Ovarian cancer and asthma therapy fast-tracked by new Victorian fund

A RADICAL new ovarian cancer therapy, which supercharges a patient’s immune cells to help fight disease, will be fast tracked after a boost from the State Government.

Professor Richard Boyd, chief scientific officer of Cartherics, is delighted to receive funding to fast-track their potential new ovarian cancer therapy. Picture: Supplied

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A NEW therapy being developed by Melbourne scientists will be fast-tracked by an ­acceleration fund to help improve treatment options for women with ovarian cancer.

The project uses a new approach to cancer treatment where a patient’s immune cells are taken out, enhanced and put back into their body to help fight disease.

Professor Richard Boyd, chief scientific officer at Cartherics, the company which is developing the therapy, said it was like fitting immune cells with a GPS tracking device to find and kill cancer.

Professor Richard Boyd, chief scientific officer of Cartherics, says new treatments are needed for ovarian cancer. Four Australian woman a day are diagnosed with this form of cancer.

Unlike other approaches, they give the GPS two targets to track.

It’s anticipated that this type of CAR-T cell therapy could kill cancer, while also sparing normal cells and reducing the chance of it becoming resistant to treatment.

The project was one of 13 to receive funding from the state government’s new $3 million Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund, which aims to fast-track early research.

“We are giving our world-class researchers the support they need to translate their findings into everyday care for patients,” Health Minister Jill Hennessy said.

Victorian Minister for Health Jill Hennessy announces 13 projects that will be fast-tracked by the State Government’s new fund. Picture: David Caird

Prof Boyd said their lab, based at the Monash Health Translation Precinct and the Hudson Institute of Medical Research, would use the funding to complete preclinical studies.

“These CAR-T cells are probably the best or perhaps even the only real way that a patient’s fear can be replaced with hope when they’re told they have cancer,” he said.

A new treatment for severe asthma being developed by the University of Melbourne also received funding.

Professor Alastair Stewart said 12 years ago, they discovered a factor that was blunting steroid activity, making existing treatment less effective in some patients.

“We wondered if reversing that process could improve the efficacy of the medication and we found it could,” he said.

Professor Richard Boyd, chief scientific officer of Cartherics, is delighted to receive funding to fast-track their potential new ovarian cancer therapy. Picture: Supplied

Despite the project’s potential, it has been in the “valley of death”, which occurs after medical researchers get funding for basic science and discoveries, but before projects are established enough to be taken on by a venture capitalist or pharmaceutical company.

“An acceleration fund is fundamental to getting discoveries to translate into new drugs and devices, and we are delighted the Victorian government has seen the need for this type of funding,” Prof Stewart said.

Other projects to receive funding include: a treatment for excessive weight loss in cancer patients, an e-health program for stroke survivors and a “virtual hospital” for chronic disease patients.

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