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Centre for Targeted Therapy

Developing biotechnology drugs to revolutionise the treatment of cancer and inflammatory conditions

The Centre for Targeted Therapy (CTT) was established by Garvan Institute in 2015 to advance the development of new biological drugs. We aim to identify new drug candidates to treat diseases at their genetic origin.

Biotechnology drugs are made using living organisms, such as specially modified animal or plant cells. They span a wide range of products, from vaccines and tissues to gene therapy. While complex to produce and administer, biological drugs are at the cutting edge of therapies, revolutionising the treatment of cancer and many inflammatory conditions by taking a gene-based, cellular approach that stimulates the immune system.

The CTT focuses on improving the translation of basic research into drug candidates, products and treatments. We operate state-of-the-art equipment required for the measurement ofto measure macromolecular interactions, and for the development and characterisation ofto develop and characterise candidate drugs, including surface plasmon resonance, biolayer interferometry and bioreactor systems.

Biological drugs represent the next generation of therapeutics, in which monoclonal antibodies are used to stimulate the immune system. However, their efficacy is currently limited by their instability and their tendency to ‘aggregate’, or stick together when stored. We overcome these challenges by developing technologies that enable the safe and effective production and storage of antibodies for therapeutic use.

Garvan spin-off companies

To drive the translation of our research findings and technological innovations into treatments for diseases, Garvan has established two spin-off companies.

Solvanix

Solvanix develops technologies to improve the stability of antibodies. Its StAbilize™ process optimises amino acids at specific locations within the antibody complementarity determining regions (CDRs). The result is a fully human antibody with significantly increased stability and a reduced propensity to aggregate, while still retaining all the properties necessary for therapeutic use.

G2

G2 researches and develops novel antibody-based therapies for cancer and inflammatory conditions. G2 uses novel techniques to raise potent neutralising antibodies to the entire cell surface target of several 7-transmembrane domain chemoattractant receptors (GPCRs). Its approach to generating antibodies enables it to raise superior antibodies to chemokine receptor targets that have proven difficult to inhibit using conventional approaches.

Research team