‘Punching above our weight’ in RNA field, says Ed Husic

Industry Minister Ed Husic says RNA medical technology could be ‘huge’ for Australia.

Industry Minister Ed Husic at biotech Vaxxas's manufacturing facility in Brisbane. Picture: Noah Yim

Regulators need to keep up with the latest developments in RNA technology before “extreme acceleration” in the field, says global pharmaceutical heavyweight Sanofi.

Australia is “punching above its weight” in the field, industry players said, as the government consults major players in Australia about RNA. A subset of the field – mRNA vaccines – debuted during the pandemic in Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines.

Beyond the Covid vaccines, broader research is being conducted to treat or prevent a range of diseases including various cancers, rabies and zika, as well as uses in animal health.

Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic was at biotech Vaxxas’ manufacturing facility in Brisbane on Monday, holding a roundtable with key industry players and laying out ambitions to ramp up Australia’s presence in the development and manufacture of RNA treatments.

“This is huge for us,” he told The Australian. “We need to … shrug off this view that says, we’re too small a market, we can’t do this here. We mine so many of our resources, and we don’t think the Australian market size is a barrier to getting this all over the world. Similarly, the smarts that create these types of products can be made here and shipped everywhere. This market, globally, is about $42bn, projected to … by 2030 … more than double.”

He said the roundtable, and other consultations, will help shape strategy and guide priorities for disbursement of the National Reconstruction Fund.

Mr Husic also laid out government ambitions in ramping up Australian production of RNA treatments.