CUREator funds Hudson Institute biotech innovation

Exciting new therapies for regenerative medicine as well as a targeted treatment for ovarian cancer have been awarded significant funding from Australia’s national biotechnology incubator, CUREator.

The grants are delivered by Brandon BioCatalyst and the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) to support early-stage health and medical research and innovation in Australia through to proof-of-concept and beyond, providing opportunities for commercialisation.

Director and CEO of Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Professor Elizabeth Hartland, called it wonderful recognition for two of the many great projects being developed at Hudson Institute.

“Both of these projects show huge potential, not just from a scientific perspective, but as real-world treatments that will make a genuine difference, potentially to millions of people worldwide.” Prof Hartland said.

CUREator funds exosome therapies

$1.5 million has been awarded to Exosome Bioscience, a collaboration between Hudson Institute and Monash University, utilising a unique platform technology to produce novel exosome therapies.

$500,000 in pre-clinical funding was also awarded to biotechnology company AMTBio Pty Ltd, a joint venture with Hudson Institute, to bring its breakthrough treatment for ovarian cancer to Phase I clinical trials.

Associate Professor Rebecca Lim from Hudson Institute and Exosome Bioscience, explained that exosomes are a class of nanosized vesicles released by all cell types, including stem cells. “They contain complex biological materials that reflect the intracellular contents of their donor cells.” she said.

The vesicles released by the human amniotic epithelial cells have been shown to be highly effective in pre-clinical models over a range of unmet clinical needs including lung, liver and kidney fibrosis.

“This funding will allow us to take these into a first-in-human clinical trial,” she said.

Ovarian cancer trial – biotech innovation

Research Group Head, Ovarian Cancer Biomarkers at Hudson Institute and AMTBio Chief Executive Officer, Dr Andrew Stephens, said, “Our technology offers a new way to treat ovarian cancers, by directly targeting chemo-resistant cancer cells – one of the most pressing clinical issues in the effective management of patients”.

“AMTBio was recognised by the CUREator program as having high potential to develop and bring this first-in-class treatment for ovarian cancer into clinical trials”.