Professor Brendon Monahan joins MIPS as Director of MedChem Australia

20 July 2023

Professor Brendon Monahan has joined MIPS as the Director of MedChem Australia.

Brendon is passionate about translating innovative research discoveries into potential new therapies and has extensive experience leading collaborative multidisciplinary drug discovery programs. Prior to joining MIPS, Brendon was the Chief Scientific Officer of Canthera Discovery, formerly the Cancer Therapeutics CRC (CTx), a leading Australian small molecule drug discovery organisation whose research partners included Monash University, CSIRO, WEHI, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Children’s Cancer Institute and Griffith University.

Brendon has a molecular biology background with research experience in drug discovery, cancer biology, gene regulation and epigenetics. Brendon has contributed to many successfully licensed drug discovery programs across epigenetic, kinase, RNA modulation, and immuno-oncology targets, with two assets currently in clinical trials.

Brendon was the project leader of the lysine acetyltransferase projects licensed to Pfizer in a deal worth $20M upfront, ~$650M in potential milestone payments, plus royalties. Brendon is thrilled to be joining MIPS at a time of exciting growth and success in drug discovery.