When Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis pounced on Australian biotech Spinifex Pharma for $US700 million ($915.69 million) this week, one fact stood out: without federal government funding, this Australian pain therapy innovator may never have made it out of the lab.
Cash is still being thrown at research and development, but after the Abbott government axed the Innovation Investment Fund (IIF) scheme in 2014's budget there are no programs to support early-stage funding for Australian start-ups.
