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Cassowary Pharmaceuticals, a University of Queensland spin-off company, is developing precision painkillers that are more accurate and less harmful to the liver.

Professor Trent Munro, from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) and the scientific co-founder of Cassowary, said the drugs would help treat debilitating and chronic pain conditions associated with cancer, sciatica, post-herpetic neuralgia (a painful condition that can follow shingles), peripheral nerve injury and osteoarthritis.

鈥淭his type of targeted therapy reduces the potential side effects and safety issues associated with current pain treatments, and will also mean fewer doses are required,鈥� Munro said.

鈥淐reating drugs with these attributes could change the lives of millions of people who suffer from chronic neuropathic pain.鈥�

Munro said while up to 10% of the adult population was affected by neuropathic pain, current treatments often presented problems.

鈥淢any existing treatments are ineffective in a large number of patients and carry significant risk of side effects, including addiction,鈥� he said.

Cassowary Pharma鈥檚 drug candidate targets a molecule thought to be important in how the human body senses pain.

鈥淏y building on the pioneering discoveries of Emeritus Professor Maree Smith and using the critical tools developed in the laboratory of UQ鈥檚 Professor Greg Monteith, we can create a drug that is very accurate, avoids the risk of liver toxicity and lessens the overall medication load,鈥� Munro said.

After receiving funding from the Medical Research Future Fund鈥檚 (MRFF) national $40 million CUREator Scheme, Cassowary Pharma will be recruiting candidates for clinical trials over the next 18 months as it ramps up efforts to hit the market.

Munro said shaping Cassowary Pharma鈥檚 goals was a collaborative effort, involving Dr Lucia Zacchi of the School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience and AIBN鈥檚 Dr Martina Jones.

It was one of four UQ startups to receive funding earlier this year, all of which are each working to find new treatments for a diverse range of hard-to-treat conditions.

UQ鈥檚 commercialisation company UniQuest CEO Dr Dean Moss congratulated Cassowary Pharma and said the funding recognised the leadership role that UQ plays in technology transfer and commercialisation.

Image credit: iStockphoto.com/fizkes