MEBOURNE, Australia—Wednesday, 11 September 2024—CUREator, Australia’s national biotech incubator managed by Brandon BioCatalyst, today announced that four companies will receive top-up funding across their Preclinical and Health Security streams.
Top-up funding rounds are supplemented with monies from projects with unmet milestones and awarded competitively to projects that have shown substantial progress. Innovations recognised in this round include a cloud-hosted testing platform that enables doctors to accurately and quickly prescribe antibiotics and new drugs to tackle schizophrenia and other Central Nervous System conditions.
The $1.865 million in additional funding will further accelerate their development, recognising each recipient’s significant progress in developing their innovations and their potential to deliver community health benefits.
Brandon BioCatalyst CEO Dr Chris Nave said, “It’s exciting to witness the rapid progression of companies that have emerged from the CUREator program. In a relatively short period, we’ve seen alum securing commercial partnerships and private capital, underscoring the federal government’s vision for translational research funding. This demonstrates the immense value that a program like CUREator brings to the Australian life sciences ecosystem, embedding itself firmly in our nation’s commercialisation infrastructure.”
The top-up funding, granted on a competitive basis by the CUREator Investment Review Committee, is a testament to the substantial progress and well-articulated plans demonstrated by the awardees.
Alkira Bio (previously LASEREDD Therapeutics), Myostellar, and GILZRx will receive $1.365 m from the Federal Government’s Medical Research Future Fund’s Early-Stage Translation and Commercialisation Support (ESTAC) grant, in addition to the $1.5 m they collectively received in the first funding round.
Cytophenix will receive $500,000 through CUREator’s Health Security stream, in addition to the $500,000 it received in the first round of funding, to further develop its rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing platform.
“Our AI-powered, cloud-hosted platform FloCAST is designed to help physicians prescribe the correct antibiotics in hours rather than days, saving lives and helping to combat antimicrobial resistance globally,” said Dr. Kieran Mulroney, CEO of Cytophenix. “The top-up funding will allow us to accelerate our go-to-market strategy and further enhance our platform by screening an even broader range of bacteria.”
Alkira Bio, which is focused on using its LASEREDD® platform to discover therapeutic antibodies against challenging membrane protein targets, will receive $365,000 in addition to the $500,000 it received in the first round of funding.
Associate Professor Daniel Scott, Chief Executive Officer Alkira Bio: “Our initial CUREator grant was instrumental for establishing the company as a Florey Institute spin-out and generating assets in our schizophrenia program. We’ll use the top-up funding to advance these assets further and expand the platform’s potential into other CNS conditions. This is an exciting time for Alkira Bio, as we’ve also secured private funding to apply the LASEREDD® platform to high-value peripheral targets and indications.”
Since receiving the initial CUREator grant, Alkira Bio has made significant strides in drug development, leading to a commercial in-confidence partnership with a NASDAQ-listed company and securing a significant Seed investment from Curie Bio.
Further details about the CUREator program and awardees can be found here:
Media contacts – Australia
Icon Agency: brandoncapital@iconagency.com.au
Awardees
| Company | State | Amount | Funding stream | Therapeutic Area |
| Alkira Bio
(previously LASEREDD Therapeutics) |
VIC | $365,000 | Preclinical Stream | Platform technology to develop schizophrenia assets. |
| Myostellar | VIC | $500,000 | Preclinical Stream | Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy |
| GILZRx Pty Ltd | VIC | $500,000 | Preclinical Stream | Autoimmune diseases currently relying on glucocorticoid therapy |
| Cytophenix | WA | $500,000 | Health Security Stream | Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing |
About Brandon BioCatalyst and Brandon Capital
Brandon Capital is Australasia’s leading life science venture capital firm, with a solid global presence supported by key partnerships and team members across the US and UK. Brandon Capital supports life science companies from early-stage seed investment to expansion capital from proof-of-concept to commercialisation. Managed by Brandon Capital, Brandon BioCatalyst is a unique collaboration of over 50 leading medical research institutes, investors, and government united by a single purpose: progressing the next generation of medical therapies and technology that improve health and save lives.www.brandoncapital.vc | www.brandonbiocatalyst.com
About CUREator
CUREator is a national biotechnology incubator by Brandon BioCatalyst that supports Australian biomedical research and innovation development. Funded by the Medical Research Future Fund and Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, CUREator provides grant funding programs for opportunities spanning from discovery to clinical development. Funding is provided like an investor with clear milestone-driven tranches to achieve key value-adding and de-risking development milestones. CUREator works closely with project teams to guide them through the early development phase, offering scientific and commercial expertise and networks to support projects meeting key outcomes. https://brandonbiocatalyst.com/cureator/
About Cytophenix
Cytophenix is revolutionising the fight against life-threatening infections with its rapid antimicrobial susceptibility tests. Its breakthrough technology delivers swift, precise results, enabling doctors to quickly identify the most effective antibiotics for each patient. This not only enhances treatment but also curtails the use of ineffective antibiotics, tackling antimicrobial resistance head-on. https://cytophenix.com/ or https://www.linkedin.com/company/cytophenix/
About Alkira Bio
Melbourne-based Alkira Bio, a novel drug discovery platform company, announces seed investment from Curie. Bio. Alkira Bio uses its proprietary LASEREDD® technology platform to discover therapeutic antibodies directed against previously out-of-reach targets, pioneering new possibilities for drug discovery. https://www.alkira.bio or https://www.linkedin.com/company/alkirabio/
About Myostellar
Myostellar is developing novel therapies for the treatment of muscular dystrophies. By developing its lead candidate for IND-enabling studies, the company is enhancing the value of its core technology and increasing its attractiveness to investors. https://www.linkedin.com/company/myostellar/
About GILZRx
GILZRx has discovered a novel biological target for treating autoimmune conditions, primarily focusing on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. It has completed a comprehensive biological assessment of the target and will be developing an array of biochemical and biophysical screening capabilities to support small molecule drug screening campaigns to identify hit compounds to progress for further development.
https://www.monash.edu/monash-innovation/impact/spinouts/gilzrx
