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:

1. What is Biotechnology and where the opportunities are
2. What we can learn from other countries that have developed frameworks to support the implementation of biotechnology
3. Advice for budding and future biotech entrepreneurs

You can find out more about Dr Champion and BiotechNZ here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zahra-champion-09178b11/
https://biotechnz.org.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

Dr Zahra Champion | The Future of Biotechnology in New Zealand Ep 23 | Ep23
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