Global biotech firm to establish new research facility at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne

Pictured from left: Angela Nolan (CEO SVHM), Andrew Crettenden (SVHM Project Director), Jaala Pulford (Minister for Innovation, Research and Digital Economy), Erwin Estigarribia (COO of InterVenn BioSciences), Megan Robertson (SVHM Director of Research) and Tam Nguyen (SVHM Deputy Director of Research)

St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne’s strength as a global leader in medical research and innovation is set to grow with the announcement of a new research facility to be based at the Hospital’s Fitzroy campus.

Led by global biotech company InterVenn BioSciences, the new clinical and informatics laboratory will be co-located at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne in a move that will allow the firm to work closely with Australian RNA researchers on developing new therapeutics for cancer detection using its cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) platform.

InterVenn’s presence in Melbourne will provide an opportunity for the company to partner with universities, local research institutes and health services with capabilities in data sciences, informatics and AI to develop new products and support clinical trials.

“At St Vincent’s we are committed to seeking out solutions that can make a difference to our patients’ lives and believe taking innovative steps with research plays a key part in that,” said Angela Nolan, CEO of St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne.

“We are excited to be partnering with the Victorian Government and mRNA Victoria in hosting InterVenn BioSciences at our Fitzroy campus. This collaboration continues to build on our presence as a prominent, internationally recognised research precinct at the heart of Melbourne’s CBD.”

In announcing the new partnership, the Victorian Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Jaala Pulford, described InterVenn’s establishment in Melbourne as a very positive move.

“Victoria’s RNA ecosystem is strengthened by InterVenn’s partnership and boosts Victoria’s reputation internationally as a location for innovative biotech research and development activities, with a particular focus on AI-driven health innovations,” said Minister Pulford.

Brave new world

InterVenn’s AI platform identifies patient-specific cancer biomarkers and uses those to develop liquid biopsy tests to both detect cancer and determine how well each patient will respond to available treatments, with non-invasive, next-generation precision medicine in ovarian and non-small cell lung cancer and metastatic melanoma.

By driving business development, clinical research and R&D partnerships in Australia, InterVenn will bring leading glycoproteomic technology to researchers and physicians to support patients and the development of new diagnostics and therapeutic agents.

InterVenn will provide local biotech companies with access to the latest in cancer detection technologies, as well as partnership opportunities for medical research institutes to develop new therapies on InterVenn’s platforms.

“Australia is a strategic geography with a very rich talent pool and potential for collaborations to help our mission where we continue to build a world where no patient is blind-sighted by disease,” said Erwin Estigarribia, Chief Operating Officer of InterVenn BioSciences.