| | | | Welcome to the first edition of the UniQuest newsletter for 2025 - a collaborative initiative of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation) and UniQuest, The University of Queensland's commercialisation company.
We are delighted to showcase the launch of Curlew Bio, the second biotech company founded through a partnership between UniQuest and global biotech Molecule to Medicine. It follows the launch of Lucia Bio in late 2024 and is another example of UniQuest backing the science of UQ to create new business and commercial opportunities, with investment from the UniQuest Extension Fund.
It follows on from the creation
of Banksia Mineral Processing, a UQ-start-up based on research from UQ's School of Chemical Engineering to unlock previously untapped copper ore resources, essential for the electrification of our modern world.
In this edition we are pleased to give an insight in to the drug discovery work of QEDDI as it collaborates with Frazer Institute researchers to formulate a new cream to treat and prevent skin cancer in organ transplant recipients.
We trust you enjoy this edition. | | | Professor Paul Bonnington
Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor
(Research & Innovation) | | |
Dr Dean Moss
CEO, UniQuest Pty Ltd | | |
Newsletter in
Brief - Curlew Bio: Second biotech from Molecule to Medicine & UniQuest takes flight.
- Copper tech: UQ start-up Banksia Minerals Processing fires up.
- AEA official: UQ researchers shine in $14.4m funding round.
- Hot takes: AUTM summit, AEA official, Schrödinger's cat & QDDA.
- Drug discovery: QEDDI's work with UQ Frazer Institute research team.
- The UEF: The UniQuest Extension Fund is seeking innovative tech.
- Who Are We: Meet UniQuest's Jane Evans.
| | |
| | | |
The team behind new biotech start-ups Curlew Bio and Lucia Bio from QEDDI and Molecule to Medicine at QEDDI's lab. | | UQ biotech innovation partnership forges a second startup
| | | | | UQ Associate Professor James Vaughan alongside Banksia Minerals Processing Managing Director Leigh Staines. | |
UQ copper processing start-up to help unlock global resources
Inaccessible supplies of an element crucial to powering a clean-energy future are set to be unlocked with technology developed by The University of Queensland.
The technology, commercialised through new start-up company Banksia Minerals Processing (BMP), is a more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly way to extract copper from previously unviable low-quality
resources.
The technology was developed by UQ's School of Chemical Engineering Metallurgy Major Lead and Head of the Hydrometallurgy Research Group, Associate Professor James Vaughan.
The creation of BMP was brokered by UniQuest and has investor backing from venture capital firm IP Group and grant funding through the
federal government's Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Trailblazer program.
Read more here.
| | | | | | |
Hot takes
- Schrödinger's cat: We were proud to showcase UQ's exceptional pipeline of quantum technology for licensing or partnering at the Quantum Australia Conference 2025 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre in
March.
- QDDA Symposium: Therapeutic Innovation Australia and partners are hosting the 2025 Queensland Drug Discovery Alliance (QDDA) Symposium on May 9. Register online now.
|
| | |
QEDDI Medicinal Chemistry Team Leader Dr Rebecca Pouwer and Drug Discovery Team Leader Dr Kim Beaumont have been working on the formulation of a potential new drug discovered in collaboration with UQ Frazer Institute Associate Professor James Wells that fights skin cancer in organ transplant recipients. | |
A QEDDI drug discovery journey: the long road to new medicine
Drug discovery is long and arduous. Prospective treatments need to overcome many hurdles along the way to
being made available to patients.Hear from UQ's Frazer Institute Associate Professor James Wells, who alongside QEDDI is an inventor of compound Q2361, about the development of a drug he hopes will be made available to organ transplant recipients as a topical cream to prevent and treat skin cancer.
Check out the video of Dr Rebecca Pouwer talking about the collaboration. | | | | | | |
| The UniQuest Extension Fund (UEF) is actively investing in innovative technology companies with connections to The University of Queensland.
Whether you're a UQ staff member, student, or alumni pioneering breakthrough technology, we want to hear from you.
Our fund supports ventures from early-stage through to growth, building on UQ's legacy of transforming research into global impact. We offer more than capital: tap into our extensive network, commercialisation expertise, and strategic partner
support.
Connect with us to explore funding opportunities for your business. Visit our website (uef.vc) to start the conversation. | | | | | | | | Director - Commercialisation - Physical Sciences During her early career in industrial research Jane identified that for successful innovation there was a need for people who understood both the technical and commercial aspects in order to facilitate the development of market-ready technologies.
"I see myself as a little bit
like a translator, helping researchers understand what is needed to make their research market-ready and for industry partners and funders to really see the technology and its relevance," she said.
So, she got her MBA and began a long career working in technology transfer and commercialisation across many areas of STEM and industry sectors, starting with several of the first Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs).
"I am always inspired by the creativity of researchers to find novel solutions to significant global challenges in health, energy and the environment," Jane said.
She loves to share her knowledge and expertise in intellectual property strategy, legal contracts and negotiation, sales and marketing to each and every project working alongside research teams to commercialise their research.
Since joining the Physical Sciences team at UniQuest in late
2023, she has worked closely with several groups at Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) and is excited for so many new materials and processes under development, supporting new and experienced innovators.
Contact Jane. | | | | | UniQuest acknowledges the Traditional Owners and their custodianship of the lands on which The University of Queensland and UniQuest are situated.
We pay our respects to their Ancestors and their descendants, who continue cultural and spiritual connections to Country. We recognise their valuable contributions to Australian and global society. | | |
| | You have received this email because you subscribe to UQ's Research Bulletin.
If you no longer wish to receive newsletters from UniQuest, you can change your email preferences here. |
| | | |
