CTx to speed up Asia-Pacific cancer drug R&D

The Australian organization Cancer Therapeutics CRC (CTx) has commenced operations as one of the largest public-private partnerships of its type in the world. Underpineed by A$148 million ($121.0 million) in funding over seven years, including A$37.6 million from the Australian Commonwealth Government, CTx was established to address the gap between the nation's academic research base and its ability to develop new cancer drugs.

The company is now seeking targets from research organizations in Australia. One of the first projects is to discover and develop compounds is directed at BNO69, CTx participant Adelaide-based Bionomics' proprietary cancer drug target. CTx will create a dedicated drug discovery capability and drive the development and commercialization of new compounds against in-licenced novel molecular targets from research organizations and small biotechnology companies across Australia, and in some cases overseas. This novel business model, which is funded under the Commonwealth Government's Cooperative Research Centre scheme, is hoped to transform the discovery and early development of therapies that might otherwise languish from a lack of supporting funds, resources and expertise.

Novel business model limits risk