THE iron-ore magnate Andrew Forrest has teamed up with an Australian of the Year and co-creator of the cervical cancer vaccine, Professor Ian Frazer, to invest in a vaccines technology business chasing treatments for a range of diseases such as influenza, hepatitis C and cancer. Allied Medical, an unlisted public company controlled by the Fortescue Metals chief executive, has agreed to invest $3 million in the Brisbane-based junior biotechnology company Coridon in return for a 38.6 per cent stake. With his hard hat swapped for a lab coat, the multimillion-dollar investment by Mr Forrest underlines a keen and relatively new interest in the biotechnology space and brings him into the orbit of one of the world's most respected scientists. It also makes him a co-investor alongside fellow billionaires and BRW Rich List high-flyers, the Liberman family, who were early backers of Professor Frazer's therapeutic discoveries.