The University of Queensland’s small molecule drug discovery facility will open its doors to researchers from across Australia for the first time thanks to a National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) funding injection.
The Queensland Emory Drug Discovery Initiative (QEDDI) will partner with research groups from across Australia who can benefit from its drug discovery services after receiving $1.9m from Therapeutic Innovation Australia (TIA) through the NCRIS.
QEDDI, which is managed by UQ’s commercialisation company UniQuest, has previously only made its services available to researchers at UQ.
UniQuest CEO Dr Dean Moss said it was an exciting evolution for the university-based drug discovery engine to offer its services nationwide.
“QEDDI has already built a promising pipeline of projects from UQ researchers since its inception,” Dr Moss said.
“This funding injection will bolster its capabilities and allow QEDDI to offer its world-class drug discovery expertise to a wider audience and hails an exciting future for the established small molecule discovery entity.”
Dr Moss said it was the natural next step for the growing drug discovery group.
QEDDI was established as a division of UniQuest with guidance from Emory University’s Institute for Drug Development (EIDD) and Drug Innovation Ventures at Emory (DRIVE) in Atlanta, led by Professor Dennis Liotta, whose innovations resulted in 18 FDA-approved antiviral drugs, and Dr George Painter respectively.
