Ep23 - Dr Zahra Champion - The Future of Biotechnology in New Zealand

Today’s guest is Dr Zahra Champion, Executive Director of BiotechNZ.

This episode is brought to you by SAPRO Consulting: https://www.saproconsulting.com.au/

Biotechnology is a broad category, and ranges from the use of yeast to brew beer, something humans have been doing for the past 9,000 years to manipulating our DNA to fight cancer, something we have been doing for last 20 years. Biotech is a platform technology that sits across all sectors - animal health, agriculture, human health etc.

Modern Biotechnology has the potential to change lives and economies. New Zealand is at a crossroads, after years of onerous regulations stifling advancement in this area, the new government have made moves to re-vamp these regulations to unlock capacity.

But to make a modern biotechnology industry happen, you don't just need benign regulations, you also need smart and motivated individuals and even smarter money. I

n this episode, Dr Champion and I discuss: What is Biotechnology and where the opportunities are What we can learn from other countries that have developed frameworks to support the implementation of biotechnology Advice for budding and future biotech entrepreneurs You can find out more about Dr Champion and BiotechNZ here: LinkedIn - Zahra Champion BioTECH NZ

Timestamps: 00:00 Teaser 00:30 Introduction 02:50 Regulatory framework holding Biotech back 04:10 Negative implications of not having a Biotech industry 05:30 What is Biotech 08:50 Taking gene technologies from the lab to trial 13:19 Medicinal cannabis: a case study 14:00 New Zealand can adopt the gold-standard of regulations from the world 15:15 Opportunity-cost of NOT having a thriving biotechnology industry 18:20 Biotechnology is expensive 21:00 Early-stage funding is available, but late-stage is not 25:00 Developing a New Zealand flavour for biotech 29:00 Australia vs. New Zealand 31:15 Tall poppy syndrome & showing the world that we are open for business 33:40 Short vs. Long-termism 37:20 Aroa Biosurgery & Neuren Pharmaceuticals set an example 38:50 Smart money = not repeating the same pitfalls 40:30 Internal monologue or dialogue 44:50 Advice for Biotech Entrepreneurs

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