MTPConnect Welcomes Investment in Clinical Trials One-Stop-Shop

03 May 2024

Australia’s life science innovation accelerator, MTPConnect, has welcomed the Australian Government’s commitment of $18.8 million to progress development of a national one-stop-shop for clinical trials.

MTPConnect CEO, Stuart Dignam, says clinical trials are a critical step in the research and development process for new drugs, vaccines, medical devices and diagnostics.

“Clinical trials give patients early access to potentially life-saving new treatments, advance medical knowledge and contribute more than $1 billion annually to the Australian economy,” Mr Dignam says.

“While Australia remains an attractive destination for international clinical trials, global competition is fierce and if we want to maintain or increase our share, there are opportunities for improvement.

“Our reputation as a destination for early-stage trials is well-earned, with high quality capabilities across the country, and there is an opportunity to increase our competitiveness in attracting and retaining later stage trials which would bring potential benefit to more patients and a larger contribution to the Australian economy.

“And this is where the national one-stop-shop comes in, with its ability to provide streamlined, cross-state ethics and governance approvals and improve the clinical trial start-up process.

“MTPConnect’s latest analysis of Australia’s clinical trials sector, to be published later this month, shows while we continue to do well on the key metrics, we haven’t advanced as much as we could have.

“The value of trials has now reached $1.6 billion but our share of global industry-sponsored trials remains roughly the same as it’s been since 2015.

“While there are a range of challenges in maximising the sector’s potential, from workforce to data transparency and patient awareness, there’s little doubt the continued development of the national one-stop-shop initiative will deliver real gains,” Mr Dignam said.