Industry@TRI
TRI is proud to be a catalyst for Queensland’s medical research as a leading hub for translational research, novel innovation, commercialisation, and scale-up manufacturing. Along with researchers and clinicians, TRI houses start-up biomedical technology (biotech) companies that are in their early stages of research and product development of their medical interventions or technologies. In addition, we also house companies that provide support services to the biotech sector. TRI has created a networked ecosystem that includes researchers, clinicians, consumers, and these biotech companies. This ecosystem is pivotal and aligns with TRI’s translational research pathway. This model aims to bolster the biotech sector in its start-up, pre-revenue phase by providing a facilitated platform for companies while they are developing their medical interventions or technologies and conducting early phase clinical studies.
Biotech tenants at TRI have access to world-class facilities including laboratories (wet labs/PC2 labs), cGMP compliant cleanrooms (T3), eight core facilities with specialised equipment and expert advice and support, 24/7 critical systems monitoring and various on-site temperature storage facilities, and access to specialist expertise.
The TRI facility gives these biotech companies time to establish, build, test and develop their products and provides a supportive environment to advance medical discoveries to healthcare solutions. In response to the lack of scale-up manufacturing facilities in Australia, TRI has secured funding to build Translational Manufacturing@TRI (TM@TRI), which will be Australia’s first scale-up biomedical manufacturing facility supporting biotech companies in manufacturing products for phase II and III studies.
For more information about TRI’s commercial space, please contact: Glenda Colburn, TRI’s Industry Engagement Manager on [email protected] or phone 07 3443 7829.
TRI is proud to be home to the companies listed below:
Biomedical technology companies
AdvanCell is a clinical stage radiopharmaceutical company developing treatments to significantly improve survival and quality of life.
AdvanCell’s technology enables a revolutionary cancer treatment called Targeted Alpha Therapy, which is providing new hope for patients with currently uncurable cancers. The major limitation to its widespread adoption is the scalable supply of the isotopes required to make these therapies.
AdvanCell’s targeted alpha therapies are powered by a platform technology – a world-first alpha isotope generator, which addresses the greatest unmet need in targeted alpha therapy – the reliable and scalable supply of isotope. AdvanCell’s proprietary manufacturing platform enables production of an unmatched supply of ²¹²Pb, an ideal therapeutic isotope, to accelerate clinical development of targeted alpha therapies.
EMVision is an innovative medical device company which is developing a portable brain scanner set to revolutionise stroke care. The company plans for its portable scanners to be available in both hospitals and ambulances to boost stroke survival. EMVision’s R&D is now based at TRI, as it advances its world first stroke and brain imaging technology. Over 101 million people globally have experienced a stroke, most with permanent disability. EMVision is on a mission to enable faster diagnosis and treatment which will save lives and dramatically reduce rates of permanent disability for patients.
Infensa Bioscience is developing therapeutics to treat two of the leading causes of death worldwide - stroke and heart attack. In pre-clinical models of ischemic stroke, IB001 reduced brain infarct size and dramatically improved post-stroke performance even when administered 8 hours after stroke onset. Therefore early treatment would save lives and reduce stroke-related morbidity. In pre-clinical models of heart attack and cardiac surgery, IB001 was shown to greatly improve the viability of donor hearts. Infensa Bioscience established an R&D lab at TRI in 2021. Utilising the state-of-the-art facilities at TRI, the company will continue to develop game-changing therapies.
http://www.infensabioscience.com/
Microba uses DNA to analyse gut microbes to help develop diagnostics and targeted biotherapeutic remedies for diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, colon cancer, diabetes and depression. Metagenomic sequencing, developed by Microba's co-founders, microbiologists Phil Hugenholtz and Professor Gene Tyson, is the most advanced DNA sequencing method available. It is more accurate and comprehensive than existing methods of DNA testing for gut bacteria or longstanding approaches such as testing live cultures. Biotherapeutics are live bacteria that mimic the functions of a healthy gut "microbiome". Customised cocktails of these bacteria can be ingested and engrafted onto the large intestine's mucosal lining to bolster the immune and metabolic systems to treat a range of diseases. Microba has built a state-of-the-art laboratory at TRI using the latest sequencing and robotic technology. They have now processed over 2,500 samples and are partnering with numerous research groups.
Microbio is developing InfectID, a revolutionary pathogen identification test – rapid, highly sensitive and adaptable to address different target pathogens. InfectID uses real-time PCR and melt-curve analysis to home in on a pathogen’s DNA ‘fingerprint’, found at a specific point in its genetic code. Microbio’s initial product is a bloodstream infection / sepsis pathogen identification blood test with no need to pre-culture. This product, InfectID-BSI, has received CE Mark, with marketing clearance in other jurisdictions coming soon. Microbio has also developed a rapid, inexpensive, and sensitive COVID-19 test using the same technology.
Microbio conducted much of the evaluation testing for its regulatory submissions at its TRI-based laboratories. The specialised facilities and support of TRI will allow Microbio to continue to grow and evolve as the company develops additional products and manufacturing capabilities.
Ocugene is a start-up biotechnology company based at TRI and founded by prominent Brisbane Ophthalmologist, Associate Professor Chris Layton and former National Institutes of Health Molecular Biologist, Jason Steel. Ocugene develops next generation retinal therapeutics and gene delivery vectors with enhanced safety profiles for diseases such as macular degeneration, uveitis and uveal melanoma. Ocugene's core products are enhanced AAV gene therapy vectors with proven activity in models of ocular angiogenic, inflammatory and neoplastic diseases. Ocugene's vectors are designed to be regulatable, allowing clinicians to tailor delivery of therapeutics based on the severity of each patient's condition. In partnership with the Layton Vision Foundation, Ocugene funds research fellowships and not for profit ophthalmic research. In 2018, its officers provided supervision and financial support for six higher research degree students at three universities. In addition, its associates, based at TRI, funded and set up a charitable diabetic retinopathy screening service in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
https://laytonfoundation.org.au
Oroborus is a chemistry technology company. The company's focus is peptide mimetic drug development – where natural peptides are stabilised and modified into more useful drug-like compounds. Oroborus also has assets in process chemistry related to our drug development programs. Their main project is Peplix, where they have developed what they hope is the best alpha helix mimetic technology known. The company is applying this technology to targets including p53, Bcl-2 and Wnt (beta-catenin). These targets are all important in oncology and are of the “protein-protein interaction” type, which has been difficult for traditional drug development approaches to solve. Oroborus continues to work with companies and partner institutions at TRI to gain access to assay resources and biological expertise, and to provide advice and support in our areas of expertise.
entities at tri
360biolabs is Australia’s most comprehensive speciality laboratory services organisation for therapeutic, vaccine and diagnostics development. The company develops and conducts pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) assays across a wide variety of therapeutic areas and provides extensive support services to ensure the success of preclinical studies and clinical trials.
360biolabs supports bioanalysis for new and established small molecules, peptides, proteins and biologics. Their industry-experienced chemistry and biology teams enjoy the challenges of developing, validating and conducting sensitive quantitative determinations as well as metabolite identification and other complex analytical requests.
Brandon Capital is Australasia's leading life science venture capital firm, with a strong global presence supported by key partnerships and team members across the US and UK. Through collaboration and investment, Brandon Capital transforms promising medical research breakthroughs into medical therapies that improve patients’ lives. The company has supported more than 50 start-up companies to date, the majority of which were founded by Brandon Captial in collaboration with the inventor and their research institutes. From early-stage seed investment through to expansion capital, Brandon Capital supports life science companies from proof-of-concept through to commercialisation.
Health Translation Queensland provides a platform for greater integration and collaboration between clinicians, educators, researchers, academics, policy makers and health consumers. As an NHMRC accredited Advanced Health Research and Translation Centre, Health Translation Queensland works to mobilise research into clinical practice, and support health systems and business transformation.
https://healthtranslationqld.org.au/
Established in 2008, Therapeutic Innovation Australia (TIA) is the lead agent for the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) "Therapeutic Innovation Australia" project funded by the Australian Department of Education, Skills and Employment. TIA supports national research infrastructure across three capabilities - Biologics & Vaccines, Cell & Gene Therapies, and Small Molecule Pharmaceuticals. The TIA consortium helps researchers and industry to translate research findings down the development pipeline towards readiness for Phase I trials and beyond - from D2 through to T2.
https://www.therapeuticinnovation.com.au/
TRI alumni
Vaxxas is a privately held biotechnology company focussed on enhancing the performance of existing and next generation vaccines and increasing access to vaccination, through its proprietary needle-free vaccine technology, the high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP).
Founded in 2011 based on research at the University of Queensland, Vaxxas has been a key tenant of the TRI since 2015, rapidly translating from a small university-based entity to a medium sized biotech company with more than 100 employees.
Vaxxas uses office, laboratory and GMP cleanroom space at the TRI to develop a pipeline of products with some of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturers and humanitarian organisations - from pre-clinical development to final clinical manufacture using the TRI’s GMP cleanrooms on level three.
With the potential for self-administration and designed to be stored at room temperatures, eliminating the need for cold-chain storage and distribution, the Vaxxas HD-MAP technology is rethinking what’s possible with vaccines.
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MTPConnect is a not-for-profit organisation aiming to accelerate the rate of growth of the medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical (MTP) sector in Australia. Formed in December 2015 as part of the Federal Government’s Industry Growth Centres Initiative, MTPConnect is an independent, not-for-profit organisation. MTPConnect is forging stronger connections between research and industry to help maximise opportunities for Australians to not only make scientific and technological breakthroughs, but to see them developed through the proof-of-concept stage and successfully translated and commercialised. In this way, MTPConnect is building a more resilient and competitive medical products sector.
MTPConnect raises awareness, fosters collaboration and competition, aggregates existing knowledge and shares it with the broader MTP sector. It also jointly funds projects that address the Sector Growth Priorities and the constraints and gaps identified in the sector.
MTPConnect provided funding through the Growth Centre Project Fund Program for the development of TRI’s T3 Cleanroom facility in a consortium with Vaxxas Pty Ltd, PharmOut & Eurofins AMS, building clinical manufacturing and training capacity. MTPConnect also supports key TRI events such as conferences and career events. MTPConnect’s Queensland office is based at TRI.
https://www.mtpconnect.org.au/
The National Imaging Facility (NIF) provides open access to flagship imaging equipment, expertise, tools, data and analysis. NIF address Australia’s strategic science and research priorities, and this benefits Australian industry and helps keep Australians healthy. NIF’s purpose is to maintain Australia’s world-leading role in applying advanced imaging technology. Their mission is to make cutting-edge imaging capabilities accessible to Australian medical researchers, and material and agriculture scientists enabling them to solve challenges across research and industry.
NIF partners with state-of-the-art imaging projects led by teams with world-class capabilities. They operate efficiently at a national level, share innovative ideas and deep expertise, and work collaboratively across the research, health, innovation and industry sectors. NIF is unlocking solutions to the world’s biggest imaging challenges across commercial, clinical and research fields. NIF has helped Australians innovate in fields such as bioengineering, clinical science, biology, medical technology, pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical therapies, agriculture, materials, museums and cultural collections.
