Medical research sector applauds injection of MRFF funding

The Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI) welcomes the government’s decision to not only honour its election promise of meeting the next milestone payment in the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), but increase the initial amount promised from $2.52 billion to $3.21 billion.

“This is excellent news for the medical research sector,” said AAMRI President Professor Jonathan Carapetis AM. “It shows the clear importance the government is placing on medical research, now and in the future.”

The MRFF, set up in 2015, is a sovereign wealth fund set to reach $20 billion by 2020-21. With this latest payment it reaches this target.

The returns from these investments are used to fund critical research in a range of priority areas, most recently for a variety of COVID-19 research including vaccines.

“We applaud the government for honouring their election promise. It demonstrates they are investing in our future, ensuring Australia will be able to fund responses to any future threats,” said Professor Carapetis.

Most of the funding that has gone to COVID-19 research efforts to date has come from the MRFF. We have seen research calls in mental health, antivirals, respiratory medicine clinical trials, digital health infrastructure, immunological studies and vaccine development amongst others.

“This is exactly why the MRFF was set up, so Australia could be as responsive as possible to new priority areas,” said Professor Carapetis.

“Our medical research sector is currently mobilising to the best of our ability to meet the current health challenges this pandemic has brought with it, and knowing that the government is continuing to safe guard the future of the sector is exactly the type of news Australia needs.”