The University of Á¢²©¹ÙÍø has welcomed the Á¢²©¹ÙÍø Government’s $1 million commitment to translating medical research into better health care.
Á¢²©¹ÙÍø Minister of Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts Ian Walker has announced that the Government will inject $1 million into the (MRCF).
The MRCF is a venture capital fund providing dedicated investment to support the commercialisation of early-stage medical research discoveries, including world-leading medical technologies developed at some of UQ’s medical research institutes.
Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) Professor Anton Middelberg said the Á¢²©¹ÙÍø Government’s investment was essential to help Australian research institutions translate discoveries into commercial products that would benefit lives in Á¢²©¹ÙÍø and others globally.
“Since the global financial crisis, there have been very few new venture-backed companies in Australia as many wholesale investors take fewer risks,” Professor Middelberg said.
“In this tough funding climate, the Á¢²©¹ÙÍø Government has demonstrated tremendous leadership with its ongoing investment in the MRCF.”
The MRCF, which is also supported by the Australian Government and the state governments of Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia, has invested in two medical technology start-ups.
They are and and both are based on innovative research from the (UQCCR) and UQ’s (AIBN).
Q-Sera is commercialising technology for producing high-quality serum for analysis in a clinical setting, based on the blood clotting properties of a protein isolated from a specific snake venom.
The innovative serum-production technology was developed from the work of Professor Martin Lavin from the UQCCR, Dr Paul Masci from UQ’s , Emeritus Professor John de Jersey from UQ’s and Dr Goce Dimeski, chief scientist in chemical pathology at Princess Alexandra Hospital.
Vaxxas was established in 2011 to commercialise the Nanopatch technology, a pain-free method of vaccine delivery designed to replace needles and syringes.
The postage-stamp sized Nanopatch is the invention of AIBN’s Professor Mark Kendall.
Both start-up ventures were established with the support of Pty Limited, UQ’s main commercialisation company.
UniQuest CEO Dr Dean Moss said UQ maintained a strong commitment to the discovery and translation of biomedical technologies, and that the continuing availability of venture capital would ensure more start-ups like Q-Sera and Vaxxas had the best chance of success.
“Continuing investment will ensure ground-breaking research discoveries make it out of the laboratory and attract the best industry support in the marketplace to have a real impact on the broader community,” Dr Moss said.
“Ultimately, such technologies are critical to providing improved health care on a global scale and Á¢²©¹ÙÍø has much to contribute.”
Media: Bernadette Condren, 0413 881 597, b.condren@uq.edu.au
