KEY POINTS:
Science and business experts in Wellington are joining forces to develop a lucrative vaccine against cancer.
Victoria Link, the Malaghan Institute, science and engineering research institute IRL, and Grow Wellington will work together on the project.
If successful, they will reap their share of a potential international market worth $16.9 billion.
The collaboration brings together a vaccine developed by the Malaghan Institute with a compound developed by IRL that increases the efficacy of the vaccine.
The resulting vaccine would be injected into a cancer patient's tumour, prompting the patient's natural defences to rid their body of the disease.
Malaghan Institute director Graham le Gros said the project offered the opportunity to combine immunology and oncology expertise with other organisations to develop a commercial vaccine.
"There is an unmet need for such vaccine products and we hope our teams can crack it by working together to get it into the clinics."
IRL chief executive Shaun Coffey said the partnership provided ongoing investment to build on the strengths of the company's world-class carbohydrate chemistry team.
With $750,000 for the next three years from IRL, Grow Wellington and the university's private enterprise liaison, Victoria Link, the project had "massive potential" in the global vaccine market, said Victoria Link chief executive John Errington.
The US$12 billion ($16.9 billion) vaccine market was expected to grow by 13 per cent by 2010, doub-ling the rate of growth in pharmaceuticals.
It was too early to project what the commercial potential for a successful vaccine might be, but Mr Errington said even vague forecasts came to "large numbers".
Another $2 million would eventually be needed to get the project to a point where it could seek funding for market testing, a long process that would need backing of about $50 million, Mr Errington said.
Grow Wellington chief executive Nigel Kirkpatrick said he believed building biotechnology capabilities were critical to Wellington's economic growth and sustainability.
"This project demonstrates that Wellington has the right people and resources in place to develop and manufacture world-class biotechnology," he said.
- NZPA
