Preclinical Development Of Q2361, A Transforming New Drug For Skin Cancer Prevention In Organ Transplant Recipients
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$724,957.00
Summary
Patients that receive organ transplants need additional medications in order to prevent organ rejection. Unfortunately, these drugs carry an unwanted side-effect - they permit the development of skin cancer. Currently, other than surgery, little can be done to help these patients. Our preliminary data suggest that a new drug may prevent these skin cancers from forming. This project aims to deliver key insights into the influence of this drug and its role in skin cancer prevention.
Development Of Small Molecules For The Treament Of Colon Cancer
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$684,379.00
Summary
Colon cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer related deaths in Australia and in the developed world. Despite improvements in prevention and therapies, there remains a considerable need for efficacious therapeutic options. We have identified a lead compound inhibiting the growth of cancer cells. We will progress this series further toward clinical trials and aim to provide patients with a new orally available molecule with potent activity against colon cancer.
A Novel Strategy To Enhance T Cell-mediated Immunity To Vaccine Antigens
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$234,592.00
Summary
Globally there are about 33 million people living with HIV. The disease has already resulted in 23 million deaths and 2.5 million people are newly infected each year. Similarly, TB kills nearly 2 million people every year and infects about 1% of the worldÍs population every year. A vaccine is the best and also likely the only long-term solution for HIV/TB disease prevention. This research proposal looks at novel strategies to increase the efficacy of vaccines for diseases such as HIV/TB.
Novel Therapy For Enhancing Organ Maturation In Pre-term Babies
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$694,323.00
Summary
This project is developing a factor to enhance organ maturation and repair that may provide a new therapy for premature babies and fetuses with birth defects. This exciting new finding allows for the development of treatments of underdeveloped organs, in particular the lungs of premature and growth restricted babies. We are also trialing this factor in unborn babies with defects to the kidneys and lungs of which there is currently no cure.
Sensitizing Tumours To Immunotherapy: Development Of An RNA-based Therapeutic For Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma That Targets The Immunosuppressive Tumour Microenvironment.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$192,347.00
Summary
The blood vessels of tumours are highly abnormal resulting in leakiness and hypoxia within the microenvironment. These abnormalities contribute both to the pathology and also to resistance to treatment. We have developed a new drug that is able to inhibit vascular leak, better the response to therapies and improve disease outcome. This work will generate essential data for the development of this drug towards Clinical Trials through interaction with International Pharma.
Development Of A Safe Live Genetically Attenuated Blood Stage Malaria Vaccine
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$822,191.00
Summary
Malaria presents an enormous global health problem, and also has a significant impact on social and economic development in countries where the disease is endemic. Our project will produce a live genetically-modified vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes the form of malaria mostly deadly to humans. Our development plan will include the first ever clinical trials of a malaria vaccine of this kind and will look at vaccine safety and effectiveness.
Optimisation Of A Potent And Fast Acting Antimalarial Class That Is Orally Efficacious In Vivo
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$683,916.00
Summary
Malaria is a devastating disease that results in 600 000 deaths annually. Current therapeutics used to combat malaria have a limited duration of use in the clinic due to the onset of resistance. We have identified a highly active antimalarial series that we propose to further develop to meet the prerequisites required for partnership with the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) for progression into the clinic.
OctapeptinX Potentiators To Treat XDR Gram-negative Infections
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,377,149.00
Summary
There is an urgent need for the development of new antibiotics to treat drug-resistant infections, with the World Health Organisation and other agencies warning of a critical threat to human health. Potentiators are drugs that help obsolete antibiotics regain activity against resistant bacteria. We aim to develop a novel class of potentiators, the octapeptins, to resurrect the activity of old antibiotics so they can be used to treat infections caused by highly-resistant Gram-negative bacteria.
Development Of A Modified Gp130 Ligand To Treat Obesity-induced Insulin Resistance
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$438,533.00
Summary
IC7 is a mixture of two naturally occurring proteins, CNTF and IL-6. These gp130 receptor ligands have been shown to have positive metabolic effects in humans, but individually they are not suitable for therapeutic use. IC7, the novel molecule this technology is based upon, is a combination of CNTF and IL-6 in a specific design to avoid the negative effects. Preliminary results suggest that IC7 has positive metabolic effects but further development is required to increase its effectiveness in tr ....IC7 is a mixture of two naturally occurring proteins, CNTF and IL-6. These gp130 receptor ligands have been shown to have positive metabolic effects in humans, but individually they are not suitable for therapeutic use. IC7, the novel molecule this technology is based upon, is a combination of CNTF and IL-6 in a specific design to avoid the negative effects. Preliminary results suggest that IC7 has positive metabolic effects but further development is required to increase its effectiveness in treating insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.Read moreRead less
Pre-clinical Development Of A Novel Second Generation Chemotherapeutic For Cancer Therapy
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$584,907.00
Summary
Cancer cells have a high iron requirement for DNA synthesis and many clinical trials have shown that iron chelators are effective anti-cancer drugs. Their potential to act as anti-tumour agents has been confirmed by the entrance of the iron chelator, Triapine, into widespread NCI clinical trials. In this NHMRC Development Grant, we will perform toxicological studies to enable clinical trials of our most potent and selective anti-cancer agent to commence.