Qld start-up Thrombostat raises $800,000 in VC, grants

Brisbane start-up company Thrombostat has attracted AUD$800,000 in venture capital and grants to develop drugs that could displace aspirin in long-term prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease.

The company is founded on work by University of Queensland researchers Prof Michael Roberts and Dr Daniel Hung into new anti-blood clot compounds potentially free from the side-effects of existing drugs.

Investors backing Thrombostat are led by Uniseed, a $20 million pre-seed venture capital investment fund established as a joint venture between UQ Holdings and Melbourne University Private, which has contributed $428,000.

A further $125,000 has been invested by the $3 million BioStart program operated by the Queensland Government in partnership with venture capital fund StartUp Australia.

Thrombostat has also attracted a $250,000 BIF grant from the federal government.

Directors of the new company include Roberts and Uniseed regional director Dr Peter Devine.

The funding package will help Thrombostat prepare for clinical trials which will form the next important stage for the company, Roberts said.

Worldwide, millions of patients who take some form of anti-clotting medication against strokes and thrombosis have created a global market worth about $4.3 billion. However, about 60 per cent experience of patients taking medication experience adverse reactions such as chronic stomach ulcers.

The most-prescribed drug in the field is aspirin and although newer drugs have been developed, such as the ADP inhibitors, they are said to have marginal benefits over aspirin while still causing side-effects.

Thrombostat's technology involves compounds which have anti-platelet activity and low gastro-intestinal toxicity which makes them potentially attractive for patients who are aspirin-intolerant.

Research indicates the compounds work at low doses in vivo and reduce the incidence of gastrotoxicity in stressed rates compared with aspirin. In addition, the compounds bind irreversibly and have long-duration action, according to Thrombostat.