Epichem, a wholly owned subsidiary of ASX listed biotech hopeful Pharmaust, has reached the pinnacle of its 13 year existence with the opening of its new state of the art chemistry lab in Technology Park in Bentley.
The new lab which is double the size of the old one that was previously operated on site at Murdoch University, cost $1.6m and boasts a serious brains trust of 13 PHD’s amongst its 18 staff.
Epichem, which provides hi-tech products and services in chemistry to global drug discovery and pharmaceutical industries, counts amongst its customer base some of the worlds largest multinational pharmaceutical companies.
It has also provided services to numerous Australian drug discovery companies, Universities and medical research institutes.
Epichem has a remarkable record that includes exporting medical products and services to over 33 countries around the world and they are currently part of a global consortium that is looking to find a cure for the debilitating Chagas Disease.
Epichem has specialized over time in anti-cancer, antiviral and antiparasitic drugs and whilst they have had many successes, most of them are not announced by Epichem due to confidentiality obligations to the companies that engage them.
Epichem sets Pharmaust apart from other listed biotech hopefuls as it provides an income stream for the company whilst they work on proving up their own unique anti-cancer drug known as Monepantel.
The new Epichem lab, complete with its 13 fully funded PHD’s provides a unique opportunity for Pharmaust to lift itself above the pack of listed biotech hopefuls without the associated financial drain that would normally accompany such an investment.
Pharmaust is about to move into a phase 2 trial by introducing its ant-cancer drug Monepantel to people at the same time that they undertake chemotherapy in order to determine what effect the combination of both Monepantel and chemotherapy will have.
Epichem’s Managing Director, Dr Wayne Best, said “We are very excited at the prospect of having the extra capacity to broaden our customer base and provide new products and services."
Director of both Epichem and PharmAust, Robert Bishop, said “There is a significant Brains Trust at Epichem, including [13] PhDs, and we are convinced that Epichem has an exciting future and is now unleashed to achieve its full potential. This is great for PharmAust and, of course, for Perth”.
