Novotech says Federal Budget R&D Tax Support Keeps Australia Globally Competitive for Quality Clinical Trials

Leading Asia Pacific CRO Novotech commended the Turnbull Government’s Federal Budget decision to exclude clinical trials activity from a A$4m cap on cash refunds, or any lifetime cap on refunds.

Novotech CEO Dr John Moller said the move reaffirms Australian’s lead position in attracting foreign investment for drug development and sends a message to the international biopharma community that Australia is the place to conduct research.

“The clinical trial sector not only delivers around A$1billion to the Australian economy annually, it also supports the Australian biopharma industry growth and expertise for the development of new life-changing therapies for both the Australian and world markets.

Novotech is an Asia-Pacific specialist contract research organization (CRO) established in 1996, headquartered in Australia with offices in eleven countries throughout the region.

See the latest data on Australian and also Asia clinical trials here: www.novotech-cro.com/resources.

“More than A$650 million in clinical trial investment each year comes from overseas biopharma companies wanting fast yet high-quality research. According to our clients, the R&D Tax Incentive is a significant factor in their decision to invest in Australian research,” said Dr Moller.

He said the Government announced in the budget that it is excluding R&D tax offsets for clinical trials from the $4 million cap on cash refunds, “recognising the critical role of R&D expenditure on clinical trials in developing life changing drugs and devices.”

According to the Budget announcement the Government will also:

” … introduce a new research and development premium for companies with aggregated annual turnover of $20 million or more, which provides higher rates of R&D support for higher R&D intensity (that is, the proportion of R&D expenditure over total annual expenditure).

The research and development premium will provide multiple rates of non-refundable R&D tax offsets, increasing with the intensity of the claimant’s incremental R&D expenditure.

The … reforms will support and reward higher, more intensive, additional R&D investment.”

About Novotech – www.novotech-cro.com
Headquartered in Sydney, Novotech is internationally recognised as the leading regional full-service contract research organisation (CRO). With a focus on clinical monitoring, Novotech has been instrumental in the success of hundreds of Phase I – IV clinical trials in the Asia Pacific region.

Novotech provides clinical development services across all clinical trial phases and therapeutic areas including: feasibility assessments; ethics committee and regulatory submissions, data management, statistical analysis, medical monitoring, safety services, central lab services, report write-up to ICH requirements, project and vendor management.

Novotech’s strong Asia Pacific presence includes running clinical trials in all key regional markets. Novotech also has worldwide reach through the company’s network of strategic partners. For RFP enquiries: Please fill out the form available at www.novotech-cro.com/contact-us-0.