ASHRA Partnering Summit - Partnering for Translation and Building an Innovation Culture

20 December 2023

Pictured above: from left at the ASHRA Partnering Summit 2023, University of Sydney's Professor Steven Wise with TTRA program team members Senior Director Lauren Kelly and Associate Director Dr Erin McAllum.

MTPConnect’s TTRA program has co-hosted the Australian Stroke and Heart Research Accelerator (ASHRA) 2023 Annual Partnering Summit at the Victorian Heart Hospital in Clayton, Melbourne recently. With over 110 guests from industry, academia, research institutes, the health sector and government, it was an opportunity to learn, contribute and connect.

Established in early 2022 through our Targeted Translation Research Accelerator (TTRA) program, ASHRA is working to transform the field of cardiovascular research in Australia by bringing a new sector-wide focus on clinical impact and entrepreneurship.

ASHRA aims to deliver major health, social and economic benefits and has a goal of offering support, expertise, and much-needed connection to everyone in the sector seeking to accelerate the translation of research and drive clinical impact. The research centre’s core strategy is a comprehensive understanding of the mutual benefit that can be achieved through partnership with business and investors.

Presentations from renowned Australian experts

The ASHRA Partnering Summit highlighted building successful research partnerships, partnering for research translation, and building an innovative culture, with presentations from renowned national experts in this critical health field.

Attendees were welcomed to the event by ASHRA Chair Richard Taggart, ASHRA Deputy Director and Director of the Victorian Heart Hospital Professor Stephen Nicholls, and MTPConnect CEO Stuart Dignam.

Mr Dignam welcomed the ASHRA community and stakeholders to the Partnering Summit on behalf of MTPConnect's TTRA program and reiterated how critical ASHRA's work is and will continue to be.

ASHRA Director Professor Clara Chow AM gave an update on the Centre, a year on from the inaugural Partnering Summit. She outlined how ASHRA continues to evolve, responding to sector needs, particularly with respect to the Research Portfolio and partnerships.

“It is great to be able to report on growth of projects, people and partners and an increasing recognition of the relevance of ASHRA.

“We are now accelerating 19 projects with an even spread of digital, device and drug interventions for coronary disease, stroke, heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases,” Professor Chow said.

Session 1 ‘Building Successful Research Partnerships’ was Co-Chaired by ASHRA Stroke Lead Professor Geoff Donnan AO and ASHRA Executive Management Committee member Ms Karen Carey.

Two ASHRA-supported research projects provided updates on their work, with a focus on issues relating to the partnering for research acceleration and overcoming challenges.

Dr Adam Hill from Victor Chang Cardiac Research Centre presented the ‘Cloud platform for proarrhythmic risk assessment in preclinical drug development,’ which aims to develop a platform for early identification of proarrhythmic drugs. Dr Hill spoke about the challenges associated with the withdrawal of their original partner during the first year, and how the project plan had to pivot quickly to accommodate the loss of expertise provided by the partner but still deliver a viable outcome. His key learnings from the experience included robust and open communication and alignment of expectations with a partner, to have a plan B for contingencies and include adequate resourcing for business development and project agility.

Dr Arthur Shariev from the University of Sydney spoke about the ‘My Intelligent Cardiac Assistant – MICARdiac’ project, which is delivering education and behaviour change support messages, personalised using artificial intelligence (AI), to people with hypertension or high blood pressure, and high cholesterol to better manage their condition. The project, which is currently recruiting participants, was initiated with a solid partner, but they are looking ahead for the next stage beyond the trial when they may need another partner with different expertise and input.

The panel discussion following Session 1 featured a discussion between MTPConnect Chair the Hon. Jaala Pulford, DARAK Stroke Alliance Co-Lead Dr Angela Dos Santos, Monash University’s Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Associate Professor Shaun Gregory, and Clinical Intervention Cardiologist, Monash University Professor Ian Meredith AM.

The panel discussed the importance of making sure that all research partners have a shared view of the project, the vision, the key priorities and what outcomes need to be achieved. MTPConnect Chair Hon. Jaala Pulford said all partners need to be on the same page moving forward as there are an enormous number of decisions to make along the translation journey – from the initial idea to launching the final commercial product in market.

Ms Pulford said organisations do not want to end up being consumed by a huge industry partner or mismatched with a research partner for a startup or product. Although it takes more time, it is worth doing the homework about options with potential partners. It is best for everyone involved if the research partnership is a win-win.

ASHRA’s Research Advisory Committee Chair Professor Jason Kovacic, chaired Session 2 ‘Partnering for Research Translation’ which included two presentations from TTRA Research Project awardees –from The University of Sydney and Nirtek Pty Ltd – and a panel discussion.

From the University of Sydney, Professor of Cardiovascular Bioengineering, Steven Wise presented his TTRA journey for the research project on 'Local regulation of inflammation for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease', which included founding a company, raising seed capital, assigning intellectual property; designing, manufacturing and iterating a new balloon catheter; and demonstrating safety and efficiency in industry standard pre-clinical models.

Challenging venture capital landscape and finding out exactly who to talk to

Professor Wise said the venture capital landscape in Australia was challenging and it could be difficult finding out exactly who to talk to for support and funding. He said he spent up to 50 per cent of his time 'hustling' and talking to anyone and everyone to tell them about the research project.

Professor Wise said the TTRA program had been extremely supportive on many distinct levels, which helped develop three parts of the project: developing the balloon catheter, the nanoparticle platform, and the small and large animal models. Professor Wise also thanked UniQuest, the Medical Device Partnering Program (MDPP) and Sydney Local Health District for their guidance and input into the project.

Presenting on Nirtek’s research project, 'NIRAF Guidewire for detection of unstable coronary Plaques to prevent heart attack and death' Managing Director and CEO Matthew Hoskin said it takes a village to raise a medical device.

Mr Hoskin explained the Nirtek journey had started at Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, then involved Swinburne University of Technology, then worked with RMIT University and 3D Printing at its Advanced Manufacturing Precinct, and then applied for research project funding from the TTRA program at MTPConnect, followed by securing external investment in the research project.

“The TTRA program's rigorous and intensive due diligence process led to Nirtek securing external angel investment, just after we were awarded the TTRA funding. The due diligence and becoming a TTRA project awardee made the company and the project much more attractive to investors,” Mr Hoskin said.

With the TTRA-funded project now complete, he also said the connections with the TTRA program are ongoing, with regular check-ins and the offer of advice and further help with follow-on investment opportunities by Medical Device Partnering Program (MDPP) and MTPConnect. Mr Hoskin concluded by saying that Nirtek still sees the TTRA team and its partners as valuable members of the company’s extended research project team.

The Panel discussion following Session 2 included Deputy Director Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute Professor Karlheinz Peter, Chief Scientific Officer Trajan Scientific and Medical Dr Andrew Gooley, Head of Strategic Access Novartis Dr Rebecca McQualter, Research Portfolio Strategy and Management and Research Therapeutic Area Lead, Cardiovascular and Metabolic, CSL Ltd Professor Bronwyn Kingwell, and Chief Commercialisation Officer Monash University Dr Alastair Hick.

The panellists spoke to their experience of working collaboratively with industry and academia with a focus on strengthening the partnership with academic expertise, used at development and product validation, and the use of industry expertise to refine and develop the business model, with a focus on market needs. The messaging was clear that there is more to be done to develop successful partnerships between academia and industry during the research acceleration and commercialisation phase of medical product development. Investment into centres such as ASHRA is a good starting point in this journey.

The final session to round out the event was about ‘Building an Innovative Culture’ and included insightful keynotes from Professor Grant McArthur AO, Executive Director VCCC Alliance, and Professor Bruce Neal Executive Director, The George Institute and ASHRA Education and Training Committee Chair.

Powerful partnerships and working together

Professor McArthur spoke to the top 10 key learnings from leading the VCCC Alliance, a powerful partnership of 10 leading research, academic and clinical institutions, working together to fundamentally reshape the way cancer is tackled. He explained how over time the organisation evolved as trust built within the partnership.

Professor Neal shared the work he is leading for ‘JOIN US’ – an online register that connects clinical trial participants with researchers, with the aim of overcoming clinical trial recruitment challenges. Validation plays a key role in the commercialisation pathway, and the project needs efficient systems and processes in acquiring the data in reasonable timeframes. ‘JOIN US’ aims to address this challenge and is currently looking to expand further.

Senior Director, TTRA Program, MTPConnect, Lauren Kelly said the 2023 ASHRA Partnering Summit proved to be a resounding success.

“The Partnering Summit was engaging and insightful with pragmatic learnings shared by all the speakers and panellists. It is clear that you need a multidisciplinary team and extensive network of partners, along with a shared vision to enable translation success.

“We look forward to supporting ASHRA over the coming years to deliver impactful change for those living with cardiovascular disease and their families,” Ms Kelly said.