Garvan spin-off to trial monoclonal targets

G2 Therapies, a recent spin-off company from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, will be launching into clinical trials of monoclonal targets to treat inflammatory diseases and cancer after raising $3.3 million in a first-round venture capital funding.

The lead investors are Equity Partners Asia, AMWIN Management and interested associates with corporate advisory group Barton Partners, as well as 18 individuals.

Charles Mackay and Rob Sutherland, the company's scientific co-founders, have taken equity in the new company and transferred their intellectual property to G2 Therapies.

Prof Mackay, also G2's managing director, said the most promising drug candidates were based on monoclonal antibodies for diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune disease.

The company's plan was to start clinical trials almost immediately in association with St Vincent's Hospital, Mackay said.

"The first target for inflammatory disease, the C5A receptor, has been validated in animal models by a research collaborator in Boston and now it moves into clinical trials here," he said.

"We have a competitive advantage working with the monoclonal class of drug. It has a much safer profile compared to small molecule targets because it behaves like the body's natural antibodies and is less likely to have adverse side-effects.

Monoclonal antibodies are designed to block a disregulated protein that underlies an inflammatory disease, whereas for cancer the approach is to use monoclonals to kill a cell.

"The monoclonal drugs currently on the market are worth tens of millions of dollars," Mackay said. Leading companies that produce monoclonal antibodies include are Genetech, Eli Lilly and Johnson and Johnson.

Monoclonal antibodies are an easy way for Australia to make a name for itself in the drug discovery market, Mackay told Australian Biotechnology News.

He said that compared with the US, gaining regulatory approval to advance into clinical trials was much less cumbersome in Australia, and also cheaper.

"What makes the company unique is our ability to integrate sophisticated molecular profiling with monoclonal antibody products and clinical trials," he said.

The Garvan profiles diseased tissues and cells using the Affymetrix Gene Chip system, a genomics technology that Mackay helped to develop.

"We want to be one of the first companies that is best able to identify genes for inflammation and cancer," he said.

G2's intellectual capital will come from scientific experiments based on access to tissue banks and clinical trials.

G2 has several inflammatory disease products in pre-clinical development: a validated oncology target and a technology platform that is expected to generate additional leads as well as excellent opportunities for strategic partnerships with US, European and Japanese-based biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, according to a Garvan statement.