The incubator was established with $40m investment from the Federal Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) and is run by Brandon BioCatalyst. Companies that successfully go through the incubator program may also be eligible for follow on investment from the Brandon BioCatalyst’s $800m life sciences fund, the largest in Australia and New Zealand. Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, also provided $3m in funding to CUREator to support Australia’s health security and protect against emerging infectious diseases and pandemics.
“Witnessing the quality of applications for the first round of funding demonstrated the strength of medical research in Australia and its potential to positively impact global health if the right support is put in place to support translation of this great research into the market place. The level of demand for this program, where grants are provided with the discipline of an investor, clearly demonstrated the need for this type of targeted funding, but also that more needs to be done.” Dr Chris Nave, CEO of Brandon BioCatalyst.
“CUREator acts as much more than just funding, with successful applicants having access to expertise from across the industry and with each project structured with clear go/no go milestones and defined outcomes that are directed research translation and commercialisation. In many ways, this may prove to be the blueprint for the way government provides funding in the future” Dr Nave adds.
Read more on the Brandon BioCatalyst website.