Australian oncology-focused biotechnology company Novogen (ASX:NRT) has been awarded a grant of up to $3 million over three years under the Cooperative Research Centre Project (CRC-P) scheme managed by the Australian Department of Industry Innovation and Science (DIIS).
The company said the grant has been awarded to fund development of a next-generation anti-tropomyosin program, which is intended to provide potential new therapies for cancer.
"This research is distinct from Novogen’s existing anti-tropomyosin program, ATM-3507 (Anisina), which is currently in preclinical development," it said.
The award provides a cash grant of up to $3 million over three years to a collaboration led by Novogen, together with the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and ICP Firefly Pty Ltd, a privately-held contract research organisation based in Sydney.
"Under the conditions of the grant, Novogen has committed to contributing $1 million over the three-year life of the project, and UNSW will contribute up to $300,000, in addition to the $3 million provided by DIIS under the terms of the grant. In addition, the three parties will provide manpower and other in-kind resources to the project. The grant remains subject to finalisation of contractual negotiations between the three parties and the Federal Government."
Dr David Brown, Chief Scientific Officer at Novogen, said: “We are extremely honoured to receive this important grant from the Federal Government. I would like to congratulate Dr Stephen Palmer, Program Director for the project, who has worked tirelessly over the past six months to put forward a compelling application for this highly competitive award.”
The CRC-P scheme was started in 2015 to support industry-led collaborations between industry and academia.
A maximum of $3 million is available in each grant, and a minimum of three Australian participants are required in the collaboration. The first round, in 2016, made 11 grants, and the second round, which includes Novogen’s award, has funded 17 projects. The Novogen project is the first novel pharmaceutical drug discovery program funded by the CRC-P scheme.