Australia’s newest biotech incubator Jumar Bioincubator has officially opened its doors and revealed the first 16 innovative early-stage ventures to take up residency in its much-awaited Melbourne-based facility at an event officiated by Lord Mayor, Sally Capp AO.
The state-of-the-art facilities, infrastructure, and support offered by Jumar creates a world-class hub for biotech innovation translation, research commercialisation, and talent development that will help to progress discoveries towards real-world patient treatments.
It aims to build “Australia’s next CSL” by capitalising on the talent and capabilities of the local biotech research community to support the next homegrown global success story, and create a critical mass of entrepreneurial-skilled scientists who have the ability to run successful biotech companies.
The official opening on 16 April 2024 was hosted by founding partners CSL, WEHI, and The University of Melbourne (UoM), as well as initial investor Breakthrough Victoria and operator Cicada Innovations.
VIP guests, including biotech leaders from across government, academia, business, and research, were introduced to a number of “born global” biotech residents working on health issues across pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical devices, bioinformatics, health-related AI and more:
Denteric is developing a therapeutic vaccine for the one billion people (one third of all adults) globally suffering from periodontal gum disease - a disease that is also associated with diabetes, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, dementia, and certain cancers. Investment from Brandon Capital, CSL, and UoM is now funding the development of safe and convenient periodontitis treatments that are much less painful, more reliable, and more effective.
Ovulation bio-sensing startup Symex Labs has developed a wearable “lab-on-a-chip” solution that provides continuous “set-and-forget” monitoring of hormones to more conveniently and effectively predict ovulation for people wanting to conceive. It is also now developing a biosensor-based home-use device to replace blood tests associated with IVF treatments. This could have an incredible impact on the 17.5 percent of the global adult population – roughly 1 in 6 worldwide – that experiences infertility.
Tessara Therapeutics is creating “mini brains” in test tubes through 3D neural micro-tissues that mimic the human brain and offer all the essential requirements for drug discovery, including dense and heterogeneous neural networks, compatibility with high-throughput automation, short generation time, and high optical clarity. This will help to fast-track the ability to find cures for neurodivergent diseases like dementia, an affliction currently expected to almost double every 20 years to reach around 139 million people globally in 2050.