Biotech company launched to build on the work of the Oral Health Cooperative Research Centre
A vaccine to treat periodontal gum disease, which affects around a third of the world’s population, is in commercial development at the University of Melbourne.
The move follows a $14-million joint investment by the federal government’s venture capital programme, the university and Melbourne-based global biotechnology company CSL.
The funding will support Denteric, a Melbourne biotech startup that will run clinical trials for the vaccine over the next two to three years.
Developing the periodontal vaccine was the lead research programme for the Oral Health Cooperative Research Centre. The CRC was funded by the federal government and industry research partners from 2003 to 2018.
It was based at Melbourne’s dental school and, after federal funding ceased last year, was rebadged and launched as the university’s centre for oral health research. The centre’s chief executive is Eric Reynolds, who was lead researcher for the CRC’s periodontal vaccine project. He is also the founder and director of Denteric.
“My team has been developing this critical treatment for periodontal disease over many years at the University of Melbourne,” he said in a university statement.
“In a true partnership with the Australian government and private capital, we have launched a company that will bring a Melbourne-developed gum disease therapy to market.”
Periodontal disease affects one in three people globally, Reynolds said. It damages gum tissue through an accumulation of bacteria and can also compromise the immune system.
Moderate to severe periodontitis affects more than 50 per cent of Australians over the age of 65 and is associated with diabetes, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, dementia and cancers.
Jim McCluskey, Melbourne’s deputy vice-chancellor for research, said the vaccine had the “potential to change the lives of people around the world”.
“We welcome the significant investment in this critical research,” he said.
The federal funding to set up Denteric at the university’s biomedical precinct in Parkville was provided by the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund through its biomedical translation programme. The MRCF is a federal venture capital fund managed by Melbourne investment services company Brandon Capital Partners.