News

RAGE Biotech, a pharmaceutical start-up company specialising in novel medicines for chronic inflammatory disease, has been awarded a $500,000 grant to accelerate its development of an inhaled RNA therapeutic for chronic lung inflammation.

RAGE Biotech is developing drugs that inhibit the Receptor for Advanced Glycation Endproducts(RAGE), an important therapeutic target in a wide range of inflammatory diseases.

The Company’s most advanced drug is a synthetic RNA splice-switching oligonucleotide (SSO), which the company is currently developing as an inhaled treatment, initially for COPD, with the potential to benefit more than 300 million people worldwide¹.

The Grant from mRNA Victoria Research Acceleration Fund will support the Company’s efforts to extend the reach of its disruptive lung therapeutics technology to an even broader range of inflammatory lung disease.

mRNA Victoria is a Victorian Government initiative delivering programs to support the development and commercialisation of mRNA research. RAGE Biotech’s project ‘Accelerating the Development of an Inhaled RNA Therapeutic for the Management of Chronic Lung Disease’ is a ‘Tier 2’ programme of the mRNA Victoria Research Acceleration Fund, designed to ‘fast track’ the translation of research into health and economic outcomes.

The Company’s Project Parter for the grant-funded programme is Monash University.

RAGE Biotech Founder, Chief Scientific Officer and Monash University Professor Merlin Thomas said: “We are delighted with this support from mRNA Victoria, which recognises the potential of RNA technology to change the lives of people struggling with inflammatory lung disease. At RAGE Biotech, we have applied this disruptive technology to an important therapeutic target that has so far been impossible to hit.”

CEO Christopher Wraight added, “The support from mRNA Victoria will help accelerate the commercialisation of our novel mRNA-targetting drugs by demonstrating their potential in a broader range of lung diseases. Outcomes of the funded programme will leverage our efforts to seek appropriate commercial partnerships, through which we will advance our RAGE inhibitors into late-stage clinical trials and ultimately to market, benefiting patients worldwide.”

1 Global Burden of Disease Study 20, Lancet 386:743-800 (2015). doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60692-4

About RAGE Biotech

RAGE Biotech Pty Ltd is a pharmaceutical start-up company developing novel therapeutics for patients with difficult-to-treat inflammatory disease. With our proprietary RNA therapeutics and peptide technologies, we are developing drugs targeting the Receptor for Advanced Glycation End-products (RAGE), a clinically important, pro-inflammatory ‘sensing’ receptor. Our most advanced programme is an inhaled drug for lung diseases where inflammation and scarring are a problem. RAGE Biotech was formed in 2020 with investments from IP Group, Monash Investment Holdings, the University of Western Australia and the Perron Institute. www.ragebiotech.com

About Monash University

Monash University is Australia’s largest and most international university. Its extensive educational offering,delivered across 10 faculties, includes undergraduate, postgraduate and research courses. Monash is a research-intensive university, known for some significant and lasting discoveries that have delivered impact beyond the academic community. The University is home to a range of world-leading facilities and technologies, giving it wide-ranging capabilities across many fields, sectors and industries. Monash works with a variety of industry, government and community groups, allowing its researchers to share their discoveries with the world. Monash is a truly global institution, with four Australian campuses, a campus in Malaysia, a joint graduate school in China, a learning centre in Italy, a research centre in India and over 100 international partners. monash.edu