12 December 2019
Acting Health Minister Alan Tudge announced $5.9 million will be provided to fund 8 early stage projects through round 1 of the MRFF’s Biomedical Translation Bridge (BTB) Program.
Dr Dan Grant, Managing Director and CEO of MTPConnect, said the successful projects will cover new medical technologies and novel therapies to address unmet clinical needs.
“We believe these research projects could eventually play a vital role in tackling a number of major challenges for our health sector and contribute towards delivering improved health outcomes for Australians of all ages,” said Dr Grant.
The Biomedical Translation Bridge (BTB) program aims to help Australia move more cutting-edge ideas and breakthrough discoveries swiftly towards proof-of-concept and commercialisation, while stimulating collaboration between the research, industry and technology sectors to maximise entrepreneurship and idea potential.
The Round 1 BTB successful applicants are:
- AdAlta Limited, Victoria, is developing clinical imaging of the cell surface receptor CXCR4 in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients. IPF is a progressive lung disease consisting of recurring inflammation and damage that causes the lung to stiffen, making it hard to breathe.
- Australian National University, Australian Capital Territory, is developing rapid and objective eye and brain testing for better management of ophthalmic and neurological diseases.
- DBS Technologies Pty Ltd, Victoria, is developing an innovative device providing adaptive deep brain stimulation for people with Parkinson’s disease
- MecRx Pty Ltd, Victoria, is developing novel, small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of lung cancer
- Noisy Guts Pty Ltd, Western Australia, has developed a non-invasive acoustic belt that uses artificial intelligence to decode gut noises to accurately diagnose and monitor common gut disorders such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- SpeeDx Pty Ltd, New South Wales, is seeking to commercialise its ResistancePlus® MABSC/MAC test, a rapid in vitro diagnostic tool to accurately and quickly identify bacterial infections related to Cystic Fibrosis, while using gene markers to predict antibiotic susceptibility or resistance.
- University of Melbourne’s Melbourne Dental School, Victoria, is progressing a novel dental implant to commercialisation
- Vast Bioscience, Queensland, is developing 3D small molecule sodium channel inhibitors for the treatment of postsurgical pain
Read the full article on the MTPConnect website.
More about the BTB
The Biomedical Translation Bridge program is an initiative of the Medical Research Future Fund, providing up to $1 million in matching funding to nurture the translation of new therapies, technologies and medical devices through to the proof of concept stage.
The BTB program is operated by MTPConnect, in partnership with BioCurate (University of Melbourne and Monash University), UniQuest (University of Queensland through its drug discovery initiative QEDDI), the Medical Device Partnering Program (MDPP, led by Flinders University), and the Bridge and BridgeTech programs (Queensland University of Technology); all pre-eminent organisations engaged in the translation and commercialisation of health and medical research.
For more information, contact MedTech Ventures Case Manager, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit the BTB website where you can view the BTB guidelines.