Avexa and CSIRO to collaborate

Melbourne-based Avexa (ASX:AVX) and the CSIRO have entered into a collaboration deal to discover new drugs for the treatment of human viral diseases.

Avexa will screen CSIRO Molecular Technologies' chemical library across its antiviral assays to identify compounds that are selectively active in preventing virus replication.

"We've got a medium size library," said CSIRO Molecular & Health Technologies chief Dr Graeme Woodrow. "It's a focused library and it's been built up over many years."

While Woodrow declined to comment on the commercial terms of the agreement, he said that, "[The CSIRO's] main interest, certainly at this stage, is to be helping the company with the capabilities that we have."

"It's not only that we do our science," he said, "but that we are actually making that available in a very real way to help grow the local biotechnology industry."

Together, Avexa and the CSIRO, will identify potential drug leads and optimise these leads into development candidates. Avexa will then develop the drugs through the preclinical and clinical stages.

"[The CSIRO will] provide chemical capabilities with respect to purification of materials, synthesis, providing increased quantities of material and, because it will often be in a specialised area of chemistry, we will be providing specialist chemistry advice to them as well," said Woodrow.

"Avexa will be the one that gets the drugs out because they're putting it through their screens and identifying the specific activity they need."