Dreams, reality and commercialisation

Keith Williams reflects on the long and winding road he has travelled as a player in the filed of protein science.

We have been on a long road, helping to define proteomics as a new approach to protein science and as an essential means of defining new products in the biotechnology industry. As a result of finding simple, fast, micro-scale and integrated ways of doing protein chemistry, Proteome Systems is poised to reap the rewards of much hard work.

My journey began in 1980, as a research group leader interested in developmental biology, at the Max Planck Institut fur Biochemie in Munich. There, I realised how demanding a discipline protein biochemistry was. I always thought that there had to be a better way.

Turn the clock forward to the excitement created by genomics, and the human genome sequencing project in the late 1990s. Almost all of the stakeholders in the life sciences, whether researchers or corporate executives in the sector, became rightly obsessed with nucleic acids, particularly their sequences.

The sequencing of DNA and the ability to identify genes and the amino acid sequences that they encoded represented an enormous step forward in our knowledge. We now have virtually the complete 'parts manual' for organisms ranging from bacteria to yeasts, plants and mammals including human and non-human primates.

Extensive DNA sequencing opened the way for extensive comparison between species. Scientists were surprised to find how similar disparate organisms can be at the level of gene sequences.

Yet no one would deny the vast phenotypic difference between humans, mice and monkeys. It became apparent to everyone in the gene field that many of the key differences between not only distinct species, but also individuals of the same species, came down to the proteins themselves and the way in which they were modified.

The way forward

In the field of genomics, automation and high-throughput technology, not to mention simplified kit forms for performing rapid assays and laboratory manipulations, had spread like wildfire. Only a practising scientist from the time can really appreciate how straightforward molecular biology was becoming compared to working with proteins. I saw a lot of people switch camps.

As protein scientists, we knew that radical changes were needed in the way protein chemistry was done and so we introduced the concept of the 'proteome' to describe all of the proteins in an organism in the same way that 'genome' covers all of the genetic material.

The Australian government caught the dream and funded the world's first major national proteomics facility (APAF) at Macquarie University at the end of 1995. We quickly turned our vision into reality at APAF by putting the different pieces of the proteomics puzzle together. In 1999 the core team decided it was time to build a business and so Proteome Systems was formed.

The team we brought together at Proteome Systems knew the way forward. That way involved knowledge of how to prepare a protein sample, how to transfer that sample to an instrument, how to recover the information gained from the sample and, finally, how to process the information.

Our internationally seasoned team comprised chemists, biochemists, engineers, physicists and IT professionals, all supported by a group who knew a lot about biology. We needed partners. Our technology and know-how were sufficiently strong to give us entree to a number of major players in the scientific instruments and IT space, including IBM and Shimadzu.

After much development, our integrated solution, ProteomIQ, was developed and released to the market.

With this approach, we gradually brought focus to new technology that enabled fast and effective small-scale, high-throughput analysis of proteins and their modifications, but not before we had to overcome resistance in two areas. People had to understand that it is necessary to work on actual proteins. The desired outcomes could not be attained in silico. We also had to deal with the fact that protein chemists were not necessarily keen to have their considerable skills reduced to something that could be handled by a kit or a robotic machine.

I think that the turning point for us was when we started doing remarkable things with our technology. There can be no doubt that establishing a track record helps to pave the way to commercialisation. As a team of the life scientists rather than purely engineers or IT experts, we started on projects which stood to add value if successful. For example, we are well advanced on our program to develop a rapid diagnostic for active tuberculosis from a sample of patient's blood or sputum from their lungs. We've made great progress on the biology and implementation is progressing. This is important science and significant for world health.

Australia is often seen as being slow at commercialising its strong base of innovative R&D. One of the issues may be the long haul from the excitement of discovery to the realisation of a product. Motivation and great persistence is essential. Ours comes from the desire to finish as products what started as good science, and overcome the hurdles between discovery and product.

It can be difficult living up to the expectations that pervade the Australian financial sector about the potential of biotechnological companies to deliver huge windfalls. I have every confidence that a number of Aussie biotech companies will do so, but there are no short cuts.

The Proteome Systems/Shimadzu partnership launched a major new product, ChIP (Chemical Inkjet Printer), at a Cell Biology meeting in Washington in December last year, and the first orders are in sight. The first patent for our protein chip technology was lodged in 1997 and granted in the US in 2004. Meanwhile, we established a partnership with Shimadzu in 1999 from which a prototype instrument was developed in 2001.

In 2002 we published the first research paper and completed the initial prototyping. In 2003 the first beta commercial instrument was built by Shimadzu. This is quick for the commercialisation of transforming new technology.

Local support

How does an Australian company commercialise its technology? First, we partner, especially to gain a foothold in the big markets in the US, Japan and Europe. This process is slow and it is tough getting into any market with a very new product.

To help in the early evaluation and give local researchers access to the best that Aussie technology can bring, I think we need to find ways to commercialise early in Australia (rather than on the back of success overseas). Having a local supplier, inventors at your doorstep and the realisation that dollars invested in local content mean jobs for local graduates creates a virtuous cycle that benefits everyone. I think there is more interest than ever before in bringing industry and research groups together, but we need to keep working at it.

We have a great team, which has made a significant contribution to the development of a robust Australian biotech industry. Many others are walking the same path and I am convinced that the Australian biotech industry will become a significant economic driver in the not too distant future.

There is talk of the parallels between the current emergence of the biotechnology sector and the development of the mining sector in the 1970s. Both industries are risky, long term, and, when successful, offer very large returns on investment.

There are clear indicators that the right infrastructure is being put in place to assist the growth of biotech, including some important initiatives from the ASX to educate investors. Let's hope that this generates more interest from the capital markets and a deeper understanding of our industry.

Keith Williams is a founder of Proteome Systems, based in Sydney: www.proteomesystems.com