Friday, 15 March, 2019 - 14:36
Perth biotech secures $24m
A carefully managed five-year incubation process for new Perth company Respirion Pharmaceuticals has resulted in one of the largest funding deals for Western Australia’s biotech sector.
Founded in 2018, Respirion Pharmaceuticals is an early-stage biotechnology company focused on developing new treatments for respiratory disease. The company is a spinout from the Telethon Kids Institute in Perth where the technology was incubated. The company is developing the technology both in Australia and in the US. Respirion’s lead product, an inhaled therapy for the life-threatening disease Cystic Fibrosis, has shown promising results in an early clinical study carried out with the Western Australian Department of Health. The company has partnered with Australia’s largest life science investment fund, the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund, which has committed up to $20m. The US Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has also committed up to US$3m to conduct further clinical trials in Australia and the US.
