Reducing Barriers Through Providing Affordable Technical Services to Medtech Companies


Pictured: Clinical trial in progress. Image courtesy of Linear Clinical Research.

Microscopy Australia, through the MTPConnect Project Fund Program, set out to provide easy and discounted access to its microscopy services for medtech R&D companies, by funding up to 200 technical vouchers to reduce existing barriers to use.

The consortium of university-based microscopy facilities, led by the University of Sydney, includes University of Queensland, University of Western Australia, UNSW Sydney, University of Adelaide, University of South Australia, Australian National University and Flinders University. The voucher system has enabled WA-based Linear Clinical Research to provide an essential technical testing service for a new investigational drug being developed for a first in-human clinical trial by an international sponsor.

So, why has this voucher-based partnership between Microscopy Australia and Linear Clinical Research been such a success?

Linear Clinical Research has a purpose-built state-of-the-art clinical and medical research facility, conceived to bring world-first clinical trials to WA and make innovative therapies available to the local community.

By using Microscopy Australia’s specialised flow-based Luminex analyser and key technical expertise, Linear has been able to provide high quality, reliable data within tight study timelines. The device (pictured below) has enabled Linear to critically analyse a specific biomarker in the drug development pathway, which demonstrated it was possible to get an early signal that the investigational drug was working in healthy volunteers.

Pictured: Luminex device used for Linear’s clinical trials in Microscopy Australia’s facility at the University of Western Australia.

The data collected will be used to inform decisions on the further development of the product and whether it will progress to Phase 2 studies in people with the target disease. The results have helped Linear nurture a strong working relationship with its international sponsor.

Microscopy Australia Marketing and Business Development Manager Dr Jenny Whiting said the Voucher Fund has been extremely valuable in providing affordable technical services to medtech companies.

“It is great to have this support from MTPConnect to help our facility in WA provide such significant benefits to Linear, a local clinical trials company attracting international sponsors,” Dr Whiting added.

“Accessing our instruments at subsidised rates is critical to their competitive edge.”

Linear Clinical Research CEO, Jayden Rogers said the partnership with Microscopy Australia through the Technical Voucher Fund provided a high-quality service for this international sponsor.

“Being able to access the Technical Voucher Fund was pivotal to putting together a competitive proposal to the sponsor that helped Linear to secure the study,” Mr Rogers explained.

“The Voucher allowed us to offer a lower cost to the sponsor for the biomarker analysis work which had a direct impact on us being selected to run the study over other sites, not just in Australia, but worldwide.

“Running large healthy volunteer studies such as this one helps to bring in much needed revenue to the business, which then means we are able to support a wider range of trials, including investigator-initiated studies.”

For more information, visit Microscopy Australia and Linear Clinical Research.