Melbourne biotech startup Aravax is developing a new approach to potentially treat food allergies through the commercial development of local research.
Food allergies have become a growing health concern worldwide, with peanut allergies standing out due to their serious and sometimes life-threatening reactions.
Aravax was founded in 2015 after research from Alfred Health and Monash University showed promise for a new type of peptide immunotherapy to potentially treat allergies.
The research identified parts of the allergen which causes trouble for the body's immune cells, with Aravax developing a peptide injection to mimic these problem causing fragments.
The resulting clinical candidate, called PVX108, aims to reprogram immune cells so they can tolerate these allergens instead of triggering an allergic reaction.
If successful, this new approach to immunotherapy has the potential to help produce safe treatment options to reduce the risk of reaction.
Developing biotech products like PVX108 can be a long and uncertain process, which can make securing investment difficult for new startups.
In Aravax’s case, they were ready to go into clinical trials but did not have the funding to conduct them. They had been looking for funding for more than a year and, at the time, there were very few options for life sciences venture capital in Australia.
Seed funding from Brandon Capital through the Australian Government’s Biomedical Translation Fund (BTF) enabled them to license the intellectual property, set up Aravax and run phase 1 clinical trials in Australia.