Bio-Link Australia Pty. Ltd.

Please find below a list of recent news and press releases from Bio-Link.

19th September 2018 – Australia’s Back Yard Science Challenges the Pharma Industry

This week, “backyard science” was considered the next potential disruptor in the pharmaceutical industry, in a controversial article published in Trends in Biotechnology from CellPress Reviews, co-authored by Christopher Boyer, co-Executive Director of Bio-Link. The opinion piece reveals how community biolabs are popping up around the world to create innovative approaches to drug manufacturing. Their aim is to facilitate increased access to drugs for patients who cannot afford to pay high drug prices, and are willing to explore do-it-yourself or “DIY” manufacturing of medicines.

A prominent example of this potential coming wave of DIY medicines is the production of home-brewed insulin, for the treatment of diabetes. The Open Insulin Project, an initiative born out of California, brings together community biolabs around the world, who are focused on making the protocol for insulin production freely available. Unlike Australians who benefit from Government-subsidised medicines, patients in the US do not receive the same high level of reimbursement for drugs such as insulin. Many diabetics cannot afford to pay, and chose to go without the necessary medication. However, if the Project succeeds, pioneering patients could turn to home-brewed insulin to beat the high price of the drug.

In Australia, Sydney is home to a biolab community called BioFoundry, Australia’s first open-access molecular biology laboratory, offering everyday citizens the opportunity to collaborate in scientific research and development. Australia is well known to be a world leader in innovation, and these community biolabs offer non-scientists and early career scientists the opportunity to experiment in the lab to develop new medicines.

You can read more about DIY insulin and the DIYBio movement in the new Trends in Biotechnology article (here) and in a web synopsis published in The Conversation (here).

Please share our story and let us know your thoughts on DIY medicines. We’d love to hear opinions from our followers in Australia and around the world.

Bio-Link co-Executive Director, Christopher Boyer, presents at BioMelbourne Network’s Biotech Development Lab 2018

BioMelbourne Network held a symposium in August to explore how drug development, and the biotech and pharma sectors more broadly, are changing in the 21st century. Christopher Boyer spoke about commercial strategy approaches in his presentation entitled “De-risking preclinical assets with early human insights; recent advances in human tissue and disease models.” View the slides here.

Christos Papadimitriou & Lilly Bojarski selected for 2018 Bridge Program

Bio-Link’s Christos Papadimitriou and Lilly Bojarski have been selected for the MTPCOnnect Bridge Program 2018, which offers strategic professional training to advance skills necessary to boost the commercialisation of Australian innovative research and biotechnologies. Bio-Link is pleased to be represented for a second year, following the inauguration of the initiative in 2017. Learn more about the program here.

4th January 2018 – Bio-Link Engaged by FivepHusion

Bio-Link has been engaged by FivepHusion Pty Ltd to assist with commercialisation of Deflexifol. FivepHusion has developed Deflexifol, an innovative formulation of 5-FU and leucovorin, as a replacement for the current standard of care in solid tumour indications. A Phase II clinical in colorectal carcinoma trial is planned. To learn more about this opportunity, please click here.

19th October 2017 – Heptares Therapeutics engages Bio-Link to identify clinical collaborators

Heptares Therapeutics, a clinical-stage company creating transformative medicines targeting G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) has engaged Bio-Link to identify clinical collaborators for clinical studies investigating the role of individual GPCRs in human health and there role in human pathogenesis.

17th July 2017 – Bio-Link’s Dr Lieven Huang Attending ‘Business of Regenerative Medicine’ in Toronto This Week

After winning a CCRM Australia grant, Bio-Link’s Dr Lieven Huang is attending the 2017 edition of ‘Business of Regenerative Medicine’ in Toronto, which is focused on the latest in commercialising regenerative medicine and stem cell therapies. The event is co-hosted by the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) and the Rotman School of Management. More information about the event here.

8th May 2017 – Bio-Link Survey: Antibody(-like) Therapeutics in Australia

23rd May 2017 – Bio-Link Engaged by Kunovus Technologies

Bio-Link has been engaged by Kunovus Technologies to facilitate partnering of KT009, a preclinical, intra-intervertebral disk-administered regenerative biological therapy for the treatment of degenerative disk disease and chronic back pain. Kunovus Technologies has compelling preclinical data supporting KT009-mediated disk regeneration and subsequent reduction in pain. KT009 is poised to enter GMP manufacturing and formal preclinical assessment prior to clinical evaluation.

To learn more about this partnering opportunity, please click here.

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