Veritus Research (Veritus) has officially opened its purpose built Human Clinical Trials facility within Terre Property Partners’ (Terre) Mountain Highway Business Park, in Melbourne’s east.
Having undertaken an extensive multi-million-dollar refurbishment of a 3,238 square metre building, Terre has created a life sciences hub within Mountain Highway Business Park, attracting like-minded groups to capitalise on the continued growth of the sector in Melbourne’s eastern corridor.
Veritus’ state-of-the-art clinical trials facility which has just welcomed its first participants, specialises in conducting Early Phase First in Human (FIH) studies, providing a clinically safe environment for participants. This new clinical trial centre allows for accelerated medical research in Australia and contribute to the development of new treatments to fight diseases on a global scale.
Veritus joins existing bio-technology groups Crux Biolabs, Vivo Pharm and Merck Life Sciences at Mountain Highway Business Park, which also boasts Siemens’ Australian headquarters as well as energy storage technology company Evo Power’s manufacturing and distribution centre. Other notable tenants include Motor One, who operate manufacturing and logistics operations within the business park; the logistics operations of assisted employment group Knoxbrooke Incorporated and Fire Equipment Services, the commercial arm of the State Government’s Fire Rescue Victoria department.
Veritus Research provides a 42-bed residential clinical facility, and an 8-bed outpatient clinic. As well as clinical trial participants, Veritus brings together, Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacists, Scientists, and support staff in one place, dedicated to providing best in class Clinical Trial services. This network is further leveraged with Veritus’ and Eastern Health’s successful collaboration between the private and public sectors to provide emergency support if required.
Veritus CEO Cheryl-Ann Hawkins said, “with the growth of vaccines and therapeutic products, Veritus Research is providing Australia with a state-of-the-art purpose-built Clinical Trial facility that will support Australia’s ability to conduct world class clinical trials.
“The new clinical trial facility will contribute to the development of essential medicines for the Australian population, which is paramount. Medicine’s growth of the past 50 years has been built on scientific understanding translating into development of new drugs and these drugs need to be tested to ensure their effectiveness and safety.
“We have been fundamental in this process in the fields of arthritis, weight management, cardiac disease, infection prevention and many other disease states.
“This gives people earlier access to important treatments and allows the introduction of new, valuable treatments for the entire population.
“Our new space also seamlessly integrates luxury with scientific innovation, with the inclusion of a garden, access to walking trails, chef prepared meals, and office spaces offering participants a unique experience and ensuring that their comfort and safety is our primary priority. Also importantly, it is located outside a hospital so does not add pressure an already at capacity health system, ” Cheryl-Ann concluded.
Veritus is part of Terre Property Partners’ 10-hectare Mountain Highway Business Park located within the Bayswater precinct of Melbourne’s outer east.
In keeping with their sustainable vision for all their projects, Terre purchased the property in 2018 and has undertaken significant redevelopment of existing buildings and construction of new purpose-built facilities featuring green design initiatives including solar PV, intelligent lighting control, rainwater harvesting, EV charging stations and energy monitoring systems.
Terre Property Partners CEO, Mark Brammy said, “the COVID-19 pandemic has been a wake-up call for Australia in regard to the importance of sovereign capability, and we want to capitalise and spearhead the resurgence of medical research to Australian shores.”
“We acquired this site with a vision of creating a Business Park with a mix of businesses with heightened technology, which has now evolved to medical technology, research, and testing.
“Our vision for Bayswater was always to evolve and become a leader in providing innovative development solutions to our customers by creating an epicentre for biotechnology and high-tech manufacturing, capitalising on substantial growth in these sectors,” Mark concluded.
