A niche in Western Australia’s biotech industry has received more than $2 million through the state government’s Future Health Research and Innovation (FHRI) Fund to create Australia’s first centre dedicated to developing RNA technology for cancer treatments.
Minister for Medical Research Stephen Dawson said the University of Western Australia’s Archa Fox was the first recipient of the FHRI Fund’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) partnership program to establish the Western Australian-based RNA Foundry.
“This is another groundbreaking Western Australian-based medical treatment process that has been made possible through an investment from the Cook Government’s FHRI Fund,” Dawson said.
“Investment in medical and health research infrastructure such as the RNA Foundry is essential to ensure Western Australia has the capacity and expertise to capitalise on medical and health research and innovation opportunities.”
This FHRI Fund investment will be enhanced by an additional $4.78 million in funding from NCRIS through Therapeutic Innovation Australia (TIA) and the University of Western Australia (UWA).
The RNA Foundry is part of a national network of RNA manufacturing centers established to support and accelerate the translation of RNA discoveries into treatments for the community.
The WA node will see researchers and innovators collaborate and work hand-in-hand with oncologists, consumers and patient advocates to design, produce, test and improve pilot RNA-based products.
It will be the first Australian centre to focus solely on the application of RNA technology to cancer treatments, attracting and training a generation of scientists and improving outcomes for a wide range of cancers.
Propelled to the forefront of therapeutics during the COVID-19 pandemic with its use in vaccine production, RNA is a promising technology for cancer treatment, with therapies that can be tailored to each patient and each tumor.
The Cook Government established the FHRI Fund in 2020, making available almost $250 million over the next four years to support health and medical research and innovation in Western Australia.