UQ spin-off secures $3.25m for pain therapy

Spinifex Pharmaceuticals, a drug development company spun out of the University of Queensland, has received a AUD$3.25 million investment commitment to develop therapeutics for the treatment of neuropathic pain.

The investment syndicate includes Symbiosis Group, GBS Venture Partners and Uniseed.

"We were very fortunate in that we seem to attract investment rather than having to go out there and perform roadshows and the like," said Spinifex managing director Michael Thurn. "It's probably safe to say that Symbiosis Group Limited leads the investment and through that led to our securing other VCs, into this syndicate. So it really wasn't a hard sell at all."

Spinifex's core technology relates to the discovery by University of Queensland researchers, led by Prof Maree Smith, of a novel pathway for the treatment of neuropathic pain. The pathway has been validated using small molecules in well-defined animal models.

However, the company is reluctant to divulge the specific target or pathway until patents have been filed. "It would just be giving it away," Thurn said. "The IP is the most important thing that we want to protect at the moment,"

Spinifex is currently evaluating several promising small molecules and plans to start a formal toxicology program -- animal safety studies to support the performance of clinical trials -- by early to mid-2006, said Thurn.

The neuropathic pain market is currently valued at US$3 billion. The two main causes of neuropathic pain are diabetic neuropathy which affects an estimated 45 per cent of patients and postherpetic neuralgia, a long-term complication of herpes zoster (shingles).

Spinifex was incorporated on June 30, with shareholders and licensing agreements signed on July 5.