US ‘millions’ bid for city bio-tech industry

Andrew Mathieson
AN AMERICAN pharmaceutical company is preparing to invest millions of dollars in a share of a Geelong biotech firm.
A shareholder meeting in December will consider the American bid for 19 per cent of the Geelong company as others also express interest in the city’s growing bio-tech industry.
ChemGenex chief operations officer Dr James Campbell said the interest in Geelong’s leukaemia drug developer had “genuine merit” but the company would be unable to accept a formal offer until February.
“Certainly, an American company has made some movement to suggest it’s quite interested in ChemGenex,” he said.
“Whether that means at all there would be jobs for Geelong is a very different question – most of our staff is already based in California.”
ChemGenex’s head office for finance and strategy is in Geelong but the growth of the company, a larger pharmaceutical market and a larger pool of talent has forced its regulatory and medical teams overseas.
Dr Campbell declined to reveal the identity of the American investor but said ChemGenex’s goal was to further commercialise drugs in the US market.
He expected shareholders to “raise all sorts of questions” about the bid at the company’s annual general meeting on November 29 before voting the following month.
Dr Campbell, who is also BioGeelong chairman, said the city remained an important part of Victoria’s burgeoning biotech industry.
“State Government is committed to growing our biotech presence and really we’ve great support over the past 10 years,” he said.
BioGeelong is an industry-based network to assist the growth of the industry in the Geelong region and maximise opportunities from its world-class biotech activities.
BioGeelong facilitator Keelie Hamilton said the city had ample attributes to entice international ChemGenex jobs home.
“I think an announcement like this could really put the spotlight on Geelong and the capabilities in Geelong,” she said.
“We’d be absolutely delighted if it translated to more actual jobs for Geelong. Even if it just translates to the understanding that the knowledge has been formed in Geelong, well, that in itself would be fantastic.”
Ms Hamilton said several foreign companies were considering investing in nano-technology, waste and bio-fuel research in Geelong.
The industry employed about 450 researchers in Geelong and contributed $15 million to city’s economy annually.