Funding for AIBN and DSM collaboration; a step towards smart new medicines

An international collaboration involving the development of the next generation of smart medicines in Brisbane has received a boost, with more than $1 million in state government funding.

The Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) has received $1.148 million in Queensland Government science funding to build a strategic link with DSM Biologics. This will lay the groundwork for a collaboration in which AIBN develops medicines, called biologics, and DSM produces them in a $65 million scale-up facility, under construction using Federal Government funding at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

The funding will flow from June 2012 and will pay for AIBN to develop key technology for their research to move towards a commercial product at the scale-up facility. It follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding, late last year, between AIBN, based at The University of Queensland, the Dutch biopharmaceutical manufacturer and the state government.

AIBN brings to the collaboration its expertise in developing mammalian cell lines which form the basis of biologics - seen as a promising new prospect in smart medicines.

Biologics are medicines, based on natural proteins, made using DNA technology, with the potential to target medical conditions for which there are no other treatments. They offer the only known potential treatment for Hendra virus infection and offer new treatment options for diseases including cancer and auto-immune disorders.

AIBN Director Professor Peter Gray said working in collaboration with DSM was exciting, given the company had a global reputation for biologics production.

“Having DSM operating a scale-up facility in Brisbane means Queensland research can be taken from the lab, through manufacturing, to the market,” Professor Gray said.

“Researchers want their work to make a difference to the lives of people outside the lab.

“Working on biologics at AIBN is about bringing about improvements in human health.”

The scale-up facility is under construction as part of the Translational Research Institute, a $354 million facility aimed at improving and accelerating medical research and translating that research into greater patient care. It will allow biopharmaceuticals and treatments to be discovered, produced, clinically tested and manufactured in one location, with a focus on cervical and breast cancer, melanoma, liver and kidney disease, malaria, HIV, osteoporosis, obesity, arthritis and diabetes.

To find out more about AIBN’s work in biologics and their collaboration with DSM, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WspjexUucSM.