Patrys, Minomic and Starpharma secure ARC grants

The Australian Research Council (ARC) has allocated Linkage Grants to Macquarie University, Patrys (ASX:PAB) and Minomic International; and to Starpharma (ASX:SPL) and Monash University.

Macquarie University, Patrys and Minomic International have secured a $427,500 grant to help develop cancer diagnostics kits using anticancer antibodies.

The funding will be used for a project involving combining nanocrystal technology from Macquarie with Patrys’s lead LgM antibody PAT-SM6 - which is directed at multiple myeloma biomarkers - and with a Minomic antibody targeting prostate cancer biomarkers.

Current diagnostics tests are not sensitive enough to detect the specific changes occurring in the proteins present on the surface of multiple myeloma cells - at the very rare rate in which they appear in patients’ blood and urine in the early stages of the disease.

But Macquarie’s new Super Dot nanocrystal technology promises to be able to detect single abnormal cells in body fluids.

Previous collaborative research between Patrys and Macquarie’s Professor Nicolle Packer has shown that PAT-SM6 can detect the changes occurring in multiple myeloma cells.

Sydney-based Minomic has similarly developed a test for prostate cancer that detects a protein only present on the surface of cancer cells.

Patrys is currently conducting a phase I/IIa trial involving using PAT-SM6 as a treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

Starpharma and The Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences have meanwhile been awarded $548,000 for a project involving using dendrimers for targeted drug delivery.

The research will explore using Starpharma’s dendrimer technology in applications including antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

“Targeted drug delivery using nanoparticles including ADCs is an area of much excitement within the oncology community and significant focus in the pharmaceutical industry,” said Starpharma CEO Dr Jackie Fairley. “Research to date indicates Starpharma’s dendrimers can play an important role in this field.”

Professor Chris Porter is leading the institute’s contribution to the collaborative research.

The ARC has this month also awarded Linkage Project grants to Pharmaxis and the University of Sydney; Phylogica and the University of Queensland; and LBT Innovations and the University of Adelaide.

Starpharma shares were trading unchanged at $0.915 as of around 2 pm on Thursday, while Patrys shares were flat at $0.027.