Australia invests $ 41.7 million to promote the commercialization of life-saving medical breakthroughs

Australia has invested $ 500 million from the Biomedical Translation Fund in an innovative nasal treatment to fight COVID-19, common colds and the flu that are about to move to the next stage of testing.

Developed by the Australian biotech company Ena Respiratory, INNA-051 works by stimulating the innate immune system, the first line of defense against the invasion of pathogens into the body.

The government, along with Brandon Capital Partners, has pledged $ 11.7 million to test the nasal spray treatment that affects the primary site of most respiratory virus infections, including SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus strain that causes COVID-19 and flu.

The program has been designed so that, if successful, INNA-051 will be manufactured and formulated in Australia, creating manufacturing jobs in the future.

Additionally, four other projects will share nearly $ 30 million to commercialize their ideas. Each of these projects offers the potential to greatly improve the treatment of problems such as respiratory diseases, chronic pain and autoimmune diseases.

The funding consists of equal shares of Commonwealth and private sector funds and is managed by three private sector fund managers: Brandon Capital Partners, OneVentures Healthcare Fund and BioScience Managers.

The other four investments made through the Fund are:

• The OneVentures Healthcare Fund pledged $ 9.5 million to Kira Biotech. Kira Biotech is researching treatments for autoimmune disease, a condition in which the immune system attacks healthy cells or organs in the body. Kira Biotech’s research targets components of the body’s normal immune response to damaged cells in a person suffering from an autoimmune disease, allowing the immune system to function properly.
• BioScience Managers has committed $ 10 million to the medical device company Closed Loop Medical. Closed Loop Medical’s technology aims to improve treatments for the body’s nervous system conditions. The technology under development will record and measure a person’s unique response to stimulation and provide a tailored result for the patient. The technology has the potential to be applied to ailments including Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy and bladder dysfunction.
• BioScience Managers also pledged $ 5 million in Adherium. Adherium is developing a digital drug monitoring system for people with respiratory diseases. The monitoring system will initially help people with conditions such as asthma by monitoring their drug use and issuing reminders to make sure they are taking their medications.
• Brandon Capital Partners’ MRCF BTF fund has invested more than $ 5 million in Polyactiva. Polyactiva’s new polymer technology delivers medication to the eyes. Its flagship product will be used to treat glaucoma, the leading cause of blindness affecting 70 million people worldwide. Polyactiva’s new delivery technology will provide six months of therapy from a single treatment, overcoming many of the challenges associated with drug administration with eye drops.