Two new NZ pharmaceutical technologies launched by Astrolab
Announced late last year, Astrolab’s $20 million funding runway is getting to work with two new ventures. Both in the biotechnology / pharmaceutical area, the ventures contain technologies that represent breakthroughs in their respective fields. Brett Oliver, CEO, says the availability of Astrolab’s extended investment capability is being well received by the market, driving increased expressions of interest from innovators and co-investment partners across New Zealand. “We’re pleased to reveal the funding’s first two approved ventures will launch in the first quarter of 2019: advanced molecular docking software providing a step-change in performance for drug discovery and drug repurposing, and a novel transfection agent to assist with targeted drug delivery. Standby for websites coming over the next 12 months as the technologies move into a marketable form.”
The transfection venture is described as ‘a new, effective and selective drug delivery system’. The market problem addressed is overcoming resistance that pathogens develop to existing drugs, and also, for new drugs, the problem of not being able to target only the problem biology, so as to lower or avoid unwanted side-affects. With antibiotic resistance described by the World Health Organisation as ‘one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development today’. The potential for this technology to revolutionise the way some critical drugs are delivered in the marketplace is enormous, says Oliver. “We’re therefore excited about the partnership with the team’s innovators on this highly promising technology, which solves a pressing need.”
The transfection project is intended to supersede several current methods for drug and protein delivery into microbial organisms’ cells. The research has developed a new drug delivery system that can actively transport drugs across the cell membranes of microbial organisms in a particular way. The technique exploits several known biological processes in a new and novel way. Oliver says the potential applications for the transfection technology include enhancement of the delivery of drugs targeting: improved agricultural performance; improved human health outcomes; environmental safety and impact; and, contributions to the development of new types of other drugs.
“Astrolab is providing commercialisation leadership alongside its funding to take the project’s intellectual property to market. A range of key partners operate alongside the core team including industry advisors and, in this case, additional IP support from AJ Park,” Oliver adds. DockBio, the other new venture, addresses several key challenges faced in bringing new drugs to market; an overall process which is notoriously complex and expensive.
A recent industry report (May, 2018) estimates the cost of developing a new prescription medication, on average, at a staggering US$2.6 billion – and only 12 percent of new drugs actually make it to market. “Any method or technique which targets high-cost areas in this overall process and introduces material efficiency gains will therefore achieve substantial savings for our prospective customers,” says Oliver. “And that’s at the heart of what DockBio seeks to achieve.” DockBio is a computer simulation system which replicates the human protein environment and provides the ability to screen compounds against each-other in a novel way, improving high-throughput drug-prediction efficiency and accuracy. This, in turn, aids researchers and pharmaceutical companies to predict the likelihood of ineffective candidates, side-effects for either new or known drugs, and/or other uses for known drugs.
By eliminating ‘candidate drugs’ which are incompatible with, or in the desired way ineffectual on, human biology, pharmaceutical companies can focus only on those most likely to make it to market. “If you’re able to increase that success rate from 12 percent to 15, 20 percent or more, the savings is again very compelling. It could significantly contribute to cheaper, more effective medicines, faster,” says Oliver.
The funding allocated to these two initiatives is phased over time both to focus outcomes and to provide opportunities for third party participation, along the way, where it makes sense for each venture, says Oliver. He adds that Astrolab welcomes interest in these projects, or its work in general, from innovators, investors and industry looking to engage in partnered commercialisation of technologies and ideas.