Premier visits Peter Mac to announce cancer mRNA grants
2 min read 22 June 2023
Peter Mac played host to Premier Daniel Andrews and the Hon Ben Carroll, Minister for Industry and Innovation, as they announced grants for researchers to develop mRNA treatments to target prostate, bowel and breast cancers today.
Peter Mac’s Dr Vihanda Wickramasinghe and Professor Mark Dawson both received $500,000 grants to further research looking to use ground breaking mRNA treatments in the treatment of cancerous tumours.
Peter Mac CEO, Professor Shelley Dolan said the potential for mRNA to treat cancer is huge.
“Our world-renowned researchers are building on decades of research excellence to harness the power of mRNA to treat cancer, with benefits for millions of cancer patients worldwide,” Professor Dolan said.
Premier Andrews and Minister Carroll toured the Peter Mac laboratory space with Dr Wickramasinghe to understand more about his team's work.
“Victoria is already a world leader in medical research and mRNA technology – researchers are now one step closer to leading mRNA therapies for treatments for cancer that will change the lives of cancer patients and their families,” Premier Daniel Andrews said.
“Researchers at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre are building our mRNA industry to not only save lives, but also to create secure jobs for workers across the state,” Minister Carroll said.
Dr Wickramasinghe’s research is aiming to use mRNA to develop new therapeutics to selectively target cancerous tumours. In collaboration with experts from WEHI, his team hope to turn this discovery into new treatments for many hard-to-treat cancers like prostate, bowel and breast cancer.
“We have specific inhibitors that target specific cancer types,” Dr Wickramasinghe said.
"The idea is not to make just incremental advancements, we want to make massive advancements in the treatment of cancer."
Professor Dawson’s research will apply cutting edge mRNA biology methods that will help the immune system detect and attack cancer cells.
This project will develop pre-clinical evidence to enable their novel, first-in-class drug series that enhances ant-tumour immunity to be clinically translated into a first in human clinical trial.
Peter Mac is one of 16 local Victorian projects to receive a share of $2.7 million in grants from Round 2 of the mRNA Victoria Research Acceleration Fund. Other transformational projects supported include exploring mRNA-based treatments for tuberculosis, malaria, and Parkinson’s Disease.