New start-up to combat cancer with Australian and US university research
Announcement posted by UniQuest Pty Limited 18 Dec 2012
Leading Australian university research commercialisation company UniQuest has partnered with US-based Emory University to package biotech assets for a new start-up company from Australian university-linked research centres, including The University of Queensland (UQ), and the Emory Institute for Drug Development.
QUE Oncology will seek venture capital to fund the development of small molecule drug candidates and biological targets for preventing and treating cancer. UniQuest and Emory will facilitate capital raising activities with seed funding support.
Intellectual property originating from UQ’s Faculties of Science and Health Sciences (from the research groups of Professors Maree Smith, Greg Monteith, Sarah Roberts-Thomson, Steve Taylor and Dr Trent Woodruff) will be licensed to QUE Oncology, along with research discoveries from the medicinal chemistry group of Professor Dennis Liotta at Emory Institute for Drug Development.
UniQuest Managing Director, David Henderson said QUE Oncology was established in response to market opportunities in the field of cancer therapy.
“The multi-million dollar investment required to develop a new drug from discovery through to commercial launch, and an increasingly conservative global regulatory environment, have prompted Australian research teams to seek collaborators overseas for translating their ideas into clinical outcomes,” Mr Henderson explained.
“Bringing together the expertise and discoveries of these leading innovation hubs creates an attractive prospect for global biotech investors and also for pharmaceutical companies, which are looking for potential new drugs more so than ever before.
“Through QUE Oncology, Australian university scientists will have the opportunity to develop meaningful and active collaborations with research teams at a top tier US university while accessing a larger network of international investors and pooling resources to pass common commercialisation hurdles and milestones.”
Professor Dennis Liotta, Executive Director of the Emory Institute for Drug Development, said QUE Oncology aligned with Emory University’s strategic focus on positive transformation through shared opportunities with international colleagues.
“The research and development capabilities of all QUE Oncology’s contributors will be significantly enhanced through our collaborative approach to discovery and technology transfer,” Professor Liotta said.
QUE Oncology will address the gaps in Australia’s existing capacity to support commercially focused drug development as a seamless end-to-end approach that can span the necessary multi-year timeframe.
Cancer research projects that have been identified to start the QUE Oncology pipeline relate to hot flushes, pain, prostate cancer, breast cancer, multiple myeloma, and melanoma.
The start-up will operate with a small core team and leverage the resources and infrastructure of the partnering universities and contract research organisations, manufacturers and advisors. An experienced biotech start-up CEO, Mr John Richard, has been recruited to manage the asset development program and business development activities.
About QUE Oncology
QUE Oncology, Inc. seeks to address life threatening diseases with competitive and efficacious therapies that have reduced adverse side effects in order to deliver more cost effective treatments (by avoiding the cost impact of the disease, treatment of side effects or disease consequences) to patients to provide a greater chance of recovery and an improved quality of life.
About Emory Institute for Drug Development http://eidd.emory.edu
The Emory Institute for Drug Discovery aims to address the significant funding gap that exists in the drug discovery and development continuum. It has assembled the full complement of capabilities and expertise to collaborate with academic researchers at an early stage of the drug discovery process, as well as to progress emerging drug candidates to a stage where they are ready for regulatory approval to enter human clinical evaluation. In this way, the innovation and discoveries by Emory researchers will have a continuous progression path to clinical settings where they can have positive impacts on human health.