Science
• Biotech Partnerships

Through strong partnerships, over 50 companies in the Biotech industry are accessing CSIRO's capability and infrastructure to develop and add value to their research portfolios. CSIRO's research is undertaken in the areas of Medical Biotechnology and Frontier Science.

Medical biotechnology

We apply our expertise in protein and synthetic chemistry to discover new biological and chemical entities for pharmaceutical applications.

We have extensive experience in gene cloning and protein engineering/expression, using bacterial, yeast, insect and mammalian expression systems.

Our fermentation facility is in high demand for scale-up production, and is integrated with a dedicated protein purifi cation unit.

We have expertise in structural biology, X-ray crystallography and fragment-based drug design, with our Parkville site housing the Collaborative Crystallisation Centre.

Frontier Science

Our research in Frontier Science develops new biotech discovery technologies that underpin our engagement with health, agricultural and veterinary partners.

The activities include:

• CSIRO compound library screening and databasing
• computational design and QSAR analysis, and molecular modelling
• novel heterocyclic chemistry
• high throughput protein expression, purification and crystallisation
• high throughput/parallel synthesis
• microwave and micofluidic chemistry
• peptide mimetics
• metabolic health, obesity and diabetes research
• mediation of EGF receptor function.

Co-investing in the growth of Australian biotechnology

Key components of our engagement with local biotechs are:

• flexible business models, including contract research and several co-investment options
• using CSIRO's infrastructure, resources and expertise to manage technical risks in projects
• pragmatism and flexibility regarding intellectual property ownership
• operating on our partner's time frames and budget to ensure we meet our partner's milestones.

Find out more about CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering.