Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed

IDT Australia secures Sanofi contract Pharmaceutical development company IDT Australia has secured a follow on contract with pharma giant Sanofi Australia for preclinical formulation, development and manufacture of Sanofi’s messenger RNA (mRNA). The contract, worth up to $4 million, continues the company’s advancement of mRNA-based vaccine formulation, development and manufacture at IDT’s aseptic sterile injectables…

AIM Defence scores $1m in drone competition

AIM Defence’s Fractl Tactical Directed Energy Laser has taken out first place at an international Counter Drone Sandbox in Canada netting a $1 million dollar prize. The win cements AIM’s position at the forefront of low cost and compact Tactical Counter-Drone Systems and follows the Australian Government’s $5.4 million commitment to buy a Fractl counter…

Pfizer invests $150m for microbial resistance

Pfizer Australia has announced a major upgrade to its manufacturing facility in Melbourne to boost production of pharmaceuticals aiming to help address rising levels of antimicrobial resistance. Pfizer has invested $150 million to develop advanced pharmaceutical production facilities for new antimicrobial treatments tackling what is one of the biggest threats to global health. The Victorian…

Economic accelerator grants offered in NRF priority areas

The first round of Australia’s Economic Accelerator (AEA) grants is now open to researchers and industry in key areas identified by the federal government such as refining and processing of critical minerals, renewable hydrogen, and green metals. $180 million in funding is available for university researchers and their industry partners to commercialise research related to…

Optiscan completes beta phase telepathology development

Confocal microscopy manufacturer Optiscan Imaging has completed the beta phase development of its cloud-connected telepathology platform developed in partnership with Prolucid Technologies. The development is a significant advancement in digital pathology, according to the company, enabling real-time, remote collaboration on patient imaging sessions. The platform utilises Optiscan’s confocal imaging technology to generate digital pathology data,…

Wanting Australian drones but buying foreign instead – by Dr Peter Layton

Australia has clear defence industry priorities including developing a local drone manufacturing sector. Here Dr Peter Layton examines Defence’s recent drone purchases, and asks why then, do we buy overseas made drones and not the best value or most advanced ones at that? In late February the Minister for Defence Industry launched the Defence Industry…