The CEO and managing director of Australian company Amplia Therapeutics (ASX:ATX), Dr Chris Burns, and Professor Andrew Wilks have shared the Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation for their role in the discovery of JAK enzymes and their co-invention of the JAK inhibitor momelotinib.
Dr Burns and Professor Wilks received the award at the Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science event at Parliament House in Canberra.
Momelotinib was discovered when Dr Burns and Professor Wilks worked at Melbourne-based biotechnology company Cytopia.
Momelotinib was approved by the US FDA in 2023 for treating myelofibrosis – making history as one of only two Australian-invented drugs to attract approval from the world’s peak health regulatory body.
GSK markets momelotinib as OJJAARA.
Cytopia, established in 1999, discovered and developed momelotinib as CYT387. In 2009, Toronto-based YM Biosciences acquired Cytopia and the rights to momelotinib for $A14 million. In 2012, Gilead acquired YM Biosciences for $US510 million. Sierra Oncology acquired rights to momelotinib in a US$198 million transaction with Gilead in 2018.
GSK obtained rights to momelotinib through its 2022 US$1.9 billion acquisition of Sierra Oncology, the highest amount paid for a drug discovered in Australia.
Dr Chris Burns said, “I am extremely honoured to be the co-recipient of the 2024 Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation. Australia does a lot of fantastic early-stage research. What we’ve done in the discovery and development of momelotinib shows that incredible research can be translated here in Australia.”