Potential New Treatment For Chronic Pain Fosters Drug Discovery Partnership
Author
Date
BioCurate
October 30, 2024
A new effective treatment for neuropathic pain with potential to become a safe alternative to opioids.
Victorian therapeutics incubator BioCurate is partnering with UniQuest’s small molecule drug discovery and development engine QEDDI to develop a new effective treatment for neuropathic pain with potential to become a safe alternative to opioids.
This partnership is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), administered by Therapeutic Innovation Australia (TIA).
An estimated 5 per cent of the global population suffers from neuropathic pain. While opioids are one of the most effective pain treatments they come with the significant risks of opioid addiction and treatment resistance, and non-opioid treatments are urgently needed.
To address this, BioCurate and QEDDI are collaborating to develop a new class of inhibitor targeting two ion channels that are found at the site of generation of pain signals. This collaboration aims to deliver novel inhibitors that have maximal pain reduction properties with a high safety margin.
BioCurate Associate Director of Small Molecule Therapeutics, Dr Belinda Huff, said “Collaboration with groups of QEDDI’s calibre is a strategic priority for BioCurate, ensuring that our projects can be developed towards the best possible outcomes, providing synergistic expertise and resources to increase our chances of success in translating biomedical discoveries into quality therapeutic candidates. We are excited about the prospect of developing an effective and safe treatment for neuropathic pain, alongside the QEDDI team.”
UniQuest CEO Dr Dean Moss said that this collaboration aligns with our shared goal of translating biomedical discoveries into quality therapeutic candidates.
“We are thrilled to partner with BioCurate on its mission to bring about a much-needed new treatment,” he said.
UniQuest’s Head of Strategic Partnerships Dr Andrew Harvey said partnerships are key in drug discovery.
“Working with BioCurate’s experienced team will extend what we are capable of doing nationally and leverage QEDDI’s world-class drug discovery and computational chemistry expertise. We are grateful for the enabling support of Therapeutic Innovation Australia.”
BioCurate CEO Dr Kathy Nielsen said it was exciting to join forces with QEDDI to advance world-class research towards helping people experiencing neuropathic pain. “There is so much need for new treatments and pooling resources and expertise through early-stage partnerships such as this one between BioCurate and QEDDI is vital to success.”
BioCurate will apply its industry-driven preclinical drug development expertise to co-develop the intellectual property with QEDDI.
QEDDI will use its state-of-the art drug discovery capabilities to co-develop the potential new treatment with BioCurate.
NCRIS is a research infrastructure support scheme supported by the Australian Government’s Department of Education.
L-R: Dr Belinda Huff, Dr Andrew Harvey, Dr Matthew McLachlan, Dr Malika Kumarasiri, Dr Eric Hayes, Dr Nick Matovic, Dr Brian Dymock, Dr Julia Beveridge
Media contacts:
UniQuest, Brooke Baskin; b.baskin@uniquest.com.au; +61 438 454 029.
BioCurate, Metani Rooms; m.rooms@biocurate.com; + 61 429 463 872
About BioCurate
Jointly formed by the University of Melbourne and Monash University, with support from the Victorian State Government, BioCurate identifies promising biomedical research discoveries and manages their translation into high-quality pre-clinical candidates for novel human therapeutics. We operate in the under-resourced yet critical early phases of therapeutic development to drive early decisions and overcome common barriers to success.
BioCurate is operationally independent, with a team of experts who bring decades of scientific and commercial expertise. This expertise enables us to recognise and realise real-world potential and provides a critical bridge between academia and industry. With an extensive global network within the biotechnology sector, we are well-positioned to drive the most feasible commercial path forward for Australian innovations.
About QEDDI
QEDDI is a division of UniQuest, is a small molecule drug discovery and development group dedicated to translating academic biomedical research into new medicines. QEDDI is a world class facility and the only example of its kind in an Australian university, with an industry-experienced team dedicated to advancing biomedical research into new candidate therapies to enable commercial partnerships and accelerate new drug development. QEDDI’s pipeline is targeting new treatments for some of the world’s most challenging diseases, including cancer, inflammatory diseases and neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
