14 October 2011

With Breast Cancer Awareness Month observed internationally during October, Australian university research commercialisation company, UniQuest, will be promoting three potential new treatments for the disease, along with 100 other biotechnology innovations from Australian universities, at the annual Ausbiotech Conference next week.

The novel breast cancer therapies being developed by The University of Queensland (UQ) Diamantina Institute and UQ Faculty of Health Sciences address tumour growth and the spread of cells to other parts of the body (metastases).

Other cancer-related research UniQuest will be marketing to pharmaceutical and biotech companies include a peptide-based immunotherapy for hormone-dependent cancers, therapies to combat infections and chemotherapy side-effects, a device that supports adaptive radiation therapy for men with prostate cancer, less-toxic therapeutics for multiple myeloma (type of bone marrow cancer), and a range of diagnostic tools.

“The Ausbiotech Conference is the premier biotechnology meeting for the Asia Pacific region, attracting about 1500 delegates from 20 countries each year, UniQuest Managing Director," David Henderson, said

“The Conference presents plenty of opportunities to talk to a wide range of representatives from major international biotech and pharmaceutical companies about licensing university-based technologies and about working with our researchers to find cures and better health management strategies.

“It also attracts venture capital and private equity firms looking to invest in ground-breaking technologies.

“The University of Queensland innovations are now generating annual sales of more than AUD$3 billion globally, from vaccines like the Human Papilloma Virus vaccine Gardasil to high-tech MRI machines and telehealth systems, there’s a lot interest in what the research institutions we represent are working on right now to benefit future generations.”

UniQuest has a booth in the trade exhibition showcasing a range of market-ready projects, which include a clinically validated telehealth system for Allied Health Professionals, a program empowering health professionals with proven strategies to support patients’ compliance with their medication, an innovation that limits heat stress and promotes rapid recovery for people working in dangerously hot conditions, and several technologies related to medical testing devices.

These opportunities to collaborate on ground-breaking biotech developments are based on research from UQ’s science faculties and institutes, as well as UniQuest’s research commercialisation partners: University of Wollongong, Mater Medical Research Institute, , University of Technology Sydney, University of Tasmania, and Queensland Health.

Ausbiotech 2011 will take place at the Adelaide Convention Centre from 16-19 October.

Media enquiries: Leanne Wyvill +61 7 3365 4037, 0409 767 199 or l.wyvill@uniquest.com.au
About UniQuest Pty Limited www.uniquest.com.au
Established by The University of Queensland in 1984, UniQuest is widely recognised as one of Australia’s largest and most successful university commercialisation groups, benchmarking in the top tier of technology transfer worldwide. From an intellectual property portfolio of 1,500+ patents it has created over 60 companies, and since 2000 UniQuest and its start-ups have raised more than $400 million to take university technologies to market. Annual sales of products using UQ technology and licensed by UniQuest are running at $3 billion. UniQuest now commercialises innovations developed at The University of Queensland and its commercialisation partner institutions, the University of Wollongong, University of Technology Sydney, James Cook University, University of Tasmania, Mater Medical Research Institute, and Queensland Health. UniQuest also provides access to an expansive and exclusive network of independent academics to tailor a consulting or project R&D solution to meet the diverse needs of industry and government, facilitating some 500 consulting, expert opinion, testing, and contract research services each year. UniQuest is also a leading Australasian provider of international development assistance recognised for excellence in technical leadership, management and research. Working with agencies such as AusAID, NZAID, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, UniQuest has developed and implemented more than 400 projects in 46 countries throughout the Pacific, South-East Asia, the Indian sub-continent and Africa.

UniQuest has helped to launch several Australian university life sciences innovations onto the global market since 1984:

• UniQuest was involved with the early commercialisation of the HPV technology discovered by Dr Ian Frazer and his late research partner Dr Jian Zhou, which has contributed to the development of a vaccine for cervical cancer. Pharmaceutical company Merck has distributed 65 million doses of Gardasil® since the vaccine’s global launch in 2006. It is now approved in 123 countries.

• UniQuest bio-pharmaceutical start-up QRxPharma Limited listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in May 2007 and made history as Australia’s biggest biotechnology float. QRxPharma recently announced its successful completion of Phase 3 trials of its patented pain management product.

• Another UniQuest start-up, ImpediMed Ltd, closed oversubscribed when it listed on the ASX and as a publicly-listed company in September 2007. It recently became the first company to offer FDA, CE and TGA cleared L-Dex devices for simple point of care, standardised and objective metrics to aid in the clinical assessment of lymphoedema.

Spinifex Pharmaceuticals Pty Limited recently secured A$6.3 million in the final tranche of an A$18.3 million series B round to fund clinical efficacy trials of its innovative neuropathic (nerve) pain therapy. The Phase II trial will begin with post herpetic neuralgia patients, while further trials in peripheral nerve injury patients and cancer chemotherapy patients are expected to start by the end of the year. UniQuest established Spinifex in 2005 with a pre-seed investment from Uniseed, and the start-up company has since raised A$22.3 million to develop a market-ready product.

These three companies and other UniQuest start-ups are among the 1000+ Australian biotechnology and medical technology ventures contributing to the industry’s global growth. Of the 151 healthcare and biotech public life science companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, 27 are capitalised at greater than A$100 million

The latest edition of UniQuest’s technology newsletter The Deal Sheet is available online.