Novel Methods For Promoting Organ Development And Growth
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$390,203.00
Summary
A revolutionary new therapy for treatment of growth restricted fetuses and premature babies is being developed through the administration of Colony Stimulating Factor (CSF-1). We have evidence that CSF-1 therapy can promote kidneys and lungs to continue development and maturation after birth. This exciting new finding allows for the application of CSF-1 therapy for both the treatment of premature babies and unborn babies with kidney defects.
Development Of Novel Anti-cancer And Immunosuppressive Drugs Derived From Pineapple Stems
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$469,500.00
Summary
We have discovered two molecules from pineapple stems that show anti-tumour activity in laboratory studies. One molecule, called ananain, blocks a cancer causing protein called Ras, which is defective in approximately 30% of all cancers. The other molecule, called canizain, stimulates the bodies own immune system to target and kill cancer cells. The proposed research seeks to provide proof of concept of the use of ananain and canizain as drug development targets. Once this early proof of princip ....We have discovered two molecules from pineapple stems that show anti-tumour activity in laboratory studies. One molecule, called ananain, blocks a cancer causing protein called Ras, which is defective in approximately 30% of all cancers. The other molecule, called canizain, stimulates the bodies own immune system to target and kill cancer cells. The proposed research seeks to provide proof of concept of the use of ananain and canizain as drug development targets. Once this early proof of principle phase has been completed, we believe that ananain and canizain would be extremely attractive targets for further investment by a major pharmaceutical company.Read moreRead less
Exploitation Of Unique Growth Factors To Develop New Products For Infertility Treatment
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$132,525.00
Summary
Infertility comes at an enormous social and financial cost to Australian society; infertility is a major psychological burden on young couples and the technologies used to treat infertility, such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF), require expensive drugs to stimulate the ovary. The cost of these drugs to Medicare is expected to exceed $100 million p.a. over the next decade. A reproductive technology, which has always shown great potential to elevate some of this burden, is oocyte (egg) in vitro ma ....Infertility comes at an enormous social and financial cost to Australian society; infertility is a major psychological burden on young couples and the technologies used to treat infertility, such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF), require expensive drugs to stimulate the ovary. The cost of these drugs to Medicare is expected to exceed $100 million p.a. over the next decade. A reproductive technology, which has always shown great potential to elevate some of this burden, is oocyte (egg) in vitro maturation (IVM), which drastically reduces the use-cost of drugs and the stress to patients. However, oocyte IVM has been slow to live up to its potential and the technology is still not in widespread clinical practice, mainly due to disappointing success rates in women. We have been studying oocyte IVM in animals for many years, and have recently made a significant technological breakthrough, improving success rates by ~50%. In this field, a 50% increase in efficiency is substantial and has significant clinical and commercial application. Currently, we are the only group worldwide with this technology. Over the course of this 2-year project we will conduct follow-up experiments to refine this discovery and investigate the feasibility of using this approach to treat human infertility. We are already in negotiations with two medical device manufacturers to licence this technology. We expect that this project will lead to a series of products and technologies that will enter a clinical trial for the treatment of infertility within 2-3 years.Read moreRead less
The proposed project is part of a research programme aimed at developing a new drug to reduce the side effects of cancer radiotherapy. These side effects result from the radiation damage to normal tissues close to the tumour. Since in many instances the normal tissues at risk are accessible to topical application (eg. skin in breast cancer patients, rectal mucosa in prostate cancer patients, oral mucosa in all patients being treated for tumours in the head and neck region) the concept is very si ....The proposed project is part of a research programme aimed at developing a new drug to reduce the side effects of cancer radiotherapy. These side effects result from the radiation damage to normal tissues close to the tumour. Since in many instances the normal tissues at risk are accessible to topical application (eg. skin in breast cancer patients, rectal mucosa in prostate cancer patients, oral mucosa in all patients being treated for tumours in the head and neck region) the concept is very simple. A drug which makes cells less sensitive to X-rays (these drugs are called radioprotectors) is simply applied topically to the normal tissues at risk. For this purpose, we have developed a new radioprotecting drug called methylproamine which is 100-fold more potent than previously-developed radioprotectors. Unfortunately, methylproamine is not suitable for our purpose because at higher concentrations it is toxic to some cells. This hurdle must be overcome in order to make the project attractive to potential commercial sponsors. Our aim is to modify methylproamine by removing the molecular features that cause the cytotoxicity. We have established that this is feasible, by synthesising and evaluating a small family of methylproamine analogues. Some less toxic family members have already been identified. With this knowledge, we now propose to use special computer programmes to design a much larger family of methylproamine analogues, and to synthesise and test each one in order to identify the most promising candidate for our purpose. Once the efficacy window hurdle is passed, the subsequent milestones to commercialisation and clinical implementation can be addressed, with appropriate sponsorship. An Australian company has already expressed strong interest and is evaluating the opportunity.Read moreRead less