QUT has taken a critical step towards establishing Australia's first "biopharm" to make life-saving medicines and vaccines in plants, with a $4 million project to develop a new biologic treatment for a potentially deadly parasite that preys on people and livestock worldwide.
Biologics are large, complicated molecules, that can only be made using living organisms. Currently, Australia's capacity to produce biologics is limited by the high infrastructure and operating costs of traditional manufacturing systems, a situation highlighted by vaccine shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, a QUT-industry research team is poised to change this, by introducing a suite of advanced and disruptive technologies that will allow biologic therapeutic proteins to be made rapidly, affordably and at scale, using Australian plants.
According to project co-leader Professor Martin Sillence, this innovation could add significantly to Australia's sovereign manufacturing capacity, by providing small-to medium enterprises with a means to enter the global biologics market, which is currently dominated by a few industry giants.
The project has been made possible through a collaboration between QUT, Sydney-based International Animal Health Products (IAHP), and Cytiva - world leaders in the art of protein purification.
Together, the team is set to embark on a $4 million research project to develop Australia's first plant-based biologic, medicine. The product will be targeted at the animal health sector, and aimed at controlling potentially fatal parasitic worms.
Not only do these parasites have a devastating effect on our livestock industries, costing Australia upto $530 million in lost productivity, they also affect about two billion of the world's most underprivileged people, and are especially harmful in children.
The 3-year project will be led by IAHP and funded in part through a Federal Government Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Project grant awarded to IAHP.
Professors Sillence and Peter Waterhouse lead the QUT research team, with Associate Professor Melody de Laat, Dr Julia Bally, Dr Zach Le Blanc, and Dr Kathi Holt.
"Not only is this a potential breakthough in advanced manufacturing, it is also a step towards addressing a critical health issue, as chemical treatments have been the only available control measure for parasites, and after 80 years of use they are rapidly becoming ineffective due to parasite resistance," Professor Sillence said.
"We are particularly excited about working with IAHP, the first company in the world to bring a biologic control for grazing animals to the market."
IAHP's BioWorma, was developed in collaboration with the CSIRO, and is based on using a natural fungus to control infective worm larvae.
The current project aims at producing a natural protein that can be administered directly to livestock, and potentially to humans.
Professor Peter Waterhouse, an ARC Laureate Research Fellow and program leader at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture, has been researching plant genetics and genomics for more than 40 years, and his team has pioneered several important advances.
"Biopharming has been a niche technology for producing biologics since the 1990's, but the technology has only really taken off since the pandemic," Professor Waterhouse said.
"Now, several biopharms overseas are commercialising plant-based vaccines, diagnostic tests and other treatments.
"Given that these companies all use an Australian plant to make their products, it's about time that Australia caught up.
"Not least, because at QUT we now have a suite of advanced biopharming techniques which promise to increase product yields and reduce production costs markedly."
Caption from left: Professor Peter Waterhouse, Dr Zach le Blanc, Dr Julia Bally, Associate Professor Melody de Laat, Dr Kathi Holt and Professor Martin Sillence.
