Circadian Technologies and CSIRO Developing Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors to Fight Cancer

A long-term research alliance agreement between CSIRO and Australian biotechnology company Circadian Technologies will aid in developing promising new potential treatments for cancer.  The agreement was announced on December 7th by CSIRO Group Executive, Dr Steve Morton.

Under the agreement, CSIRO will work with Circadian on a class of proteins developed by the company  called Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors (VEGFs) that play a critical role in regulating tumor blood supply.

Circadian, which owns extensive intellectual property related to the VEGF technology is developing antibodies to block these proteins to inhibit the growth and spread of cancerous cells or tumors.

Circadian will provide funding and access to its technology and lead drug candidates (molecules), while CSIRO will provide access to its world-class biological production infrastructure, process development capability and internal research expertise.

The announcement was made at the opening of a new Recombinant Protein Production Facility in Melbourne that is housed in Monash University and CSIRO.  Dr Steve Morton, CSIRO Group Executive said "CSIRO is very pleased to be working with Circadian to advance its product development pipeline," Dr Morton said.  "This alliance highlights that there is already industry uptake of our new Protein Production Facility and research capability. CSIRO is all about partnering with and delivering to Australian industry and our new Facility will be a key enabler for the biotech industry."

The alliance is part of the CSIRO's program to assist and facilitate development of new technologies with Australian biotech companies.

Circadian's CEO, Robert Klupacs, CEO of Circadian said the collaboration will greatly assist the company to advance its research. "Circadian has a strong position in this area of potential therapeutics for cancer and we applaud the vision of the CSIRO to work closely with Australian companies such as ours, encouraging us to continue to develop important new treatments and innovations which may one day have the potential to impact on many lives globally," Mr Klupacs said.

Attending the announcement was Senator the Hon Kim Carr Federal Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research and Gavin Jennings MLC Victorian Minister for Innovation. The Facility was funded by both the Federal and Victorian governments, and will play a significant role in enabling the Australian biotechnology industry to accelerate product development.