There has never been more attention on Australia’s medtech and biotechnology industry, with the COVID-19 pandemic shining a spotlight on the sector and its importance to the country’s health and economy.
Australia already has a global reputation for medtech and biotech innovations, our research community and commercialisation output. The sector contributes significantly to the domestic economy, and governments at all levels are providing unprecedented levels of funding and support.
The sector has proved crucial in Australia’s response to the pandemic, from the development of rapid testing to the manufacturing of vaccines.
The 2021 InnovationAus Awards for Excellence MedTech and BioTechnology category celebrates innovative companies in this space. The finalists for 2021 include a company utilising the power of light to combat COVID-19 and other pathogens, Australia’s most trusted video telehealth platform helping remote consultations happen, and a company working with the aged care workforce to improve health outcomes for older Australians.
The MedTech and BioTechnology category is sponsored by the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre.
The category finalists are:
- Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
- CSIRO – Coviu
- GERMii Australia
- Sleeptite
“Australia’s entrepreneurial scene is one of the most vibrant ones worldwide, having produced 20 tech unicorns last year following a second-to-none funding and investment surge,” Digital Health CRC chief innovation officer Dr Stefan Harrer said.
“The InnovationAus Awards for Excellence will highlight some of the most stunning stories of translating innovation into real-world impact, and we’re thrilled to be shining a light on the prolific innovators behind these successes.”
The InnovationAus 2021 Awards for Excellence will be presented at a gala black-tie dinner held on Wednesday, December 1, at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Sydney. You can book your tickets at the Awards website. For further enquiries, please email Awards@InnovationAus.com
Behind the finalists
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) is the largest children’s health research institute in Australia, and in the top three worldwide for research quality and impact. MCRI’s team of 1200 researchers is dedicated to making discoveries to prevent and treat childhood conditions. As many of these researchers are also clinicians at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, this research is informed by the problems faced by real patients, and able to be quickly transformed into practical treatments for children in hospital.
Four years ago the MCRI’s pioneering genetic services arm, the Victorian Clinical Genetics Service (VCGS), set out an ambitious goal to speed up genomic testing so that we can find answers for critically ill babies and children with rare diseases in time to help their clinical care. VCGS has now provided a genomic test report in less than five days to over 350 Australian families.
Coviu is Australia’s most trusted video telehealth solution, providing secure and feature-rich video consultations. Its platform has enabled more than 65,000 health carers to deliver more than 4.3 million remote consultations around the country. Coviu’s mission is to improve healthcare accessibility for all Australians and to help patients and providers discover the benefits of video consultations, including cost and time savings, reduced no-shows, improved patient satisfaction and greater flexibility.
GERMii is an early-stage Australian tech and science company developing exciting, market-first technology that neutralises COVID-19 on surfaces and in the air using the power of light. Proudly manufactured in Australia, GERMii has developed specialised UVC light technology that eliminates pathogens such as COVID-19 in seconds, on any surface and chemical free. Used properly, light is completely safe.
Sleeptite is a tech company focusing on creating world-leading products for the connected bedroom of the future, whether it be at home, hospital, prison, barracks or boarding schools. This year the company launched a fully operational prototype called REMI, a world-first “nearable” technology that continuously monitors the presence, position and posture of an aged care resident throughout the course of every night.
This provides nurses and carers the necessary tool to be able to monitor all beds in their care at all times, and to ensure that residents only receive nighttime disruptions and interventions when necessary.
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