Category Archives: Media Releases

Media Releases

BioCurate launches first round of project investments

December 2, 2019 Michele Neisemann Comment

BioCurate launches first round of project investments

Author

Date

BioCurate

July 31, 2018

BioCurate Pty Ltd has achieved an important milestone with investments in six early drug discovery projects from research groups at The University of Melbourne and Monash University announced today. These projects represent the first tranche of investments for BioCurate.

BioCurate’s CEO, Dr Glenn Begley said “I am delighted that BioCurate has taken this important next step. We are building on the combined research strength of these two outstanding Australian universities, accelerating and strategically guiding these high value projects to give them the best possible chance of commercial and clinical success.”

All of the projects have compelling clinical and commercial reasons to support their early investment and development. Each addresses an important unmet clinical need, adopts a novel approach and targets potential global markets.

BioCurate is pleased to have formally commenced its core business of targeting the critical early phases of drug development. The Company will take on several more projects throughout 2018 and will work across different therapeutic areas and modalities including small molecules, biologics and antibodies. Collaboration, cooperation and commercial rigour to achieve scale at the international level, will be the hallmarks of the Company’s approach

The development plan for each project identifies key ‘Go/No-Go’ gates with an early and consistent focus on ensuring the essential commercial imperatives of reproducible data and a clear intellectual property position.

Working closely and collaboratively with each of the project’s investigators and University colleagues, BioCurate is providing ‘on the ground’ expertise and mentoring in drug development and commercialisation, funding and project management. This, coupled with BioCurate’s extensive international industry experience in drug development and biopharmaceutical and investment networks, will boost the opportunity for these, and future, projects to undergo successful translation.

The successful investigator’s and their inaugural projects to enter BioCurate’s project pipeline are:

Dr Glen Carter and Prof Jonathan Baell – A novel class of antibiotics
Dr Natalie Borg and Prof David Jans – A new target for both viral infection and cancer
Profs Charles Mackay, Dr Remy Roberts and Prof Mark Sleeman – A novel therapeutic for cancer
Prof Rob Widdop, Prof Mibel Aguilar and Dr Mark Del Borgo – Anti-fibrotic therapy
Prof Ray Norton – A new treatment for autoimmune diseases
Dr Sheena McGowan and Prof Peter Scammells – Novel therapeutics for infection and cancer

About BioCurate Pty Ltd

BioCurate is a joint venture of the University of Melbourne and Monash University, supported by the Victorian State Government. Announced in June 2016, its 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 in early stage drug development, and will focus on those stages of development before a project is attractive to the biomedical industry or venture capital funds. Its purpose is to increase the number, quality and rate of translation of new drug discoveries into medically sound and commercially attractive, investable projects.

BioCurate is also committed to helping develop the broader ecosystem and growing the local pipeline of high quality preclinical candidates for the bio-pharmaceutical industry. Increasing the number of ‘investment-ready’ projects will grow the Victorian and Australian biotech sector by attracting global interest in partnering and investment

BioCurate is owned jointly by the Universities and is independently governed and operated with the Hon John Brumby AO as Chair and Dr C.Glenn Begley as CEO.

Quotes from Monash University and the University of Melbourne:

Monash University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Enterprise), Ken Sloan, welcomed the announcement. “BioCurate’s critical role as a catalyst across Universities, government and industry helps to accelerate improvements to the health of the community” Mr Sloan said. “We are delighted therefore to see the first cohort of research projects enter BioCurate’s pipeline for investment and development.”

Doron Ben-Meir, Vice-Principal (Enterprise) at the University of Melbourne, said “The unprecedented vision of BioCurate – to combine seasoned pharmaceutical industry professionals with our world class research substrate – is realising its first steps. It’s very exciting to see the first cohort of projects. We look forward to their continued development and to seeing many more promising candidates emerge from our growing pipeline of exceptional research.”

Quote from the Victorian Government Minister for Innovation and the Digital Economy, Philip Dalidakis:

Minster for Innovation and the Digital Economy Philip Dalidakis said “The Victorian Government is proud to support the early-stage drug development research lead by Melbourne and Monash Universities, whose combined expertise in the areas of pharmacology, immunology, neurosciences, and cardiology see them ranked among the world’s best. Congratulations to the successful researchers, whose projects have the potential to cure terrible diseases and improve patient care both across Victoria and around the world.”

ENDS

For more information on BioCurate: www.biocurate.com

Dr Begley is available for interviews.

Media contacts

Linda Peterson
Chief Operating Officer and Company Secretary
Tel: +61 419 320 435
E: l.peterson@biocurate.com

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

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2017 Annual Report
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BioCurate’s critical role as a catalyst across Universities, government and industry helps to accelerate improvements to the health of the community.

Ken Sloan
Monash University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Enterprise)

Media Releases

CEO appointed

November 28, 2019 Michele Neisemann Comment

CEO appointed

Author

Date

BioCurate

May 02, 2017

An outstanding industry leader with exceptional national and global experience in successfully propelling important biomedical discoveries out of the lab and into the market has been appointed inaugural CEO of BioCurate Pty Ltd. This AUD $80 million venture was launched last year by Monash University and the University of Melbourne and supported by the Victorian Government. The appointment is the result of an extensive international and national search.

Chair of BioCurate and former Premier of Victoria (2007-2010) the Hon. John Brumby AO today announced the appointment of Dr C. Glenn Begley as the CEO. Dr Begley has held senior academic positions in Australia, and worked in small biotech and large pharmaceutical companies. Most recently he was the Chief Scientific Officer of a privately-funded biotech company Akriveia Therapeutics, in California.

“I’m delighted to welcome Dr Begley back to Australia and into a pivotal role within this new enterprise,” Mr. Brumby said.

“Dr Begley brings an extraordinary combination of commercial, academic and clinical insight to this significant venture – the first of this scope and scale in Australia – whose ambition is to unlock the exceptional research capabilities of the University of Melbourne and Monash University and their partners in hospitals, medical institutes and industry, enabling significant new discoveries to be translated more rapidly into new medicines. The social and economic implications for Victoria and Australia are profound.”

A clinical haematologist and medical oncologist, whose academic and commercial roles include board level and senior positions in Australia, the USA and the UK, Dr Begley said he was looking forward to playing a leading role in shaping the strategic direction and operations of BioCurate Pty Ltd:

“I am delighted to be joining BioCurate at this important moment in its development,” Dr Begley said.

“Now more than ever it’s critical that important medical discoveries make it from the lab into new medicines and that the clinical and commercial benefits accrue to Australia. I am confident that BioCurate, building on the combined research strength of these two outstanding universities will ensure transformational drug candidates become a reality.”

Dr Begley will commence his appointment on 22 May 2017.

About BioCurate

BioCurate offers a new model, designed to address the key challenges in early stage drug development, and will focus on those stages of development before a project is attractive to big pharma or venture capital funds. Its purpose is to increase the number, quality and rate of translation of new drug discoveries into medically sound and commercially attractive, investable projects.

BioCurate is owned jointly by the universities but is independently governed with the Hon. John Brumby as Chair and Dr. C. Glenn Begley as CEO.

Quotes from Monash University and the University of Melbourne

Monash University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Enterprise), Ken Sloan, welcomed the appointment of Dr Begley to the position of CEO of BioCurate Pty Ltd:

“It is fantastic that a leading scientific innovator like Dr Begley, with his wealth of international commercial and research expertise, has been attracted back to Australia to lead this remarkable venture,” Mr Sloan said.

“Dr Begley’s appointment is a strong indicator of Victoria’s and Australia’s growing global presence in the field of drug discovery and commercialization, catalyzed by the groundbreaking partnership between two world-leading universities.”

Doron Ben-Meir, Vice-Principal (Enterprise) at the University of Melbourne, welcomed the appointment of Dr C. Glenn Begley to lead BioCurate.

“Dr Begley brings exceptional knowledge and expertise in the scientific field and biotech industry and will lead us into an exciting new era of commercialisation via this enterprise, bringing together the world renowned expertise of Australia’s leading research universities of Melbourne and Monash,” Mr Ben-Meir said.

Quote from the Victorian Government Minister for Industry and Employment, Wade Noonan:

“Melbourne is quickly cementing its place as a world-leader in medical technologies and pharmaceuticals, and we’re attracting the world’s best and brightest minds to help the sector grow and create jobs.

BioCurate will facilitate strong growth for Victoria’s pharmaceutical sector. The collaboration is expected to generate about $360 million in activity over the next 10 years, supporting the creation of new companies, investment opportunities, exports, and more highly skilled jobs for this vital industry.”

Dr C. Glenn Begley – biography

Most recently Dr C. Glenn Begley was Chief Scientific Officer at Akriveia Therapeutics, a Californian biotech company focused on discovering and developing the next generation of cancer immunotherapies. He was also a non-Executive Director for UK-based Oxford BioTherapeutics.

His previous roles include:

Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice-President, TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals (Pennsylvania)
Vice-President and Global Head, Hematology and Oncology Research, Amgen (California)
Executive Director, Western Australian Institute of Medical Research (Perth)
Senior Principal Research Fellow and Professor of Medicine, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, University of Melbourne

Dr Begley studied Medicine at undergraduate and postgraduate level at The University of Melbourne.

ENDS

Mr Brumby and Dr Begley are available for interviews.

For media enquiries please contact:

Linda Peterson
Chief Operating Officer (Interim)
Tel: +61 419 320 435
E: l.peterson@biocurate.com.au

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Research Week kick off a great success
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I am confident that BioCurate, building on the combined research strength of these two outstanding universities will ensure transformational drug candidates become a reality.

Dr C. Glenn Begley
CEO, BioCurate

Media Releases

$10m to accelerate drug development

November 28, 2019 Michele Neisemann Comment

$10m to accelerate drug development

Author

Date

BioCurate

September 16, 2016

Australia, in particular the state of Victoria, is internationally recognised for its excellence in biomedical research. This provides a compelling opportunity for drug discovery and biomedical science translation.

Medtech and pharma sector strategy

Victorian Government actions since March 2016 include:

$10m contribution to the $80m BioCurate initiative, to accelerate drug development.

Read the full announcement

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Victoria accelerates new medicine development
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Media Releases, News

Historic University Collaboration Launched To Discover New Medicines

June 2, 2016 Michele Neisemann Comment

Historic University Collaboration Launched To Discover New Medicines

Author

Date

BioCurate

June 02, 2016

A newly launched $80 million enterprise marks a unique collaboration between Monash University and the University of Melbourne in the field of biomedical research.

A first for Australia, and one of a small number of similar initiatives globally, the enterprise taps into the outstanding and complementary biomedical research capabilities and successful pharmaceutical outcomes of the University of Melbourne and Monash University with their associated Medical Research Institutes and hospitals. Both universities rank in the top 50 universities worldwide for Medicine, Pharmacy and Pharmacology according to the latest QS rankings. When the research strengths of these universities are combined in selected therapeutic areas they would be placed in the top 10 institutions globally, so combining their capabilities produces a global scale venture.

The new enterprise will be owned jointly by the two universities but will be independently governed by a highly skilled Board. It will bring the advanced commercialisation skills and funding needed to address successfully the early stage “valley of death” that faces new discoveries. By doing so it will unlock the combined exceptional biomedical research strengths in Melbourne, enabling significant new discoveries to be translated more rapidly into new medicines; with potentially huge health and economic benefits to Victoria and Australia.

The enterprise was launched today in Melbourne by the two universities and The Hon. Wade Noonan MP, Victorian Minister for Industry and Employment.

The Minister announced that the Victorian Government will contribute $10 million towards the $60 million needed to get the enterprise underway, with the two universities having already committed $50 million. The enterprise is expected to generate about $360 million in activity, support new companies, increase investment and exports and create specialised jobs in the sector. Further funding is being sought from Commonwealth, philanthropic trusts and charities.

The Chair of the new enterprise was also announced today as the Hon. John Brumby, former Premier of Victoria (2007-2010) and Professorial Fellow at both the University of Melbourne and Monash University.

Monash University President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Gardner AO said the joint venture would reinforce Melbourne’s international reputation in health and medicine research.

“Melbourne has been at the leading edge of biomedical innovation for the better part of a century, from John Cade’s experiments with lithium in the 1940s to pioneering work in IVF and the Bionic Ear during the 1970s and more recent breakthroughs in cancer treatment, stem cell research and anti-viral drugs. This collaboration will extend that record of innovation even further.”

“This is an era in which Victoria can make unprecedented strides in tackling disease and investing in transformative research to solve the health challenges for the state and the world. The catalyst is our bold venture to do precisely that,” Professor Gardner said.

The new enterprise is the brainchild of Professor Bill Charman, Director of the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Professor Danny Hoyer, the University of Melbourne’s Chair and Head of Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences.

“The biomedical sector in Melbourne is already world-leading, thanks to proven research excellence and pharmaceutical outcomes from Monash and the University of Melbourne, combined with major health services such as Alfred Health, Melbourne Health and Monash Health. However, too often important medical discoveries have not made it from the lab into new cures and therapies. And those that have succeeded, have often need to be taken off shore early in their development such that higher commercial and scientific value has been lost to Australia,” Professor Charman said.

“Our new enterprise uses the combined research expertise, and infrastructure, of the two universities as a strong pipeline of high quality drug targets and drug candidates, along with the objective perspective of an independent entity which can then rapidly progress this forward to more advanced and then externally-funded stages of development,” Professor Charman said.

Professor Hoyer, with 30 years at Sandoz and Novartis in Switzerland before joining The University of Melbourne, said that the University of Melbourne and Monash University have a rich pipeline of biomedical opportunities to kick start the enterprise.

“Global Pharma who spend 30-40 % of their R&D budget externally, are interested in clinically validated drug targets; Melbourne has world-leading translational biomedical research embedded in both universities, medical research institutes and research hospitals. Melbourne is ideally placed to provide this translational knowledge, that is to close the loop from patient to bench and back to patient, and to test these drug candidates in carefully defined and selected patient cohorts,” Professor Hoyer said.

“However, to be effective, we need an independent enterprise staffed with professionals who have done it all before, versed in the logistics of developing medicines including project management, preclinical safety, pharmacokinetics and metabolism, pharmaceutical development, regulatory aspects, and contemporary clinical trial design. ”

“A wide range of drug candidates are currently at preclinical or early clinical stages at both Universities,” Professor Hoyer said. “The targeted diseases range from Preeclampsia, a potentially fatal condition in pregnancy, to various forms of epilepsy and other devastating neurological diseases, severe kidney, lung and cardiovascular disorders as well as a range of cancers and infectious diseases. This new enterprise will enable some of these and other transformational drug candidates to become a medical and commercial reality, by combining expertise and scale of both partners,” Professor Hoyer said.

University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor Professor Glyn Davis said the new enterprise was a great opportunity to bring two world-leading universities together. “This enterprise will bring two outstanding research universities together to help provide a drug development catalyst, one that will attract global talent and international pharmaceutical companies to Victoria in a bid to help better translate research into commercial activity.”

“Convergence is the great theme of our time, and this is an enterprise that will bring people together around shared goals. And while it will start at the universities, it will move quickly to working with our partners in hospitals, medical research institutes and commercial players, all of whom will play a key part in its success.”

Two independent and respected economic specialist organisations reviewed the business case for the enterprise and found it a compelling investment for the State of Victoria. The two universities engaged the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to assess the financial and non-financial benefits and the sectorial and wider economic impacts that can be anticipated from the enterprise over the immediate, medium and longer term.

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Convergence is the great theme of our time, and this is an enterprise that will bring people together around shared goals. And while it will start at the universities, it will move quickly to working with our partners in hospitals, medical research institutes and commercial players, all of whom will play a key part in its success.

Category Archives: Media Releases

BioCurate launches first round of project investments