Why medtech players invest in New South Wales

Ian Bolland spoke to Stephen Cartwright, Government of New South Wales agent general to the United Kingdom senior trade & investment commissioner for Europe & Israel about the attractive nature of the region for life sciences, and the opportunities that are available for companies from overseas in Sydney.

New South Wales (NSW) has the largest health system in Australia with more than 220 hospitals and over 160,000 employees. 

NSW is home to many internationally recognised medical devices companies and over half of Australia’s medical devices and biotech industry are located in NSW, including 3M Healthcare, Allergan, Baxter, Cadinal Health, Johnson and Johnson, Roche, Smith & Nephew, Stryker, and others.

Given the fast-growing nature of Sydney, an entire new city is being developed which will also impact on its life sciences footprint.   

The Government of New South Wales is investing AU$1 billion into Bradfield – which will be the first newly-designed city since the country’s capital, Canberra. The first building will include a high-tech facility which will aim to provide shared use equipment for research institutions and industry partners to enable collaborative innovation with strong advanced engineering and manufacturing capabilities. Hitachi’s Smart Digital Solutions business unit has committed to the development of the Kyoso Centre, based on Hitachi’s Kyoso-no-mori shared research facility covering healthcare, materials, and design.

Bradfield will be home to several industries in the medical device and life sciences sector including manufacturing and logistics, covering robotics, automation, and additive manufacturing. 

The new Bradfield city complements the AU$3 billion already committed by the government, universities, and the private sector to upgrade Westmead Health Precinct. The funds will develop four major hospitals, four world-leading medical research institutes and two university campuses. The first phase of the AU$350 million project is completed and fully leased to the health service delivery sector and the university innovation quarter beside the national CSIRO. Phase two will welcome private sector tenants. 

With a vast operating budget thanks to annual contributions from both the public and private sector – approximately AU$30 billion and AU$12 billion respectively – along with the 13th largest pharmaceutical market and with an internationally-focused ecosystem, Cartwright said: 

“There is a strong reputation for a quality, globally-renowned health system with ever-increasing demand from the Asian market.” 

The NSW Government also provides an annual fund of approximately AU$8 million / £5 million – the NSW Medical Device Fund – which aims to provide support to individuals, companies, public and private hospitals, medical research institutes, universities, and the medical devices industry, to take local innovation to market.

It also seeks to increase the uptake of NSW medical devices by the health system where they are cost effective and contribute to improved patient outcomes.

The region attracts investment and a presence from companies across the globe – including one from the UK as Cambridge-based CMR Surgical is making Australia one of its early entry markets as it scales up, calling the market a “world-renowned surgical robotics market” as they partner with Macquarie University Hospital.

But it also works the other way, Citadel Group – based in New South Wales – has seen its technology adopted in the NHS in radiology and pathology in Scotland and Wales respectively.

Cartwright suggests that the similar regulatory requirements that are in place in the UK and Australia could bring about an opportunity on synchronising standards – perhaps in the use of evidence in the clinical setting for medical devices when it comes to getting regulatory approvals. 

“Following on from the Australia / UK FTA which has just been signed, I think there could be an opportunity for regulatory alignment. Once something has been procured in another country, for example in defence, it seems to be quicker to get approval in our own country.

“There’s no race to the bottom. Our reputation is of a high-class health and medical country that depends on strong regulation and that’s not going to change any time soon.”