By Lachlan Abbott and Sumeyya Ilanbey
A centre dedicated to finding treatment for future pandemics has been launched in Melbourne with the largest philanthropic donation to Australian medical research ever.
Canadian philanthropist and businessman Geoff Cumming will donate $250 million to the University of Melbourne to establish the centre, which will be named The Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics.
“There’s no doubt that this project is on a scale and ambition that would be simply unthinkable without support from people here today. This is, to be blunt, the most extraordinary act of generosity that I’ve ever known,” said vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne Duncan Maskell.
The new centre was also launched by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and is backed by state government funding of $75 million over 10 years.
Cumming and his wife Anna were on hand for Wednesday’s announcement. He said there were four reasons he chose Melbourne for the centre: the sustained investment in medical research in Victoria; the breadth of the city’s medical research “ecosystem”; the collegiality of researchers in the city; and, because he admired the way Australia had responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new centre will initially be based within the Doherty Institute and will be led by its current director, Professor Sharon Lewin. Rather than focusing on vaccines, its attention will be on developing therapeutic treatments which stop a virus from replicating.
Peter Doherty and Premier Daniel Andrews with Geoff and Anna Cumming at the announcement of The Cumming Centre for Global Pandemic Therapeutics.Credit: Eddie Jim
“In addition to public health measures that we all know so well for the last two years, an effective pandemic response, of course, requires vaccines ... as well as therapeutics. But amazingly enough, innovation in anti-pathogen therapeutics has really lagged in comparison to vaccines,” Lewin said.
Speaking on ABC Radio Melbourne, Cumming said the world had developed “fantastic” vaccines in response to pandemics, but they were “not always available”.
“The whole purpose here is to build resilience for the world community to build a second shield of protection,” he said.
Cumming said he selected Melbourne over two other global hubs for international medical research – London and Boston.
“Many people may not appreciate just how significant the medical research community is here,” Cumming said.
He added he also picked Victoria as he wanted to establish a centre in the Southern Hemisphere as many pandemics have started in Asia.
The Canadian businessman chairs private investment firm Karori Capital and has a New Zealand passport, but he now lives in Melbourne, where he endured the strict lockdowns.
After first being based at the Doherty Institute, the centre will move to the new Australian Institute for Infectious Diseases, which is set to open in 2027.
“Research, translating into product development, translating then into actual therapeutics that are readily available – we’ve got a big gap to fill there,” Andrews said.
“We’ve got some catching up to do. We’ve got all manner of exciting discoveries to make.”
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