- Government invests $2 million in mRNA production plant in Western Australia
- First Australian centre to focus solely on RNA technology for cancer treatments
- RNA Foundry will strengthen engagement and partnerships between academia and industry
A niche of Western Australia’s biotech industry has received more than $2 million through the Cook Government’s Future Health Research and Innovation (FHRI) Fund to create Australia’s first centre dedicated to developing RNA technology for cancer treatments.
Medical Research Minister Stephen Dawson said the University of Western Australia
Archa Fox was the first recipient of the FHRI Fund’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) Partnership Program to establish the Western Australia-based RNA Foundry.
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 developing 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, which is backed by the state’s nearly $1.8 billion sovereign wealth fund. This has made nearly $250 million available over the next four years to support health and medical research and innovation in Western Australia.
As Medical Research Minister Stephen Dawson said:
“This is another groundbreaking medical treatment process based in Western Australia that has been made possible by an investment from the Cook Government’s FHRI Fund.
“Our government’s FHRI Fund is proud to partner with TIA and UWA through the NCRIS program to help develop novel RNA-based therapies and improve outcomes and quality of life for people with cancer.
“Investment in health and medical research infrastructure like the RNA Foundry is essential to ensure WA has the capacity and expertise to capitalise on health and medical research and innovation opportunities.
“This co-investment will drive improvements in health policy and medicine, in practice, in patient care and ultimately in better health outcomes for Western Australians.
“It will also make WA a high-quality training and research centre, attracting talented students and researchers to our state.”
/Public dissemination. This content from the original organization/authors may be of a timely nature and edited for clarity, style, and length. Mirage.News takes no institutional position or bias, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s). See the full story here.