How I made this: Brad Walsh | Minomic & GlyTherix
A Macquarie Park innovator is building two biomedical startups focused on prostate cancer detection through Minomic and GlyTherix focused on therapeutics through radiotherapy.
Dr Brad Walsh has 30 years of experience in the field of biotechnology and is the Founder and CEO of both startups which are being grown at the Macquarie University Deeptech Incubator.
Minomic has developed an in vitro diagnostic test for the early detection of prostate cancer. The test, known as MiCheck detects biomarkers present in the blood of patients that through clinical trials show more accurate results than existing blood tests for prostate cancer.
The solution fills a major need in prostate cancer diagnostics to follow to help better triage patients by differentiating aggressive cancer from non-aggressive or no cancer before invasive and expensive biopsies.
"We see $2,000 per patient per year in savings because we apply the test and reduce biopsies”, says Dr Walsh.
The startups MiCheck solution has already gone to market in the USA and Australia through Douglas Hanly Moir Pathology which is also located in the district as Dr Walsh says: “They’re literally a kilometre down the road where all our blood tests take place”
Through commercialising and growing Minomic, Dr Walsh identified an opportunity which has resulted in a spinout company, GlyTherix which uses targeted radiotherapy focused on therapeutics for solid tumors, including prostate, bladder and pancreas.
"We're very fortunate that here in the innovation district we have the Macquarie University Hospital to run a clinical study and show we can actually put this in patients and dose them up with the drug without having any side effects,” says Dr Walsh outlining the benefits of co-location and collaboration within the district to accelerate discoveries.
Dr Walsh notes the support the Macquarie University Deeptech Incubator and the surrounding ecosystem has provided in helping him grow his two startups through the commercialisation journey.
Recently GlyTherix completed the prestigious Endless Frontier Labs 2023/24 Program in New York with a capstone event held at NYU Stern School of Business on 9 May.
