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Global biotech group Molecule to Medicine (MTM) has doubled down on the opportunity to find another Spinifex Pharmaceuticals by partnering with The University of Queensland to establish a new startup that is aimed at discovering and developing medicines to tackle inflammatory diseases.
Curlew Bio, which was established by the university’s commercialisation arm UniQuest, is the second biotech to be supported by MTM since expanding into Australia last year with the launch of another UQ startup, Lucia Bio.
The UK-based MTM, which specialises in co-founding and scaling biotech companies, was founded by Kirsty and Tom McCarthy following the US$200 million sale of another UQ startup, Spinifex Pharmaceuticals, to Novartis in 2015.
Dr Tom McCarthy was CEO and president of Spinifex at the time of the acquisition.
Curlew Bio is leveraging expertise from the Queensland Emory and Drug Discovery Initiative and research developed by Honorary Professor Katharina Ronacher from Mater Research Institute-UQ based at the Translational Research Institute.
Ronacher says her Infection, Immunity and Metabolism Research Group recently discovered a novel immunological pathway that can be drug targeted to reduce inflammation.
“This partnership is an exceptional opportunity to translate our laboratory-based research into new therapeutic possibilities that will be impactful in real-world healthcare settings,” says Ronacher.
UniQuest CEO Dr Dean Moss says the collaboration with MTM is focused on bringing “UQ-inspired innovative medicines to life”.
“Curlew Bio builds on our relationship with MTM and our joint focus of combining world-leading science with the right people and funding to establish new biotech companies to meet unmet health challenges,” says Moss.
“This is another example of UniQuest backing the science of UQ to create new business and commercial opportunities, with investment from the UniQuest Extension Fund.”
The fund has invested $1 million in Curlew Bio to develop novel small molecules for inflammatory diseases.
“MTM has forged strong links with the exceptional drug discovery team at QEDDI and it’s an honour to be working with Professor Ronacher, a pioneer in the inflammatory field,” says Kirsty McCarthy, the CEO of MTM.
“We’ll be using MTM’s deep experience in company formation and drug development to support and accelerate the delivery of a novel anti-inflammatory modality.”
The addition of Curlew Bio boosts the MTM portfolio of biotech startups in Australia and the UK to six.
MTM’s first UQ collaboration late last year, Lucia Bio, is exploring the potential to treat neuroinflammation to benefit to people suffering from degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and motor neuron disease.
Lucia Bio also has secured a seed investment through UniQuest’s Extension Fund.
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