Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre opens in Clayton

Victorian Deputy Premier and Minister for Medical Research Ben Carroll has officially opened a new node of the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC) in the heart of the Monash Technology Precinct, Clayton. Funded through an $8.58 million investment from the Victorian Higher Education State Investment Fund and $4 million from Monash University, MMIC Clayton is a purpose-designed and -built facility including laboratory and office space, co-located with the Australian Synchrotron.

MMIC Clayton will build on the centre’s work at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS) in Parkville to provide further opportunities for innovation across medicine formulation, resolving manufacturing process challenges and building supply of highly skilled, industry-ready workforce candidates. MMIC Director Professor Michelle McIntosh said the centre’s expansion to Clayton will deliver far-reaching benefits to the Victorian community.

“This new facility represents a significant advancement in Victoria’s research commercialisation opportunities,” McIntosh said. “Our team of dedicated pharmaceutical scientists are committed to driving forward the end-to-end development of a range of medicines using state-of-the-art technology, from laboratory-scale projects right through to local manufacture of medicines for clinical trials.”

MMIC has also been awarded a grant by the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics to develop a potential new therapeutic agent for the treatment of respiratory infections and inflammation. The centre was one of 10 groups to benefit from the second round of the Cumming Global Centre’s inaugural Foundation Grants program, which was open to applicants from around the world.

“In a globally competitive process, Professor McIntosh’s exploration of an innovative delivery system to treat future respiratory viruses stood out for both scientific excellence and its alignment to the centre’s mission to advance the science behind therapeutics for pathogens of pandemic potential,” said Professor Sharon Lewin, Director of the Cumming Global Centre.

MMIC is working on a suite of local and international projects with a range of partners, including Texas-based biotechnology company Etira Therapeutics. Etira has been working with MMIC since 2021 to synthesise a drug candidate called ERX-315 to become commercially viable for clinical trials. MMIC teamed up with IDT Australia to manufacture ERX-315 for Phase 1 clinical trials in cancer patients, which is now underway at St Vincent’s hospital.

“The partnership with Etira is a great example of MMIC’s quest to support pharmaceutical and medical technology companies across the drug development pipeline, with a core focus on optimising and fine-tuning drug formulations for the critical process of drug manufacturing and, ultimately, getting potentially life-saving candidates into clinical trials,” McIntosh said.

Monash University Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Sharon Pickering said the permanent MMIC facility is an important new addition to the Monash Technology Precinct — a hub of research, industry, innovation and talent that is part of Victoria’s largest employment precinct outside the Melbourne CBD.

“This new facility will further strengthen the research and development capability of the Monash Technology Precinct innovation ecosystem, joining world-leading research and technology organisations such as the CSIRO, the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, the Victorian Heart Hospital and the soon-to-be-completed Moderna manufacturing facility,” she said.

“By being located in the world-class Monash Technology Precinct, the MMIC will provide our researchers, precinct partners and local and international companies the opportunity to develop, test and scale-up new medicines here in Australia without going offshore.”