Federal Health Minister launches new biotech spin-off

Biotech News: Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mark Butler MP, has launched a new biotechnology company dedicated to finding new treatments for hard to treat cancers.

Ternarx is a Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) spinout company funded through a $15 million grant from the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Frontier Health and Medical Research initiative, and is a collaboration between WEHI, the Children’s Cancer Institute and Monash University.

Minister Butler stated, “It is an honour to officially launch Ternarx, a significant and exciting addition to Australia’s growing, high-quality medical and biotech sector. The technology it is pursuing has huge potential to create the next generation of treatments for cancer and other diseases that are currently untreatable.

“Ternarx is proof that Australia’s health and medical researchers are world leading. With support from the MRFF, our brilliant researchers can turn their ideas into new treatments that have potential to save thousands of lives, not just here but around the world.”

Ternarx will initially focus on developing new treatments for neuroblastoma and prostate cancer. It is the “first company of its kind in Australia”, focusing on the development of targeted protein degrader (TPD) medicines and technology.

WEHI director Professor Ken Smith said the landmark initiative would help establish Australia as a leader in this frontier field.

“With the potential to unlock the ‘undruggable’, targeted protein degrader technology is one of the most exciting advances in drug discovery and development,” Prof Smith said. “The establishment of Ternarx is a testament to the wealth of scientific knowledge that exists on our shores, and our ability to remain at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies that have real potential to make a difference to our communities.”

Ternarx CEO, Dr Joanne Boag, said “Neuroblastoma and some forms of prostate cancer urgently need new treatments, as evidenced by poor patient outcomes. TPD technology opens up new avenues to attack these and other hard to treat cancers by delivering precision treatment options.”

Board members include Dr Victoria Jameson, Business Development Lead at WEHI, Dr Amanda Reese, Director of Enterprise at Monash University, and Dr Chris Burns, Managing Director and CEO, Amplia Therapeutics.

While the initial focus will be cancer, the TPD technology developed by Ternarx has the potential to be applied to a range of disease-causing proteins, including those associated with currently untreatable inflammatory diseases like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, and neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

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