From Bench to Bilateral: Australia Canada Life Sciences Innovation

Australia and Canada are home to world-class life sciences ecosystems, with complementary strengths in research, clinical development, investment and biotechnology innovation. As global competition for capital, talent and breakthrough therapies intensifies, the opportunity to strengthen collaboration between these two markets has never been more compelling.

Join the Canadian Australian Chamber of Commerce (CACC) for an executive discussion exploring how life sciences companies are leveraging capabilities on both sides of the Pacific to accelerate research and development, navigate regulatory pathways, attract investment and scale internationally.

Bringing together senior leaders from industry, investment, trade and government, the conversation will examine the strategic advantages of establishing research and development capabilities across both markets, opportunities for cross-border investment and commercialisation, and the challenges that continue to constrain sector growth.

Featuring the journey of Canadian biotechnology innovator AbCellera, the discussion will explore its evolution from an academic spin-out to a global biotechnology company advancing a pipeline of therapeutic candidates - offering insights into the role of early-stage capital, research infrastructure, strategic partnerships and international expansion in building globally competitive life sciences businesses.

The discussion will explore:

• The Australia-Canada advantage: Harnessing complementary research, clinical trial and biotechnology ecosystems.

• From discovery to development: Navigating regulatory pathways and accelerating preclinical and clinical R&D.

• Capital and commercialisation: Unlocking cross-border investment, strategic partnerships and opportunities to scale.

• Building global biotechnology companies: Lessons from AbCellera's growth and international expansion.

• Closing the gaps: Addressing barriers to capital, infrastructure, talent and commercialisation across both markets.

This event offers a valuable opportunity to connect with leaders shaping the future of biotechnology and explore how deeper Australia-Canada collaboration can translate scientific discovery into commercial success.

David Tsui

Consul and Senior Trade Commissioner to Australia

GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

David currently serves as Consul and Senior Trade Commissioner to Australia and is part of Canada’s executive leadership in the country. In his role, he advances bilateral economic ties and strategic commercial partnerships between governments, investors, and businesses in both markets.

Prior to arriving in Australia a year ago, David was Director General, Business Growth & Competitiveness at Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan). At PacifiCan, he led creation of this new division, overseeing investments in high‑growth firms and major economic projects. Under his leadership, the agency’s portfolio of companies grew to CAD $290 million under management, delivering notable outcomes such as AbCellera’s landmark IPO at over $1 billion valuation. David and his team have provided catalytic investment to many of British Columbia’s leading companies and business projects spanning life sciences, mining and energy, defence, aerospace, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, digital media, climate technology, advanced manufacturing, and agri‑food.

Kerri Lee Sinclair

Director of Investment

AUSBIOTECH

Kerri Lee Sinclair is Director of Investment at AusBiotech, where she leads initiatives to strengthen capital attraction and investment into Australia's life sciences sector.Canadian-born and based in Australia, Kerri maintains close personal and professional ties with Canada. Her career spans entrepreneurship, investment and company leadership, including managing capital for family offices, serving on the Investment Committee of the Alice Anderson Fund and board roles with global Australian technology companies SPEE3D and AgriDigital.She is also Editorial Board Chair of Canadian-owned AutomatedBuildings.com, connecting her with the international smart buildings industry.Kerri Lee brings a practical perspective on what it takes to attract investment, build internationally competitive businesses and translate innovation into commercial opportunities across markets.

Adam Clarke

Senior Vice President, Discovery

ABCELLERA

Adam Clarke is SVP, Discovery at AbCellera, where he leads the team that discovers and engineers antibody therapeutics, including ABCL635, an investigational antibody for vasomotor symptoms of menopause. A protein engineer with 20 years in biologics, he has developed approaches for generating antibodies against difficult targets and founded Channel Bio, now AbCellera Australia. Before AbCellera, he was Senior Director, Biologics Lead Antibody Discovery at Teva Pharmaceuticals, where he led the team that discovered and developed duvakitug, an anti-TL1A antibody now in late-stage clinical trials. He holds a PhD in experimental medicine from the University of Sydney and 17 patent families.

Michelle MacRae

Co-Founder and CEO

BOWER

Product leader who has built zero-to-one products at Microsoft, Google and Dovetail, bringing a user research discipline to building software for scientists.

About Bower

Bower captures the actions, observations and context behind scientific work, turning tacit know-how into reusable knowledge that helps teams develop faster, transfer sooner and scale with confidence. It is built for a future defined by augmented research: scientists and AI working together to make research faster, more reproducible and more effective. Bower delivers ambient intelligence through smart glasses and other interfaces, capturing experiments, observations and decisions as they happen without interrupting the researcher. Voice, images, video and outcomes become part of a living record that reflects not only what happened, but how it happened, automating research administration and making an organisation’s collective expertise available to scientists in real time. The result is faster R&D, better reproducibility, stronger knowledge retention and greater scientific output.

Dr. Julia Warning

A/Director Commercialisation and Strategic Partnerships

OFFICE FOR HEALTH & MEDICAL RESEARCH (OHMR)

Dr. Julia Warning is a health and medical research strategist with extensive experience in research translation, commercialisation, strategic partnerships and the development of research and innovation ecosystems, with a particular focus on advanced therapeutics and emerging technologies.
Julia holds a PhD in Paediatrics and is currently Acting Director, Commercialisation and Strategic Partnerships in the Office for Health and Medical Research, NSW Ministry of Health. As Acting Director she has responsibility for managing strategy and teams spanning International Partnerships, Health and Innovation Precincts, Enterprise and Advanced Therapeutics. Her work spans the patient journey from diagnosis through to long-term follow-up, and the innovation pathway from discovery through implementation and commercialisation.

Melissa Wharton

Chief Executive Officer

Canadian Australian Chamber of Commerce

Melissa Wharton is the Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Australian Chamber of Commerce (CACC), the leading bilateral business organisation advancing trade, investment and strategic partnerships between Australia and Canada, with a network of more than 7,000 business and government professionals across both countries.

A recognised voice in the Australia-Canada economic relationship, Melissa works at the intersection of government, institutional capital and industry, connecting decision-makers and advancing opportunities for cross-border investment, collaboration and economic growth. Under her leadership, the CACC has strengthened its position as a strategic platform for bilateral engagement, convening senior government ministers, institutional investors, pension and superannuation funds, and global business leaders. Her work spans priority sectors including infrastructure, critical minerals, energy, defence, advanced manufacturing, technology and life sciences.

Joshua Khoddami

Director & Co-Chair

CACC NSW COMMITTEE

As a part of Neu.Capital, Joshua helps established companies raise $5m -$100m of debt and equity outside the big 4 banks by placing them in front a vast universe of professional investors. He spends time with clients educating them on the non-bank funding world. Previous to this, Joshua spent 7 years managing a digital marketing agency in Sydney that specialises in generating leads for mid-market companies.

Originally from Vancouver Joshua has spent the last 8 years living and working in Sydney.

Elli Hanson

Co-Chair

CACC NSW COMMITTEE

Elli Hanson is a Partner at Side Stage Ventures, where she backs early-stage founders building globally ambitious companies from Australia. Her path into venture spans industrial design, global brand strategy, and startup building — including roles as Global Director of Design Strategy at Ogilvy Worldwide and Co-Founder of Flaus, a consumer hardware company behind the world’s first patented electric flosser. At Side Stage, she works closely with early-stage founders across sectors, with a particular interest in human-centred design, taste, and the role creativity will play in shaping the next generation of breakout companies.