CUREator funding confirms the importance and value of university research spin outs
Monash-led biotechs Myostellar and GILZrx, have each received an additional AU$500,000 funding from Brandon BioCatalyst’s CUREator incubator, confirming the importance and value of spinning out university research into companies advancing new therapeutics that address significant health issues.
Myostellar is a discovery-stage biotechnology spin-out from Monash University developing novel therapeutics for skeletal muscle regeneration in patients with untreatable muscle disorders, with the lead indication in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). Led by Professor Peter Currie and Associate Professor Mikaël Martino at Monash’s Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Myostellar received CUREator funding in 2022 to translate their groundbreaking scientific findings from the lab towards the clinic.
“This top-up funding is incredibly important to advancing our therapeutic for stem-cell regeneration, bringing us closer to delivering a treatment for muscular dystrophy conditions,” said Professor Currie.
GILZrx received the top-up funding to advance the company’s development of novel drug alternatives to glucocorticoids in the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, including lupus. GILZrx lead researchers Dr Sarah Jones and Professor Eric Morand from the Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, also received AU$500,000 initial funding from CUREator in 2022, which resulted in the formation of the Monash spinout.
Worldwide, one in 20 people take corticosteroids long-term, despite debilitating side effects that shorten life expectancy. An effective anti-inflammatory medicine without the side effects is urgently needed. GILZrx technology has the potential to become a viable alternative for a number of inflammatory conditions.
The top-up funding moves the program to the next crucial stage of building the proprietary experiments to reveal whether a molecule has properties that give it the potential to become a new medicine.
“My team is dedicated to the search for a safe anti-inflammatory medicine to replace corticosteroids, and avoid the severe side effects for people with autoimmune diseases and inflammatory disorders. Follow-on funding means we can stop trying to prove our hypothesis and start turning the wheels towards drug discovery,” said Sarah Jones, CEO of GILZRx, and Head of the Rheumatology Research Laboratory at the Monash University Centre for Inflammatory Diseases.
“Our innovation ecosystem has helped these university researchers along their development journey to form a company while they continued to develop the technology. The company was chosen for further funding because they have the long-term potential to change the lives of people currently suffering with these conditions,” commented Dr Alastair Hick, Chief Commercialisation Officer at Monash Innovation.
The Monash Innovation life science commercialisation team enabled the formation of both Myostellar and GILZRx through cultivating the IP underlying each of the therapies and guiding the investment cases to build the new ventures.
The formation and the follow on support of both the companies and researcher-founders, is a team effort, from Monash Innovation’s Bo Yun, Commercialisation Manager, and board observer of Myostellar, together with the faculty - MNHS Senior Director, Enterprise and Partnerships Alison Greenway, also supporting Myostellar as a company director, and Michael Vovos, Senior Business Development Manager for Biomedicine Discovery Institute, supporting GILZRx.
“We’re really pleased our Monash spinouts, Myostellar and GILZRx, have received the CUREator top-up funding, which validates the investment of our time and resources committed to the spinouts in the Monash innovation ecosystem. This new funding will support the translation of each of these therapeutics to become life changing products in the future” added Aoife Cullen, Head of Commercialisation - Life Sciences at Monash Innovation.
About Monash Enterprise: We facilitate and nurture collaboration between researchers, infrastructure and industry to drive the translation of ground-breaking research into commercial opportunities that deliver positive impact to our world. Find out more: https://www.monash.edu/industry
About CUREator
CUREator is a national biotechnology incubator run by Brandon BioCatalyst to support the development of Australian biomedical research and innovations. Funded by the Medical Research Future Fund and Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, CUREator provides grant funding programs for opportunities spanning from discovery to clinical development. Funding is provided like an investor with clear milestone-driven tranches to achieve key value-adding and de-risking development milestones. CUREator works closely with project teams to guide them through the early development phase, offering scientific and commercial expertise and networks to support projects meeting key outcomes.
For more information about CUREator, visit: https://brandonbiocatalyst.com/cureator/
About Brandon BioCatalyst and Brandon Capital
Brandon Capital is Australasia's leading life science venture capital firm, with a strong global presence supported by key partnerships and team members across the US and UK. From early-stage seed investment to expansion capital, and Brandon Capital supports life science companies from proof-of-concept to commercialisation. Managed by Brandon Capital, Brandon BioCatalyst is a unique collaboration of over 50 leading medical research institutes, investors, and government united by a single purpose: progressing the next generation of medical therapies and technology that improve health and save lives. www.brandoncapital.vc | www.brandonbiocatalyst.com