The A$100 million Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative was established by the University and the Victorian Government to strengthen the research capabilities and outcomes of Victorian life sciences research.

Under the collaborative research agreement announced this week, IBM will establish a collaboratory with leading life sciences and computational specialists at the University.  

Minter Ellison assisted in the tender process and negotiating a suite of agreements with IBM Australia covering the provision of the supercomputer and associated support services, and related collaborative research arrangements.

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It is the first time IBM has established a collaboratory in life sciences anywhere in the world and it is the first IBM research collaboratory in the southern hemisphere.

IBM will also provide a Blue Gene supercomputer that offers high speed and large scale processing capacity to enable scientists to study diseases such as HIV-AIDS, hepatitis C, breast cancer, prostate cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy and develop new drugs and improved treatments.  

It is the fifth-largest supercomputer in the world, and the largest dedicated to life sciences research.

The outcome of this collaboration will be a significant strengthening of the research capabilities of Victoria's life sciences researchers and a dramatic expansion of their capacity to carry out world-class research in Melbourne.

"This was a complex project that required Minter Ellison to bring together a team with expertise in a range of areas, including government funding and government tender requirements, public sector research and IT procurement," said IP and IT special counsel Kylie Diwell 

ASsisting Diwell in the deal were IT and IP partner Paul Kallenbach and Mitzi Gilligan.