Uniseed and MRCF have become founding investors in University of Melbourne's precision medicine spinout Certa Therapeutics.
Certa Therapeutics, a Australia-based precision medicine spinout from University of Melbourne, obtained A$25m ($18.5m) today in a founding round backed by multi-university venture fund Uniseed.
Uniseed was joined in the round by the Australian government-backed Medical Research Commercialisation Fund (MRCF), which aims to advance technologies emerging from Australia’s medical research institutes and affiliated research hospitals.
MRCF invested $16.3m on behalf of the Australian government’s Biotechnology Translation Fund. Uniseed provided a $2.2m sum, $1.5m of which came from its Follow-On Fund with the remainder supplied from its Commercialisation Fund.
Certa Therapeutics is developing precision therapies for kidney disease, caused by tissue thickening and scarring known as fibrosis. The disease can lead to kidney failure, necessitating medical dialysis or an organ transplant for the patient.
The drugs, which are currently undergoing mid-stage clinical trials, aim to inhibit the receptor responsible for fibrosis. Certa plans to use genetic analysis to establish which patients are likely to be most responsive to treatment.
Rare disease treatment developer Shire also holds an 18% stake in Certa, having licensed several clinical-stage therapeutics to the spinout. Shire is entitled to royalties on future sales.
The spinout was founded by chief executive Darren Kelly, previously responsible for fibrosis treatment developer Fibrotech, which Shire acquired for $70m in 2014.
Kelly is a professor and associate dean at University of Melbourne’s Department of Medicine who also practises at the division’s affiliated St Vincent’s Hospital.
John Kurek, investment manager at Uniseed, said: “Certa’s technology is at the forefront of efforts to treat kidney disease and provides another great example of the world-leading biotechnology research being conducted in Australia.”