Blackmores produces a range of vitamins, minerals and nutritional supplements. Credit:Jane Dyson WSU vice-chancellor Barney Glover said the gift was indicative of an emerging philanthropic culture in higher education, as the federal government encouraged universities to be more front-footed in soliciting donations and more wealthy individuals to give back. Such arrangements needed to be conducted within the university's ethical guidelines, and the results of research funded by Blackmores would be published whether or not it supported the use of a particular product, Professor Glover said. "It's very much a hands-off relationship," Professor Glover said. "They have absolutely no influence over what we do. We need to work with a great deal of integrity because there are plenty of examples around the world where research projects become tainted in some way."

Australia ranks last in the OECD for collaboration between universities and business, with research institutes drawing on average 30 per cent of their funding from the private sector. NICM director Alan Bensoussan said research into complementary medicine was critical given that 70 per cent of Australians used it and it was one of Australia's top exports. "The (National Health and Medical Research Council) spend much less than 1 per cent of their budget on researching these medicines that our patients are using all the time," Professor Bensoussan said. "We need better guidance – everyone agrees with that, even the skeptics – and that's what we're trying to do." The federal government has sought to exploit the booming vitamin industry and research capacity of NICM to exert soft power in China, where there is a voracious appetite for herbal medicine.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott and Chinese President Xi Jinping oversaw the signing of a partnership between NICM and the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine in 2014 to conduct clinical trials that would "validate and translate" Chinese medicines for the Australian market. Mr Blackmore said he did not mind how the money was spent, as long as it was on research. "They say it's untied," Mr Blackmore said. "I don't know what untied means but my own criteria was it can't be bricks and mortar. You can rent bricks and mortar but you can't rent intellectual capacity. "The better the research, the better the outcomes for our industry and our company specifically."

If any research found that a compound was harmful, it would be removed from Blackmores products, he said. Friends of Science in Medicine executive member Ken Harvey said Blackmores research had previously been presented to indicate a benefit to some of its products where there was none. This included a study on the effects of Lyprinol for children with ADHD, which found no improvements over a placebo, but was reported on A Current Affair as a "breakthrough" in a story that quoted the Swinburne University researchers. The study was funded by Pharmalink, which licenses Blackmores to sell the product. "I certainly support good research into traditional medicines but the dangers of it being funded by the Blackmores and Swisses of the world are fully evident in that ADHD 'breakthrough'," Dr Harvey said.

Mr Blackmore said his company had nothing to do with the way A Current Affair presented the story. Challenge for universities Universities are under increasing pressure to find new sources of revenue, but accepting funding from industry can be thorny, with various papers showing that studies sponsored by drug companies are more likely to have favourable results. The University of Sydney is yet to fill its $1.3 million Maurice Blackmore Chair in Integrative Medicine announced two years ago. Then medical dean Bruce Robinson's controversial decision to seek industry sponsorship for the chair was condemned by anti-pseudoscience activists and some of its own academics.

Emeritus professor of public health Simon Chapman was invited to chair a panel that would periodically review the relationship, and he recruited several academics who specialised in evaluating health claims, including the renowned evidence-based health care pharmacologist Lisa Bero and British complementary medicine researcher Edzard Ernst. But Professor Chapman said he later had second thoughts and pulled out of the project. "I just reached the point where I thought this is so much on the nose that I don't want anything to do with it," Professor Chapman said. "The industry craves respectability and they're not getting it and so they're trying to go to universities who will open the door to them. "If Western Sydney University produces research that shows the products are little more than expensive urine generators – or worse, that they interact adversely with other medications or are dangerous in their own right – are they confident that Blackmores wold change their processes?"

In any case, a global search has failed to turn out a suitable candidate for the chair, though it is understood one good applicant pulled out late in the selection process. Mr Blackmore said the money would go towards scholarships if the position could not be filled. "They're struggling to fill it, I can tell you," Mr Blackmore said. "It's a space that's not particularly attractive if you're very orthodox in your thinking." The University of Sydney said in a statement: "The recruitment of a suitable academic to undertake independent research and teaching as the Maurice Blackmore Chair in Integrative Medicine is ongoing.