Bio-Link Australia Pty. Ltd.

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

20th July 2017 – Oncology Venture receives option right to execute licence for clinical-stage cancer therapeutic from Novartis.

Oncology Venture, a precision oncology biopharmaceutical company and Bio-Link client, has entered an agreement with pharmaceutical giant Novartis to evaluate the potential of in-licensing an undisclosed, clinical-stage cancer therapeutic. Under the terms of the deal, Oncology Venture receives an option right to execute an exclusive licence to develop and commercialise the small molecule kinase inhibitor, which has previously been explored in multiple therapeutic indications including solid tumours.

Oncology Venture will use its Drug Response Predictor (DRP™) technology to evaluate whether it can validate a companion diagnostic for Novartis’ drug and predict which patients are likely to respond to treatment. Dr Peter Buhl Jensen, CEO of Oncology Venture, is “confident that by using our DRP™ technology to select patients we will raise the chances of success for the molecule in clinical development.” Read the full press release here.

10th July 2017 – First Dosing in a Phase 1b Combination Trial of the Dynamin Inhibitor Prochlorperazine and Anti-EGFR Monoclonal Antibody Cetuximab in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients.

The first two patients have been dosed in a phase Ib clinical trial at the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH, Brisbane, Australia), evaluating the efficacy of co-treatment of the anti-psychotic / anti-emetic drug prochlorperazine (Stemetil®) with anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody (mAb) cetuximab in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients (HREC/16/QPAH/825). Prochlorperazine is a potent off-target inhibitor of the enzyme dynamin II. To learn more, please click here.

7th May 2017 – Oncology Venture – New APO010 multiple myeloma trial initiation

Oncology Venture, a precision oncology biopharmaceutical company and Bio-Link client, has recently announced important milestones in the development of its phase I/II immuno-oncology drug candidate APO010, granting of a key US patent for phase II ready drug candidate irofulven, and validation of its platform precision medicine technology, Drug Response Predictor™ (DRP™):

The first multiple myeloma patient was treated with APO010 in a phase 1/2 trial, by utilising the proprietary APO010 DRPTM companion diagnostic to select highly likely responders. Read more
Oncology Venture’s successful patent strategy is evident through a recently granted US patent covering the DRPTM and Irofulven. Irofulven is a potent anti-cancer drug candidate that will be tested in a focused phase 2 trial in likely patient responders with castration-resistant prostate cancer. Read more
The predictive power of the DRPTM was the topic of Oncology Venture’s recent ASCO poster presentation, demonstrating that it successfully predicts response to epirubicin, one of the most used breast cancer treatments. The DRPTM was significantly associated with Progression Free Survival (PFS) in a cohort of 135 metastatic breast cancer patients. Read more

28th March 2017 – Oncology Venture – APO010 approved for testing in phase II multiple myeloma trial

Oncology Venture’s immuno-oncology drug APO010, a first-in-class FAS-ligand, will be tested in a subset of Multiple Myeloma patients identified as likely responders by the Drug Response Predictor (DRPTM) precision medicine technology. Read Full Story Here

14th February 2017 – Neural Diagnostics Awarded A$2.2M in CRC-P Grant

Neural Diagnostics Pty Ltd, a Melbourne-based medtech developer, have been awarded $2.2M in a 2nd round CRC-P grant to develop their EVestG™ technology for medical applications in the field of head trauma. The project is a collaboration with GE Healthcare and Monash University that is expected to be completed in 3 years at a total expenditure of $8.1M.

EVestG™ (ElectroVestibuloGraphy) is a novel technology and medical device that enables a simple, non-invasive test for the objective and accurate classification of a range of neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, depression, Ménière’s disease, schizophrenia and concussion. Potential applications for EVestG™ range from streamlining development of CNS drugs to clinical diagnostics to workplace safety and more.

CRC-Ps are a stream of the Australian CRC Programme in which a small group of collaborators work on a single, short term, industry-identified and industry-led collaborative research project to develop a product, service or process that will solve problems for business and deliver tangible outcomes.

Neural Diagnostics have engaged Bio-Link to facilitate business development and strategic partnerships for EVestG™.

29th August 2016 – Oncology Venture – First metastatic breast cancer patient with LiPlaCis™ confirmed partial response

Oncology Venture has announced that the first patient with metastatic breast cancer included in its LiPlaCis™ extension – proof of concept trial has obtained a confirmed Partial Remission (ie >30% tumour reduction) (press release link). The patient is the first of 12-15 patients whose tumour tissue has been pre-screened as a highly likely responder by Oncology Venture’s Drug Response Predictor (DRP™). Bio-Link is seeking partners to co-develop or secure rights to LiPlaCis™. Click here for full press release.

December 11th – CMRI awarded A$10mil grant from the ACRF

The Children’s Medical Research Institute has won a record-breaking A$10 million grant from the Australian Cancer Research Foundation. The A$10 million grant is one of the largest grants for medical research equipment in Australian history and will be used to establish The ACRF International Centre for the Proteome of Cancer (ProCan) at the Children’s Medical Institute in Westmead. The centre will be working to analyse tens of thousands of samples of cancer for precise protein levels in small biopsies. In phase two of the project, advanced computer analysis will compare the protein data with already available data for each cancer, providing a major step forward for cancer diagnosis and treatment. For more information, please see the press release.

8th September 2015 – Children’s Cancer Institute and Sydney Children’s Hospital Network launch new joint initiative

Children’s Cancer Institute in conjunction with Sydney Children’s Hospital Network have launched an Australian first initiative to treat high-risk child cancer patients with patient specific tailored treatments. The program Zero Childhood Cancer is focused on detailed laboratory analysis on each child’s unique cancer cells to help identify which treatment is best suited for their specific cancer. The goal of this program is to achieve a 100% survival rate in childhood cancer in the future. Please see CCI’s press release here.

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