Licence Deal with Xenome

Flinders Partners successfully licensed collaborative IP developed by Flinders University and Flinders Medical Centre researchers to biotechnology company Xenome Limited on 19 November 2008. The licensed technology will assist in the development of drugs to arrest acute pancreatitis, a condition that causes hundreds of thousands of hospitalisations around the world each year.

The Flinders team, comprised of Professor Gino Saccone, Professor Jim Toouli and Associate Professor Colin Carati, discovered that surface receptors in the central nervous and endocrine systems, when activated by the peptide galanin, act as a step in the biochemical cascade that leads to rapid acute inflammation of the pancreas. Using animal models of pancreatitis, the Flinders researchers have identified two peptides that block the activity of the galanin receptors, resulting in amelioration of acute pancreatitis.

Under the contract, Xenome will utilise its peptide drug development capabilities to modify the structure of the peptides previously identified by the Flinders team to create product candidates that have improved drug properties. Suitable product candidates will be taken by Xenome into formal pre-clinical development.

Xenome has stated: “We will use technology from Flinders University and other external sources to complement our internal discovery and development activities. New treatments for acute pancreatitis are desperately needed and we’re keen to take the technology from Flinders University forward into development.” (For full story, please click here).

This is a fabulous outcome for all parties involved. This deal once again highlights the quality of research at Flinders, and demonstrates the wider impact that it can have on society. Congratulations to you all!

For more information about this project, please contact Sinead O'Connell at Flinders Partners by email, or on (08) 8201 7716.