Biotech industry needs to come forward and come out with molecules and antibodies in the field of oncology through streamlining and indigenising processes. This was emphasized during a session on 'Innovations in Oncology Research - A dialogue with Australia' on November 25, 2013 in Mumbai. The event was organised by the Australian Government’s trade, education and investment development agency - Australian Trade Commission.
As India is geared up to take up innovations and international academic pursuits for future research, Dr Shubha Chiplunkar, director, Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), Mumbai said, "India can greatly benefit from dialogue with foreign countries like Australia on innovations in oncology research as ACTREC is currently engaged in research projects on oral cancer, breast cancer, cervix cancer. It is also working in a new domain of comparative oncology and is equipped with a bio-informatics facility having access to around 3000 journals in collaboration with the Department of Atomic Energy." ACTREC is also doing research in stem cell biology and keratin biology equipped with an anticancer drug screening facility and a lab of gene therapy.
The session was significant for Indian researchers and scientists as World Economic Forum ranked Australia in the 7th position out of the 144 countries globally in terms of its potential in research and development. This keeps Australia ahead of Germany, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan in offering relevant research innovations and output to the world. This is also evident from the fact that around 15 Nobel Laureates in the field of physiology and medicine are from Australia.
Talking on the need for translating cutting edge academic cancer research into novel small molecule drugs, Prof. Bruce Milthorpe, dean, Faculty of Science, University Technology Sydney said that the university with around 35,000 students has been focusing on molecular research with subjects like cancer biomarkers, elemental and small molecule imaging of tissues, Gold Nano particles for imaging micro-vasculature, real time super resolution imaging of live cells and bacteria and bone tissue engineering.
Dr Suresh Mathivanan, research scientist, La Trobe University spoke on the significance of exosomes in biomedical research and how can they be of help to determine the possible source of disease, biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis, targeted vaccine- drug delivery and intercellular communication.
Dr Mathivanan has joined a US$ 17 million science program in Australia funded by the United States' medical science funding body, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct research into biological molecules to diagnose and treat diseases including cancer. Australia’s La Trobe University is the only institution outside America chosen to take part in the five-year programme.
He says that exosomes has the potential application in targeted gene delivery to treat cancer. There is significant interest in the use of exosomes as personalised targeted drug delivery vehicles for therapeutic use and as a source of biomarkers for disease diagnosis.
"We need to develop new molecules and antibodies indigenously to make them affordable," concluded Dr Chiplunkar.