Queensland Life Sciences Industry Report 2012 (PDF, 3.5MB)

9.1.2 R&D Expenditure Forecasts
An almost equal proportion of companies anticipated that their
R&D expenditure would either increase or remain the same over
the coming 12 months (42% remain the same, 45% increase) and
three years (44% remain the same, 45% increase). The remaining
companies anticipated a fall in R&D expenditure in 12 months
(12%) and three years (11%) (Table 51; Figure 25).
Figure 25: R&D expenditure expectations for companies (left)
and research organisations (right), 2012, 2014 (number of
respondents: 73 companies and 18 research organisations)
Of those companies who provided estimates for their increased
R&D expenditure (33), the average predicted growth was 97% for
the coming 12 months and 138% for the coming three years. For
those who expected a fall in R&D expenditure, the average for
those who qualified the estimate was a decline of 62% in the next
12 months (9 companies) and 64% in three years (8 companies).
There were no research organisations anticipating a decline
in R&D expenditure over the next one–three years. About 44%
of research organisations anticipated R&D expenditure would
remain the same whilst 56% expected an increase over the coming
12 months. For the coming three-year period 83% of research
organisations anticipated an increase in R&D expenditure
and 17% anticipated no change.
TABLE 51: R&D Expenditure Forecasts — 12 months and three years
Expecting
change
12 months 3 years
Average
change
forecast
Expecting
change
88 Biotechnology Industry Position Survey April 2012; 50 respondents drawn from listed Life Sciences companies and AusBiotech member companies. http://www.
ausbiotech.org/data/downloads/Biotechnology%20survey%202012_Final.pdf; accessed 26.05.2012
Average
change
forecast
Companies
Increase 45% 97% 45% 138%
Remain the same 42% - 44% -
Decrease
Research Organisations
12% -62% 11% -64%
Increase 56% 10% 83% 17%
Remain the same 44% - 17% -
Decrease 0% 0% 0% 0%
9.1.3 Business Sentiment in the Australian Life Sciences Industry
In the current survey, the majority of companies forecast
increases in income over the next one (64%) and three years
(81%). The figures in 2009 were 71% and 88% for one and three
years respectively. However, in 2011, 42% of companies predicted
income would remain the same in the coming 12 months,
compared to 15% in 2009.
45% of companies expected R&D expenditure to increase in 2011
compared to 64% in 2009. Lower expectations for R&D expenditure
among companies in 2011 could suggest a level of uncertainty in
income forecasts.
The AusBiotech Biotechnology Industry Position Survey of 50 Life
Sciences companies in January 2012 88 also indicated positive
business sentiment across the Australian Life Sciences Industry.
They reported that 68% of respondents characterised 2011 as a
good or excellent year, and that, in the coming year, 82% expected
their business to grow, and 58% expected to increase the number
of staff.
By contrast, the 2009 AusBiotech Biotechnology Industry Position
Survey revealed a sentiment of caution.
“[In] the 2009 survey by AusBiotech of members...48% of those
surveyed expected to reduce staff numbers and no company indicated
they expected to hire.”
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