Regenerative medicines and microbiome health are emerging as exciting frontiers, with Australian companies and researchers pushing into new therapeutic approaches

After more than a year at the helm of AusBiotech, CEO Rebekah Cassidy reflects on her early priorities and the organisation’s ambitions as Australia accelerates its position in the global life sciences economy. In an email interaction on the sidelines of AusBiotech 2025, she highlights the country's progress in mRNA, cell and gene therapy, and radiopharmaceuticals, outlines emerging areas of momentum, and discusses how new partnerships and MoUs are strengthening collaboration across the biotech ecosystem. Rebekah also outlines how AusBiotech is preparing Australia for a more competitive and connected global life sciences economy and the strategic priorities shaping AusBiotech’s next chapter. Edited excerpts:

- Ayesha Siddiqui

It has been over a year since you took on the role of CEO at AusBiotech. What have been your key priorities so far, and what further goals or initiatives do you envision for the organisation in the coming years?

It was an honour to step into the CEO role at AusBiotech in 2024, knowing that I was joining an organisation with an almost 40-year history of serving and growing Australia's life sciences sector.

My priorities upon joining were to engage with our broad member base, hear their voices on key topics and consult across our range of national and international stakeholders, from government to the investment community and beyond. Australia's life sciences sector is in a growth phase. It has doubled its size since 2017 and today, there are more than 1,600 biotechnology and medical technology companies operating here, within a broader life sciences ecosystem of over 2,900 organisations.

What struck me when I first began engaging across the breadth of our sector continues to drive our strategy forward today. Australia has a wide and proud history in medical research, fantastic early-phase research and development capability including in our Contract Research Organisation (CRO) and Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO) environment, and a strong startup ecosystem, which is generally well understood. But what is less understood is the growing cohort of Australian scale-up life sciences companies that are now trading across the world.

As Australia’s life sciences sector continues to grow, we have an opportunity to help even more of our exciting scale-up companies to continue their global trajectory. That’s a sector shift we’re discussing with our wide breadth of stakeholders including government and the investment community.

How does AusBiotech's role evolve in helping bridge academia, startups, and industry within Australia and globally?