A NEW biotech company launched yesterday will use a technology to target cancers that are difficult to treat with existing medicines, announced the Federal Health Minister Mark Butler.
The new entity called Ternarx, a spin off from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, was awarded $15 million in 2023 by the government to commercialise targeted protein degrader medicines and technology.
Ternarx will initially focus on neuroblastoma and prostate cancer and, if successful, expand to other types of cancer and disease-causing proteins associated with currently untreatable inflammatory diseases.
These include diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's, and neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's and Parkinson's.
Butler said, "the technology Ternarx is pursuing has huge potential to create the next generation of treatments for cancer and other diseases".
"Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men and neuroblastoma tragically claims the lives of more children under five than any other cancer.
"Protein degrader technology promises cancer treatments that are more effective, with fewer side effects," Butler concluded.
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