Healthcare manufacturers push for ‘single voice’ to drive resilience agenda

Brendan Cummins, Vice President & General Manager of Baxter ANZ, and Brett Alderson, General Manager of Biocina, reflect on the healthcare manufacturing landscape where coordination is becoming increasingly strategic rather than incidental.

In this Health Industry Hub podcast, the conversation is set against the launch of the inaugural Australian Healthcare Manufacturing Leaders Network, convened by Baxter ANZ. This is a cross-sector initiative aimed at strengthening alignment within the manufacturing ecosystem at a time of sustained structural pressure and geopolitical complexity.

The conversation centres on the convergence of capability, policy direction, and the operational realities of producing and supplying critical health technologies at scale. Resilience is framed not as stability, but as sustained performance under volatility where reliability is continually tested and renegotiated.

The duo unpack digital transformation and artificial intelligence (AI), both of which are reshaping the ecosystem by delivering capability gains while also introducing emerging risks that are still being navigated in practice. At the same time, workforce gaps and rising energy costs highlight deeper structural pressures that are materially influencing competitiveness and long-term viability.

“The goal is developing that single voice for the healthcare manufacturing industry that we can take back to state and federal governments,” said Cummins.

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