Companies receive late MMI grant decisions – sparks IDT Australia strategic review

By Peter Roberts

Companies have begun to receive belated notices from the federal government that their applications for grant support under the Morrison government’s Modern Manufacturing Initiative, with IDT Australia one that has opted for a full strategic review following news its bid for a MMI grant had failed.

Industry minister Ed Husic this week revealed that the former government failed to inform 400 applicants they were unsuccessful under the Translation, Integration and Collaboration streams – only 34 were notified.

This tainted the MMI process, which Husic said was otherwise backed by an independent Assessment Committee with the processes adhering to the publicly available Grant Opportunity Guidelines.

However today Melbourne pharmaceutical manufacturer IDT Australia CEO Dr David Sparling initiated a strategic review of its operations following news it was one company whose grant application had failed.

Sparling said: “We are disappointed in the outcome of the MMI Translation Stream Round 2 process, having been encouraged to submit an application in January this year.

“(Today)…the Australian government has confirmed that IDT’s submission…has been unsuccessful.”

Husic criticised the politicisation of the MMI process, with announcement of grants delayed and released in a short time leading up to this year’s election, and 400 unsuccessful companies never told of the outcome.

IDT was extensively courted by the previous federal government as it scrambled to develop local manufacturing capabilities to make mRNA vaccines onshore.

It did receive an earlier contract with the federal department of health to make ready its sterile manufacturing facilities and hold them available for the potential purpose of manufacturing a vaccine or vaccine components.

Late last year the company became the first to in Australia to successfully manufacture a cGMP approved mRNA finished product, and it has since made the ‘mRNA Covid-19 receptor binding domain’ vaccine candidate developed by Monash University, in quantities ready for clinical trails which are now underway.

Dr Sparling said: “This (MMI) application was to fund equipment to expand IDT’s current capabilities upstream, to manufacture the mRNA starting material so the company could vertically integrate the cGMP manufacture of Australia’s mRNA content into clinical and commercial outcomes.

“The new facility build [projects that we are aware of have not planned for these capabilities to come online before 2024-2025.”

Ultimately the Morrison government backed foreign company Moderna to receive the greatest funding to establish a mRNA vaccine manufacturing capability in Australia.

But the shabby way that companies like IDT Australia have been treated, the secrecy and politicised announcement timing over winners and losers, and potentially the business harm delayed notifications may have caused, is a stain on the MMI.

And as Husic pointed out, the MMI program had delivered funding to outstanding companies and deserving projects.

Picture: IDT Australia

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