Australia has a vibrant and world-class regenerative medicine eco-system and is internationally recognised for its discovery and translational research.  However, the developmental path of promising regenerative medicines is often fragmented, opportunistic and ad hoc. The commercially relevant skill set and dedicated financial capital of CCRM and BioCurate are critical resources available to assist researchers and startups navigate this challenging development path.

This MoU lays the foundation for collaboration between CCRM Australia and BioCurate. The scope promotes identification of suitable projects that parties can contribute towards by leveraging their expertise, networks and financial resources with the goal of joint translation of regenerative medicine in its broadest definition, i.e. harness the power of cellular and gene therapies to treat, repair, regenerate or replace diseased cells, tissues and organs, and to cure diseases. Where appropriate, both CCRM Australia and BioCurate will support each other’s programmes to train the next wave of entrepreneurs on the business of regenerative medicine.

CCRM Australia’s CEO Silvio Tiziani noted, “CCRM Australia is thrilled to be working with the BioCurate team to support Australia’s growing regenerative medicine industry.  It is clear that the development of regenerative medicine has come of age and with many therapies currently in and coming out of clinical trials, it is critical for Australia to translate its strong research pipeline and add to this new wave of life changing therapies.”

 BioCurate’s CEO Dr Glenn Begley stated, “The boundary of medicines has yet again shifted beyond pharmaceutical drugs and biologics to include cellular therapies and gene therapies. Furthermore, the meteoric rise of CAR-T cancer immunotherapies has inevitably attracted clinical as well as investment interests. BioCurate’s collaboration with CCRM Australia is a critical step to accelerate the translation of innovative regenerative medicine research into the healthcare market.”

The signing of the MoU brings together leaders in drug, biologic, regenerative medicine and medical technology development to pave a viable translation and commercialisation pathway for the Australian regenerative medicine sector.

About CCRM Australia

CCRM Australia is an Australian not-for-profit organisation supporting the development of foundational technologies to accelerate the commercialisation of regenerative medicine products and therapies. CCRM Australia’s focus is to bridge the commercialisation gap through a network of scientists, entrepreneurs, academic institutions and industry partners and address bottlenecks in the industry. CCRM Australia is modelled on the highly successful CCRM in Canada and is legally separate to CCRM. As a member of the Global CCRM network, CCRM Australia is a partner to a leading-edge industry consortium. CCRM Australia is supported by MTPConnect and the Victorian State Government.

Twitter: @CCRM_au

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ccrm-australia/

About BioCurate

BioCurate Pty Ltd was formed jointly in June 2016 by The University of Melbourne and Monash University, with support from the Victorian State Government to accelerate early phases of new drug development. BioCurate is seeking to address the key challenges in early stage drug development and to increase the number, quality and rate of translation of new drug discoveries into medically sound projects that are attractive for investment via commercial or public-good routes. The Company’s vision is to be a recognised global leader in the translation of basic medical research into human therapeutics. For more information, please visit https://www.biocurate.com

Twitter: @biocurate

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/biocurate/

Media contacts

CCRM Australia: Dr Chih Wei Teng                           chihwei.teng@ccrmaustralia.com.au

BioCurate: Dr Damien Bates                                      d.bates@biocurate.com

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Dr Bates is a senior healthcare industry executive specialising in global preclinical and clinical development, medical affairs, marketing authorisation and lifecycle management of biologics and devices. Damien has extensive international clinical and scientific experience with a proven track record in the successful execution of preclinical development programs, clinical trials and post-marketing medical support for approved and cleared products, and FDA, EMA, PMDA and SwissMedic negotiation & approvals.

Damien brings around 15 years of international experience in the health and industry sector and provides BioCurate with additional and complementary scientific expertise in the biology of regeneration, development, stem cells, neuroscience, angiogenesis, tissue engineering and transplantation immunology.

We are delighted Damien has decided to join the BioCurate team.

Click here to read more about Damien.

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Dr Tifelle Reisinger is a medicinal chemist with 9 years drug discovery experience in the pharmaceutical and CRO industries in France, UK and Australia. She has worked on programs from hit identification through to candidate nomination in the fields of oncology, cardiovascular diseases and neurosciences.

Tifelle relocated from the UK to Melbourne in 2017 as Head of Business Development, Asia Pacific for Domainex, a drug discovery service company. With a strong client-focus and business acumen, Tifelle generated and managed a portfolio of clients with ownership of the full sales cycle, with biotech companies, VCs and leading academic research institutes across Australia. She has built successful relationships based on understanding client needs, creating bespoke solutions and delivering value to international clients and utilising her business development, project and contract management skills.

BioCurate is focused on turning discoveries into therapeutics, and is building a team of highly-experienced individuals capable of working collaboratively to ensure the company’s success. We are delighted that Tifelle has decided to join the BioCurate team!

Dr Tifelle Reisinger commenced in her new role on 1 April 2019.

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BioCurate is focused on turning discoveries into therapeutics, and is building a team of highly-experienced individuals capable of working collaboratively to ensure the company’s success.

Dr Chan brings specialised expertise in a fast growing field of research and therapeutic development, with experience in therapeutic antibody development, immuno-oncology, inflammation, innate myeloid and lymphocyte biology, and T cell biology. With this, Chris brings a complementary and highly valuable skill-set to the BioCurate team as the company progresses to expand its involvement in new projects. Together with his colleagues, Chris will manage the development of the BioCurate portfolio from initial academic interaction through delivery of specific project milestones and assist with building the understanding of, and capability in, translational research and the process of early commercial drug development.

Dr Chan has worked in both start-up and small biotechnology companies in San Francisco, and has experience working in science and technology accelerators, incubators, and leading drug development programs that have led to successful venture capital investments. Chris has led first-in-class antibody development programs from target discovery through to IND-enabling activities, which has culminated in IND approvals by the US FDA, and the submission and granting of numerous patents.

We are delighted that he has decided to join the BioCurate team!

Dr Christopher Chan will commence in his new role on 25 March 2019.

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The company has been founded to develop therapies to address fibrosis, a condition associated with many chronic diseases where tissue damage leads to scarring and a loss of organ function. Inosi recognises the importance of close and early engagement between academic researchers and industry partners to ensure new therapy development programs are informed and aligned with addressing unmet patient and market needs.

Inosi’s technology is based on collaborative research from a team at Monash University led by Assoc Professor Siew Chai, Dr Tracey Gaspari, Professor Robert Widdop from Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Professor Philip Thompson from the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, with Monash Innovation leading the deal. The drug development program originated from a collaboration with St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research and the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, both University of Melbourne affiliates, and since progressed with the fibrosis group at Monash.

“Fibrosis is closely associated with tissue injury and scarring that occurs with chronic diseases and is responsible for a large proportion of healthcare costs and mortality in developed countries, which is only projected to increase as the population ages” said Assoc Professor Siew Chai. “There is a huge unmet need for therapies that can prevent or reverse fibrosis to modify disease progression, and we are excited to be advancing our work one step further towards improving the lives of patients” commented Professor Robert Widdop.

“BioCurate is delighted to be investing alongside IP Group. This is a great example of new approaches and models that are translating research at Australia’s leading universities into products with the potential to improve lives” said Dr C. Glenn Begley, CEO of BioCurate.

Michael Molinari, Managing Director of IP Group Australia, said “Inosi Therapeutics is a great example of the quality technology from university research that IP Group specialises in backing. We’re delighted to have made this investment and look forward to working with BioCurate and the team to develop these therapies towards the clinic.”

“This is Monash’s first investment with IP Group, and combined with investment from our strategic partner BioCurate, this is a tremendous boost to the program, providing funding and expertise to rapidly translate our research outcomes into much needed new treatments” said Dr Alastair Hick, Senior Director Monash Innovation.

Inosi Therapeutics Media Contact
info@biocurate.com

About IP Group

IP Group is a leading intellectual property commercialisation company focused on evolving great ideas from its partner universities into world-changing businesses. The Group pioneered a unique approach to developing these ideas and the resulting businesses by providing access to business building expertise, capital, scientific insight and the supporting infrastructure. In Australia and New Zealand, IP Group works in close partnership with the Go8 Universities and the University of Auckland to identify ground breaking technologies, rooted in hard science, which have the most promising commercial potential.

IP Group, which is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the symbol IPO, has a strong track record of success and its portfolio comprises holdings in early-stage to mature businesses across life sciences and technology.

About BioCurate

BioCurate Pty Ltd was formed jointly in June 2016 by The University of Melbourne and Monash University, with support from the Victorian State Government to accelerate early phases of new drug development. BioCurate is seeking to address the key challenges in early stage drug development and to increase the number, quality and rate of translation of new drug discoveries into medically sound projects that are attractive for investment via commercial or public-good routes. The Company’s vision is to be a recognised global leader in the translation of basic medical research into human therapeutics. For more information, please visit https://www.biocurate.com

Twitter: @biocurate

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/biocurate/

About Monash University

Monash University is Australia’s largest and most international university. Its extensive educational offering, delivered across 10 faculties, includes undergraduate, postgraduate and research courses. Monash is a research-intensive university, known for some significant and lasting discoveries that have delivered impact beyond the academic community.

The university is home to a range of world-leading facilities and technologies, giving it wide-ranging capabilities across many fields, sectors and industries. Monash works with a variety of industry, government and community groups, allowing its researchers to share their discoveries with the world.

Monash is a truly global institution, with four Australian campuses, a campus in Malaysia, a joint graduate school in China, a learning centre in Italy, a research centre in India and over 100 international partners.

Discover more at monash.edu.au

About the University of Melbourne

Established in 1853, the University of Melbourne is Australia’s leading research and teaching university. It is a founding member of the Group of Eight – Australia’s leading research-intensive universities – and consistently ranked among the leading universities in the world for research and teaching, with international rankings as number 1 in Australia and number 32 in the world (Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2017-2018). In Australia, The University’s research expenditure is second only to that of CSIRO. With over 100 research centres and institutes, over 8,000 staff and over 60,000 students we bring together expertise from across the University and connect with thought leaders around the world to tackle society’s complex problems in innovative ways.

The University is deeply committed to fostering health and wellbeing and delivering impact from its medical research.

Discover more at https://www.unimelb.edu.au/

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The BTB program forms part of the Federal Government’s Medical Research Future Fund and aims to help early stage health and medical research ventures reach proof-of-concept stage.

BioCurate CEO Dr Glenn Begley said today’s announcement was an acknowledgement of the leadership and vision demonstrated by Monash University and the University of Melbourne, and the long-term support by the Victorian State Government. Their shared goal was to build research-translation and early commercialisation capability. It also recognises BioCurate’s deep industry-experience in drug development.

Through the BTB partnership, BioCurate and UniQuest – the University of Queensland’s expert translational facility – will together assess and recommend eligible ventures for funding in the area of therapeutics, and MDPP will do the same for medical devices.

A key feature of the Program is the provision of expert advice, education and mentoring to those preparing applications and those awarded funding. Successful applicants will receive hands-on guidance, mentoring and project management advice throughout the life of the Program, leveraging the industry and commercialisation experience of BioCurate and our partners.

MTPConnect, a not-for-profit organisation formed to accelerate the growth of Australia’s medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector, will administer the program.

Dr Moss, CEO of UniQuest said, “In this partnership with MTPConnect and BioCurate we’ll draw on UniQuest’s commercialisation and drug discovery expertise to help develop Australian technologies to the stage where they can attract further capital and support, bridging the funding gap and giving the country’s ground-breaking medical research the best opportunity to create change in the lives of people in Australia and around the world.”

“BioCurate’s focus is working closely with researchers to address the barriers that limit the translation and commercialisation of their early stage research. The BioCurate team brings extensive ‘hands on’ international industry experience and we look forward to sharing our scientific and commercial expertise as part of the BTB Program” Dr Begley said.

ENDS

Media contacts

Linda Peterson – l.peterson@biocurate.com / +61 419 320 435

About BioCurate

BioCurate is an independently operated joint venture of the University of Melbourne and Monash University, supported by the Victorian State Government. The Board is independently chaired by The Hon John Brumby AO with CEO Dr C. Glenn Begley leading a team of industry-experienced commercial scientists and professional staff. Announced in June 2016, BioCurate’s founding universities are placed in the world’s top ten in the therapeutic areas of immunology, oncology, paediatrics, neurosciences, and infectious diseases.

BioCurate aims to be a recognised global leader in the translation of basic medical research into human therapeutics. The Company offers a new model, designed to address the key challenges that limit the translation and commercialisation of biomedical and pharmaceutical research everywhere. Its purpose is to increase the clinical impact and patient benefit from research, regardless of whether or not there is any genuine commercial opportunity.

For more information, please visit https://www.biocurate.com, Twitter: @biocurate, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/biocurate/

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