Associate Professor Natalie Trevaskis and Associate Professor Angus Johnston
The Commonwealth Government's Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) has invested $4 million into establishing Australia's first National Centre for Biopharmaceutical Optimisation of mRNA Therapeutics (CORTx), being led by Monash University to optimise mRNA therapeutic candidates and advance them toward clinical trials.
In recent years mRNA vaccines have transformed the way we fight infectious disease such as COVID-19, and now mRNA therapies are showing significant promise to treat a wide range of diseases including cancer, infectious diseases, auto-immune and metabolic diseases.
The new national facility will focus on a critical step in the development process for mRNA medicines, which is to evaluate delivery and biodistribution in the body, informing the plausibility of the candidate to progress toward human studies. This information is critical for maximising the potency, safety and manufacturability of mRNA medicines.
Headquartered at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), CORTx brings together academia and industry including partnerships with leading biotech companies, Moderna and iCamuno, along with the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI), The Australian National University (ANU), University of Melbourne, University of New South Wales and University of Queensland.
Associate Professor Angus Johnston and Associate Professor Natalie Trevaskis, both from MIPS, are CORTx Co-Directors.
Associate Professor Johnston said that globally mRNA therapeutics are revolutionising the treatment and management of disease and it's critical Australia remains at the forefront of the field.
"There is now a solid scientific foundation for applying mRNA technology to address cancer and auto-immune, infectious and metabolic diseases, with Australia well placed to reap significant health and economic benefits by investing in infrastructure to produce mRNA medicines for local use and export," Associate Professor Johnston said.
Associate Professor Trevaskis said CORTx will facilitate collaboration between academia and industry to achieve a common goal.
"Through CORTx, experts from universities, research institutes and biotech companies will now have local access to technology, infrastructure and expertise enabling them to evaluate and optimise promising candidate mRNA therapies following best practice methods," said Associate Professor Trevaskis.
In the last five years Monash scientists have been at the forefront of mRNA technology, including the local design, development and manufacture of Australia's first mRNA clinical candidate, a second-generation COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. The University's knowledge and expertise in translating fundamental science into products for clinical trials now serves as a platform for navigating the challenges of producing the next generation of mRNA medicines.
Director of MIPS and one of the project's Chief Investigators, Professor Chris Porter, said the funding will establish, extend and enhance Australia's mRNA infrastructure.
"MIPS has established expertise and much of the cutting-edge infrastructure needed to support this Centre, including access to world-leading experience in drug optimisation through the Centre for Drug Candidate Optimisation," said Professor Porter.
"The mRNA candidates advanced through CORTx will help progress mRNA therapeutics for unmet medical needs and play a key role in protecting Australia's health security, now and for future generations."
MIPS is also home to mRNA Core, the Monash-Moderna Quantitative Pharmacology Accelerator and The Victorian mRNA Innovation Hub, an initiative bringing together mRNA experts from Monash University, the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, and the University of Melbourne. Funding for the Hub comes from the Victorian government's mRNA Victoria Activation Program initiative, which has provided ongoing support to the state's mRNA research and development capabilities.
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