BioCurate, the independently operated joint venture between the University of Melbourne and Monash University, announced today it has appointed Dr. Kathy Nielsen to the role of Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Nielsen brings over 25 years of experience in senior leadership and advisory roles primarily in the life science sector, with deep experience in technology transfer, venture capital, creating and advancing spin out companies, and operating in the nexus between research and the pharmaceutical industry.

BioCurate Chair, The Hon John Brumby AO, said; “The Board and I are delighted to welcome Kathy to the role. Aside from her stellar track record as a team leader, she has a rare combination of governance, technical, IP and commercialisation capabilities, along with industry connections that will be incredibly valuable to our mission.”

Dr. Nielsen said; “I’ve been a long-time supporter of BioCurate from its genesis and an advocate for its work in my role at Monash Innovation. I’m privileged to have the opportunity to join such an exceptional team and channel my skills and expertise into supporting its mission to translate promising medical research into quality preclinical candidates for the bio-pharmaceutical industry.”

Dr. Nielsen joins BioCurate from Monash Innovation (Senior Director Commercialisation), having led the growing Commercialisation team, and managed a large and dynamic portfolio of early stage assets. She has had a strong transaction focus, brokering numerous deals with major pharmaceutical companies, as well creating more than 25 Monash spin offs for the development of new therapeutics, many of which have secured multi-million dollar investments. Dr Nielsen has strong corporate governance experience, having held 17 Directorships and 5 Observer positions.

Previously, Dr Nielsen was Senior Investment Manager at Queensland Investment Corporation, which managed several funds both in Australia and USA, investing in more than 20 biotech/life science companies and generating significant returns for Australian investors. Dr. Nielsen has also held senior roles in technology transfer at the University of Queensland and its spin outs including ElaCor Pty Ltd, Nanomics Biosystems Pty Ltd and Xenome Ltd.

Dr. Nielsen has also made substantial non-commercial impacts during her career, including through her role as Director, Research & Advocacy at Ovarian Cancer Australia. She was crucial in developing a National Action Plan for high impact research and to inform, engage and amplify the voices of women with ovarian cancer, through consumer-driven research.

The Hon. John Brumby AO, Chair of the BioCurate Board, said:
“The Board and I would like to thank Henry Jones for his interim leadership during the search, as well as the entire BioCurate team for the substantial progress they have achieved, including the achievement of all key project milestones, the expansion of our early opportunity pipeline through our Proof of Concept Scheme, and for securing extensions to, and new strategic partnerships with major biotech companies.”

Prof. Mark Hargreaves, Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research), The University of Melbourne, said:
“Kathy is an outstanding addition to the BioCurate leadership team. She is a well-known and highly regarded leader who is well-placed to further the translation and impact of the world-class biomedical research in our city.”

About BioCurate

BioCurate is a bold, collaborative venture, dedicated to delivering benefits to the community by helping to advance Australian research and innovation globally. 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 with the aim to develop potential novel human therapeutics.

We operate in the under-resourced, yet critical, early phases of therapeutic development to overcome common barriers to success and drive early decisions. BioCurate is operationally independent, with a team of experts that brings decades of scientific and commercial expertise, enabling us to recognise and realise real-world potential and providing a critical bridge between academia and industry.  Governance is provided by an experienced Board with an independent Board Chair, the Hon John Brumby AO, supported by Directors with specialist backgrounds in biotechnology, investment and corporate governance.

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BioCurate, the independently-operated joint venture between The University of Melbourne and Monash University, today announced the renewal of its partnership with Takeda to identify and collaborate on projects to advance promising early stage therapeutic research.

The alliance increases each partner’s access to scientific and commercialisation expertise, as well as exposure to candidate projects in key therapeutic areas for collaboration, including potential for co-investment.

On selected projects, the two partners will work together to overcome the barriers to their translation and commercialisation, providing critical advice and expertise to streamline the therapeutic development process.

Dr. Eric Hayes, Director of Partnerships at BioCurate, said:

“We’re thrilled to renew our strategic alliance with Takeda, whose world-class team has a proven track record of successful collaborations to bring new, commercially viable medicines to market. We have some of the world’s best medical research teams operating out of Victoria’s laboratories; Takeda’s expertise will help ensure this research has the best possible chance of becoming therapies that improve people’s lives.”

Dr. Michael Martin, Head of Takeda’s Center for External Innovation said:

“Continuing our collaboration with BioCurate renews our bond with their internationally renowned team, and our connection with the thriving ‘Parkville Precinct’ medical research community. We look forward to identifying promising projects for collaboration, and jointly pursuing the potential to create transformational new therapies for patients.”

About BioCurate

BioCurate is a bold, collaborative venture, dedicated to delivering benefits to the community by helping to advance Australian research and innovation globally. 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 with the aim to develop potential novel human therapeutics.

We operate in the under-resourced, yet critical, early phases of therapeutic development to overcome common barriers to success and drive early decisions. BioCurate is operationally independent, with a team of experts that brings decades of scientific and commercial expertise, enabling us to recognise and realise real-world potential and providing a critical bridge between academia and industry.  Governance is provided by an experienced Board with an independent Board Chair, the Hon John Brumby AO, supported by Directors with specialist backgrounds in biotechnology, investment and corporate governance.

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With renewed funding from its Shareholders universities, BioCurate continues its mission to translate discoveries from Victoria’s world-class bioscience laboratories into high quality therapies that can save and improve people’s lives. BioCurate is pleased to announce a significant project funding increase to its successful Proof-of-Concept (POC) Fund. Projects awarded POC funding from the next round of project applications will now be able to access up to $500K of funding over a period of 12-18 months, to accelerate therapeutic discoveries.

“BioCurate is pleased to be able to announce an increase in POC project funding of up to $500K. We are building on the success and excellent momentum we have been able to generate since the POC fund’s inception. With the increase in funding, we look forward to continuing to fund those early stage projects with the greatest commercial potential, provide further support for researchers, and ensure the greatest chance of a tangible commercial outcome.” – Dr Christopher Chan, BioCurate Executive Director, Research and Development

The POC Fund is designed to support both early-stage and more mature projects that require additional experimental validation to address key scientific gaps, and to generate additional compelling data to de-risk projects to reach the next value inflection point. In addition to funding, Researchers will benefit from BioCurate’s industry expertise and mentoring in crafting commercialisation and IP strategies, as well as designing experimental plans to address key project risks. During the project, BioCurate staff are on hand to provide support to the investigators to maximise the chances of reaching a successful outcome. For POC projects successfully completing milestones, BioCurate offers a path to commercialisation with licensing opportunities and further investment (up to $10 million tranched funding).

This funding scheme is open to both University of Melbourne and Monash University research projects, as well as from affiliated Victorian Medical Research Institutes.

Investigators retain ownership of the IP rights in the Technology and will own any improvements to its Background IP and IP arising from the performance of the POC Project.

Application forms are succinct and easy to complete, and researchers are encouraged to submit an application to accelerate the translation of their therapeutic discovery.

Call for BioCurate Opportunity Assessment (BOA) applications open 7 August 2023 and close 15 September 2023.

BioCurate invites Researchers and Commercialisation Managers to attend our information sessions to be held on Wednesday August 9 at Melbourne Connect and Thursday August 10 at Monash University Clayton to find out about BioCurate investment opportunities, eligibility and success criteria and the funding process.

Registrations are required for our Melbourne Connect information session. Click here for more information and to register via Eventbrite.

For further information, contact Dr Andy Allen (a.allen@biocurate.com) and info@biocurate.com.

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BioCurate, an independently operated joint venture between the University of Melbourne and Monash University, announced today it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC), Singapore’s national platform for drug discovery and development hosted by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). The agreement will see both parties share complementary scientific and business development expertise between their teams, and explore opportunities for co-development on projects to bring new commercially viable therapies to market.

EDDC has well-established capabilities in-house for the discovery and development of small and large molecule therapeutic compounds. This includes expertise in assay development, medicinal chemistry, peptide chemistry, therapeutic protein and antibody discovery, in vivo pharmacology and biomarker development. In addition, EDDC has successfully progressed projects from discovery to development and has a track record of partnerships with companies. Such expertise and capabilities will strengthen collaborative projects between EDDC and BioCurate.

The partnership is expected to expand the number and types of projects both parties can support, by increasing the knowledge, expertise and resources that each organisation has access to.

The Hon. John Brumby AO, Chair of the BioCurate Board, said:

“Bringing new drugs to market is notoriously difficult and requires substantial scientific and commercial expertise and resources. Collaborations like this improve the prospects of success, and we are honoured to partner with EDDC toward this common goal.

“I am excited about the possibilities of this collaboration, particularly to advance some of the world-class research happening in Victoria’s foremost academic research laboratories, which is BioCurate’s core focus.”

Dr. Eric Hayes, Director of Partnerships at BioCurate, said:

“Collaboration with organisations of EDDC’s calibre is a strategic priority for BioCurate, leveraging complementary strengths and capabilities to ours, and our Shareholders. These partnerships extend what we’re capable of doing and increase our chances of success in translating biomedical discoveries into quality therapeutic candidates.

“The Partners are now able to undertake a mutual review of portfolio opportunities and we are looking forward to identifying projects for collaboration.”

Prof. Damian O’Connell, Chief Executive Officer of EDDC, said:

“EDDC is excited to embark on this strategic partnership with BioCurate, a like-minded partner working towards a common goal. Bringing together both organisations’ strong complementary capabilities, we will accelerate our efforts towards translating groundbreaking biomedical discoveries into therapeutics that address unmet medical needs. I am excited about the potential opportunities that this collaboration will bring to Singapore and the region.”

About BioCurate

BioCurate is a bold, collaborative venture, dedicated to delivering benefits to the community by helping to advance Australian research and innovation globally. 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 with the aim to develop potential novel human therapeutics.

We operate in the under-resourced, yet critical, early phases of therapeutic development to overcome common barriers to success and drive early decisions. BioCurate is operationally independent, with a team of experts that brings decades of scientific and commercial expertise, enabling us to recognise and realise real-world potential and providing a critical bridge between academia and industry.  Governance is provided by an experienced Board with an independent Board Chair, the Hon John Brumby AO, supported by Directors with specialist backgrounds in biotechnology, investment and corporate governance.

About EDDC

The Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC) is Singapore’s national platform for drug discovery and development, formed from the integration of the Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC), Drug, Discovery and Development (D3), and Experimental Biotherapeutics Centre (EBC) in 2019. EDDC aims to develop therapeutics and diagnostics that save and improve the lives of patients in Singapore, Asia and around the world. Hosted by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), EDDC works collaboratively with public sector and industry partners to translate the great science arising from Singapore’s biomedical and clinical sciences R&D into innovative healthcare solutions. For more information about EDDC, please visit http://www.eddc.sg/

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BioCurate, an independently operated joint venture between The University of Melbourne and Monash University, and NLC, the European Healthtech Venture Builder based in the Netherlands, announced today they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which paves the way for sharing of scientific and commercial expertise and collaboration on projects to bring new therapies to market. 

BioCurate and NLC share complementary strengths which, when combined, could unlock vast potential for healthcare innovation. The partnership offers significant strategic value, as both share a similar mission; to transform top-tier innovations and ideas into life-changing products or services that advance health-related science.  

Both companies target early-stage projects, and the partnership seeks to improve the chances of success of current and future projects in each organisation’s portfolio by improving their access to the scarce skills and resources required for the translation of scientific discoveries into commercially viable therapies.  

The Hon. John Brumby AO, Chair of the BioCurate Board, said: 

“We’re thrilled to expand BioCurate’s network of international strategic partners through this new agreement with NLC.   

It takes a village to produce new, commercially viable therapies. This partnership helps to ensure the fantastic research taking place in Victoria’s leading academic laboratories has a better chance of becoming medicines that improve people’s lives. It also means NLC has access to the incredible talent we have in Victoria to support the success of the projects in their portfolio.” 

Dr. Eric Hayes, Director of Partnerships at BioCurate, said: 

“NLC was an obvious choice of partner for BioCurate because of the quality and breadth of its complementary expertise, as well as its presence in, and access to the European pharmaceutical market.  

“We look forward to evaluating our combined project portfolio’s to identify specific opportunities for collaboration.” 

Bert-Arjan Millenaar, CEO of NLC, commented: 

“By collaborating with BioCurate, a leader in translating novel technologies to therapeutics, NLC is taking an exciting step forward in the biotech space and expands its expert network and reach to the southern hemisphere. We consider BioCurate a strategic partner for our joint mission to create novel therapies for unmet needs and we look forward to bringing science to life together.” 

About BioCurate 

BioCurate is a bold, collaborative venture, dedicated to delivering benefits to the community by helping to advance Australian research and innovation globally. 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 with the aim to develop potential novel human therapeutics.  

We operate in the under-resourced, yet critical, early phases of therapeutic development to overcome common barriers to success and drive early decisions. BioCurate is operationally independent, with a team of experts that brings decades of scientific and commercial expertise, enabling us to recognise and realise real-world potential and providing a critical bridge between academia and industry.  Governance is provided by an experienced Board with an independent Board Chair, the Hon John Brumby AO, supported by Directors with specialist backgrounds in biotechnology, investment and corporate governance. 

About NLC 

NLC is the leading European healthtech venture builder. NLC identifies the best early-stage healthcare inventions and brings them to market, acting as the connecting link between technology innovation and entrepreneurship in medtech, biotech and digital health. To optimize patient care and enhance its positive impact, NLC collaborates with corporates and academic and healthcare institutions, such as Mayo Clinic. NLC leads the ventures it builds to success, by providing access to its established network and a team of experts. 

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