Benchmarking Biotechnology Companies in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

Benchmarking to Offer Competitive Edge to Biotech Companies in Australia and New Zealand

The success of the human genome project has fueled a huge interest in biotechnology research world over. Every industry picks up lessons as it goes up the learning curve and benchmarking is an essential tool that needs to be used at every stage of the industrys life cycle in order to stay ahead of competition. Biotech companies need to identify the key growth drivers and benchmark themselves against the best in class not only from peer groups but also across all industries. Competitive benchmarking not only examines the products, services and processes of competitors but also compares this information to the companys own internal operations data. Going forward, it will be important to adopt a "balanced scorecard" approach while developing internal benchmarking metrics.

Biotech companies in Australia and New Zealand aiming for world-class capabilities in their respective fields are likely to find this Frost & Sullivan benchmarking study prepared in association with AusBiotech Ltd, extremely valuable. Companies can now focus on key value drivers such as innovation, branding, distribution, partnerships, and external environmental factors within the biotech industry.

Top Class Research Initiatives Drives Biotech Industry in Australia and New Zealand

Australias traditional strengths in human health and agriculture have helped it move up the value chain in a short period of time. The Australian government has played a significant role in driving the growth of the industry and has encouraged entrepreneurship in this industry in a bid to commercialize its R&D processes. Immunology, vaccines, stem cells, proteomics and bioinformatics are Australias strong areas. New Zealand also has a tradition of a strong research base with pioneering work in plant biotechnology and human health and therapeutics.

One of the biggest challenges that biotech companies face is the size of the R&D budget. "Management of financial resources is a function of successful project management in the R&D practice," says the analyst of this research service. "Setting up clear priorities that includes planning for both human resources and R&D funds is crucial". It is equally important to measure employee satisfaction with the same level of thoroughness as managing R&D projects.

Moving Beyond R&D -- Biotech Companies Need to Focus on Alliances and Branding

Branding and marketing is as important for the success of biotech products as it is for any other product. "Competition is intense and often there are no perceptible differences between two drugs used to treat the same disease," observes the analyst. "Branding efforts are hence necessary right from the conception to the post launch stage to not only help in clear product positioning to the physician and the managed care organization, but also to the patient."

Competitive benchmarking of partnerships is also integral to the growth of biotech companies. However, finding the right partner is extremely challenging. Maintaining relationships with partners requires in depth planning and meaningful interactions between partners on a periodic basis. Australian biotech companies must also strive to develop an effective distribution strategy through a large national and global networking in order to expand geographical reach.