Nick Meadows

Pharma, MedTech and Life Sciences Sector Leader
PwC Australia

With over 16 years of experience in the Healthcare and Life Sciences industry as a Strategy Consultant, a Technology Transfer analyst and a post-doctoral scientist Nick has a passion for bringing healthcare systems into the 21st century by accelerating innovation in life sciences and transforming the business model of healthcare providers.
 
Nick completed a PhD at the University of Queensland, Australia and a postdoc at the UK’s Medical Research Council, where he investigated potential drug targets to treat osteoporosis and type 2 diabetes. Following completion of his MBA at the University of Oxford, Nick shifted his focus to the many of the commercial and operational challenges facing the pharmaceutical and med tech industry. He spent 10 years in the UK working with global companies develop and commercialise life changing medicines in the fields of HIV, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, cardio-vascular diseases and diabetes. He also supported the strategy of globally recognized life science research centres with specialties in genomics and personalized medicines.
 
Since returning to Australia Nick has broadened his work to support Healthcare providers uplift the standard of care through better application of innovative therapies and the use of technology to drive financially sustainable operations. 

His areas of focus include:
• Precision medicine and the expanding role of genomics in clinical practice
• Corporate and sector level growth strategies for the Aged Care sector, Pharma, Medtech, Wholesale and Distribution, and Life Science Research Centres
• Life Sciences policy development
• Healthcare provider transformation
• Digitally enabled new models of care

Working in this sector has given Nick a holistic perspective on the internal and external challenges facing Healthcare and Life Science companies and how healthcare delivery is changing quickly. He is passionate about his role in this industry and helping healthcare businesses deliver better outcomes for patients.


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Speech title & Synopsis

From science fiction to reality: Capitalising on the genomic revolution

Since the human genome was first sequenced in 2003, emerging technologies in the collection, sequencing, and analysis of genomic data have driven down the cost of DNA sequencing, from over $1 million to $600 per genome in the past 15 years. Through the use of genomics, we can now end the diagnostic odyssey that exists for many rare diseases. Genomics is now one of the fastest growing sectors within health. As we move from government-sponsored national programs to routine clinical testing, there will be rapid demand for services across the genomics value chain. However, before health systems can reap the full advantage of genomics, critical capabilities need to be established and end to end funding pathways need to be established. Restrictive reimbursement methodologies limit adoption to only a few cases even though there are many more cases with proven health advantages. Health systems wanting to be at the forefront of innovation and lead the field of genomics, need to clearly define how research will translate into clinical practice and reconsider how genomics is funded from referral to clinical action.