Infensa drug candidate receives $17.8M funding to advance to clinical trials
Health Minister Mark Butler has announced $17.86M in funding from the Medical Research Future Fund to support clinical trials of Infensa Bioscience’s drug candidate.
We will provide significant cash contributions, matched by MRFF funding, enabling a robust national clinical trial effort led by Professor Glenn King, Infensa’s Chief Scientific Officer and Group Leader at The University of Queensland's UQ Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB).
“This investment will fast-track development of the world’s first cardioprotective drug,” Professor King said. “This drug has the potential to not only save thousands of lives each year, but also to drastically improve the quality-of-life for heart attack survivors by minimising the injury to their heart.”
Infensa’s team, in collaboration with UQ, includes leaders such as Associate Professor Nathan Palpant, Infensa’s Head of Biology; Dr Ming Chong, Director of CMC; and CEO Associate Professor Mark Smythe.
We are working with an esteemed national team, including Professor Peter Macdonald and Professor Robert Graham AO, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute & St Vincent's Health Australia; Professor David Kaye at Alfred Health; Professor Professor John Fraser, IMB and The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane; Dr Lisa Higgins at Monash University; and Associate Professor James Chong at University of Sydney and Westmead Hospital.
Minister Butler lauded the project’s potential, stating, “Heart attacks and cardiovascular disease are our biggest killers” and “These world-first trials will give hope to thousands of Australians who suffer from a heart attack and heart failure.”
This innovative collaboration between Infensa Bioscience, UQ, and key medical institutes across Australia represents a transformative leap in cardioprotective drug development, bringing a breakthrough treatment closer to patients who need it most.
Professor Glenn King in the laboratory with a spider. Credit: The University of Queensland.