Anna Bligh, Queensland deputy premier, treasurer and minister for state development, trade and innovation, has announced a $865,000 grant for the University of Queensland’s (UQ) Centre for Integrated Preclinical Drug Development, which conducts contract research via TetraQ.
The center will use the grant to develop new tools for a drug development toolkit. UQ and industry partners vivoPharm Pty, Industrial Research Limited and Ground Zero Pharmaceuticals will contribute funds to the total of $865,000.
Executive director of the center and TetraQ Professor Maree Smith said that the toolkit would help modernize and streamline the development pathway of new pharmaceuticals, addressing an acknowledged blockage in the drug production pipeline that is causing significant international concern.
“The number of new drugs reaching the market has fallen over the past five years. This is due to a lack of innovation in the pathway of preclinical trials, which are required before drugs move into human trials and then to the market,” she said. “The center aims to develop new tools to streamline the preclinical trials process, which will be made available to biotechnology companies via TetraQ…This will improve productivity across the pharmaceuticals industry.”