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Biotechnology industry leaders recognised with AusBiotech and Johnson & Johnson Innovation Industry Excellence Awards

• Industry Leadership Award: Mrs Lusia Guthrie
• Company of the Year: Planet Innovation
• Emerging Company of the Year: CancerAid

The AusBiotech and Johnson & Johnson Innovation Industry Excellence Awards were announced today at the AusBiotech 2017 national conference in Adelaide. The Awards recognise innovative companies and individuals in Australia’s world-class biotechnology, medical technology and healthcare sectors.

Ms Kathy Connell, Senior Director New Ventures, ANZ, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, said: “These award recipients are aiming to improve the health of people across the globe, which is an incredibly important mission and we are delighted to sponsor these awards that help recognise this important work.”

AusBiotech’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Glenn Cross, said each award recipient had made a significant contribution to the sector, and to the ongoing growth of Australia’s biotechnology and medical technology, as well as the health of Australians.

“These awards recognise the excellence in our industry,” Mr Cross said. “They also encourage us with what can be achieved when innovation is accompanied by the business acumen needed to bring novel medicines, medical devices and other new technologies to patients.”

Industry Leadership Award: Mrs Lusia Guthrie

With over 35 years in the pharmaceutical, medtech and bioscience industries, Mrs Lusia Guthrie is the Chairman of Clever Culture Systems AG, LBT Innovations’ joint venture based in Zurich. She holds Board positions with the BioMelbourne Network and ANDHealth and was recently appointed Chair of the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre at Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences.  Lusia also holds Industry Advisory Committee positions with the Australian Centre for Visual Technology (ACVT) at the University of Adelaide and the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) at Monash University. Lusia has been an active, generous and long-time contributor to the industry and member of AusBiotech and AusMedtech. 

Company of the Year: Planet Innovation

Over the last 12 months, Planet Innovation (PI) has proudly raised the profile of the Australian biotechnology industry to new levels of national and international recognition, through sustained company success, breakthrough innovations and proactive thought-leadership. During this time, PI doubled its company revenue, created over 100 new jobs for the Australian biotechnology sector, and more than tripled its manufacturing export revenues of biomed and life-science products.

Emerging Company of the Year: CancerAid

CancerAid is empowering the cancer community through innovation on a global scale. The Company has developed a smartphone application for cancer patients, caregivers and clinicians. This innovative digital health tool is designed to address key issues faced in oncology to provide value-added services to Cancer Hospitals, Health Insurance Providers and Pharmaceutical Companies.

Having launched last year, the App has quickly become the number one cancer app in Australia, the US and the United Kingdom. The Company has raised investment, taken the product to market and signed up large customers in both Australia and the United States. CancerAid has recently expanded operations to the US, having secured one of the largest investments in Shark Tank along with investment from the reputable Cedar-Sinai Hospital.

More information about Award recipients is included below.

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Media enquiries: Lorraine Chiroiu, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, AusBiotech, lchiroiu@ausbiotech.org, 0429 801 118.

Mrs Lusia Guthrie is an experienced executive and medtech entrepreneur, with strong leadership skills and international industry networks. She started her career as a Medical Laboratory Scientist before joining the manufacturing division of pharmaceutical company FH Faulding & Co. Lusia then went on to co-found medical technology innovation company LBT Innovations Limited (ASX: LBT) where she served as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director before retiring late last year.

Lusia has a passion and proven track record in bringing innovative products to global markets, embracing the entire process from company formation, capital raising and concept development to product launch. She has particular experience and ongoing interest in the development and commercialisation of new healthcare products that embrace automation, robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Planet Innovation

In 2017, PI made a strategic decision to become more than a Biomedical Design and Development company. It launched a complete commercialisation offering and created a unique company that provides a rare blend of deep design expertise coupled with strategic marketing and commercialisation experience. PI has helped Biotech companies raise over $45M in capital, as well as develop and launch healthcare devices worldwide.

PI also conceives, incubates and scales its own healthcare focused spin-offs, including Lumos Diagnostics. Lumos Diagnostics, headed by Dr. Sacha Dopheide in Melbourne, is commercialising IP created in conjunction with Deakin University and is currently deploying biotech solutions with several of the largest pharma companies in the world.

This year, the Australian Federal Treasurer, Scott Morrison, launched the national budget from PI’s offices, and before the national media exclaimed, “This is a business that is smart, it’s innovative, it’s passionate, and it is breaking new ground. From day dot it was breaking into global markets. It continues to invest in itself and it continues to invest in its people.”

In the last 12 months, PI has stood on the top step of every major industry award including the Australian Good Design Award for Best Product, and the Medical Design Excellence Award in New York promoting Australia as the pinnacle of bio innovation. For two consecutive years, PI was voted Australia’s Most Innovative Company by the AFR, promoting the Biotech industry above all other industries as the leader of innovation in Australia.

PI is giving back to the industry through its involvement with ANDHealth, Australia's National Digital Health Initiative. PI has partnered with many of Australia’s leading organisations from Monash University, CSIRO and RMIT to help develop and commercialise IP that is now attracting worldwide attention across the med device, veterinary and agricultural biotechnology industries.

PI has forged a new position for itself on the Australian Biotech landscape as a unique company with a complete commercialisation offering dedicated to elevating the industry that it proudly belongs to - the Australian Biotech sector.