In the media
Best early-stage projects awarded at AusBiotech 2023
21 November 2023
A novel immunotherapy (IO) for IO-resistant cancers and a personalised medicine for familial hypercholesterolemia patients, presented by Associate Professor Michelle Wykes and Dr Craig Macintosh respectively, were named Best Translational Research at the ESIF rapid-fire pitch event.
A/Prof Wykes represented QIMR Berghofer and Fovero Therapeutics, a spinout company commercialising the technology, to present a proprietary Galectin-9 pipeline to treat IO resistance in solid tumours.
Fovero Therapeutics therapeutic pipeline is underpinned by the idea that malaria, cancer, and autoimmune diseases share a common aetiology—dysregulated immune function. The company’s lead antibody aims to improve the efficiency of multiple immune cells to kill cancer cells, and indication where there is significant unmet need. In pre-clinical models, Fovero’s novel immunotherapy completely clears MSS Colon cancer and triple negative breast cancer and the cancer does not reoccur for 300 days even when given cancer again.
Michelle Wykes wins DOD grant
2 November 2023
Associate Professor Michelle Wykes who has been awarded a United States Department of Defense 2023 Breast Cancer Research Program Breakthrough Award.
Associate Professor Wykes and her collaborator Dr Arutha Kulasinghe were one of just six teams in the world to win in the category.
"This will allow us to accelerate taking our novel therapy for Triple Negative Breast cancer to the clinic," Associate Professor Wykes said.
BEDA Global Accelerator Program
16 June 2023
Fovero Therapeutics has been selected to be part of the Brisbane Economic Development Agency's (BEDA) MedTech Global Accelerator program.
BEDA has selected 11 businesses to join the Accelerator program, now in its second year, to facilitate connections with international partners for collaboration, investment, and distribution deals.
The Fovero Therapeutics team are delighted to be collaborating closely with other innovators and local government, to support ongoing efforts to engage with the investment community.
Australian Channel 10 News First:
TV story about Assoc Prof Michelle Wykes
30 May 2023
Major development for cancer-killing ‘Masterswitch’ discovery
24 May 2023
QIMR Berghofer’s ‘Masterswitch’ technology that unleashes the immune system against two deadly types of cancer is a critical step closer to the clinic with the Institute’s biotech spin-out Fovero Therapeutics receiving prestigious CUREator funding.
CUREator is Australia’s national biotech incubator and the $500,000 investment in Fovero Therapeutics will help QIMR Berghofer’s Group Leader of Molecular Immunology Associate Professor Michelle Wykes, conduct final due diligence before the technology can be commercialised in readiness for clinical trials.
The remarkable ‘Masterswitch’ technology was the subject of a major QIMR Berghofer public fundraising appeal which helped A/Prof Wykes elevate her research to the attention of CUREator.
The ‘Masterswitch’ is an antibody that has produced remarkable pre-clinical results against triple-negative breast cancer and the most common form of bowel cancer, Micro Satellite Stable (MSS) bowel cancer.
Treatment options and outcomes for patients with these diseases are currently very poor.
A/Professor Wykes’s discovery turns on a key type of immune cell called dendritic cells which in turn activate the body’s critical T cells to recognise and attack cancer
“Cancer cells are very good at hiding from the immune system but our ‘Masterswitch’ antibodies make the cancers visible again, so the dendritic cells can go back to work and ‘organise’ the T cells to kill the cancer,” A/Prof Wykes said.
Further testing of the “Masterswitch” antibodies on cancer patient blood samples produced similar results to the testing in pre-clinical models.
“We’re seeing palpable tumours that completely disappear and melt away. In our pre-clinical lab models, 80 per cent of both the triple negative breast cancers and bowel cancers were cleared and hadn’t grown back after ten months. We’re seeing similar results from our tests on samples taken from patients with bowel cancer,” she says.
CUREator announced its second round of funding this week, awarding $12 million to 19 projects targeting global health challenges including advances in treatment for lupus, motor neurone disease, brain and ovarian cancer, and inflammatory bowel disease.
CUREator is delivered through an initial $40m in funding from the Federal Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) and $3m from Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO. CUREator was established by Brandon Capital in 2021 as a new approach for bridging the gap between where research grant funding ends and commercial investment begins.
CUREator works closely with project teams to guide them through the early development phase, offering both scientific and commercial expertise and networks to support projects in meeting key commercial milestones. Funding is provided with clear milestone-driven tranches and help is provided to guide development of these assets and maximise their chance of success.
For more information about CUREator visit: https://brandonbiocatalyst.com/cureator/