FB Rice and ANDHealth join forces to strengthen intellectual property expertise for Australia's digital health innovators

Under the industry partnership agreement, FB Rice will provide intellectual property services, R&D tax consulting, and subject matter expertise to ANDHealth portfolio companies taking part in its flagship ANDHealth+ program to underpin commercial plans and guide the companies how to appropriately protect new technology and branding.

Australia's digital and connected health sector has experienced extraordinary growth in recent years, growing at over 50 per cent year on year since 2019, and is positioned to deliver substantive economic and health benefits to Australians, as well as to patients around the globe.

FB Rice Managing Partner Madeleine Kelly said the partnership reflects FB Rice's commitment to supporting Australian innovation in the digital and connected health sector.

"Intellectual property protection is fundamental to the success of digital and connected health companies as they commercialise and scale," Ms Kelly said.

"We're excited to partner with ANDHealth to ensure emerging digital health innovators have access to world-class IP expertise at critical stages of their commercialisation journey. By helping these companies understand and protect their intellectual property early, we can strengthen the foundation for their long-term success and global competitiveness."

ANDHealth Chief Executive Bronwyn Le Grice said intellectual property strategy is a critical component of successful commercialisation.

"FB Rice brings exceptional depth of expertise in intellectual property and R&D tax incentives, which are both essential elements of building investment-ready, scalable digital health companies," Ms Le Grice said.

ANDHealth now works closely with more than 1,200 digital and connected health companies across Australia, as well as international partners. It delivers world-class commercialisation skills training, accelerator and incubator programs and provides professional management of substantial non-dilutive funding through the MRFF, all of which are designed to create fit-to-fund and fit-to-deploy technologies at the forefront of health innovation.

FB Rice joins HPM Executive, HLTH and Humanise Health as industry partners of ANDHealth. ANDHealth’s core partners include The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Monash University, Telstra Health, Planet Innovation, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Commercial Eyes and Curve Tomorrow.

About ANDHealth

ANDHealth is Australia’s only organisation specialised in the commercialisation of evidence-based digital and connected health technologies. ANDHealth’s globally unique cooperative commercialisation model has led to significant growth within Australia’s nascent digital health sector and continues to be a driving force for the development of Australia’s capability in evidence-based, regulated, digital health technologies.

ANDHealth is now one of Australia’s leading health technology commercialisation organisations, ranking in the Australian Financial Review’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Health in 2023. Companies participating in its flagship ANDHealth+ program raised $19.70 in new capital and generated $6.70 in new revenues for every dollar invested. ANDHealth manages over $30M in public and private commitments to digital health commercialisation and provides specialist support to a further $100M of funding managed by Brandon Capital.

www.andhealth.com.au