Research
mRNA Victoria Research Programs
mRNA Victoria supports researchers and biotechs to develop the next generation of mRNA vaccines and therapies through two innovative grant programs.
Since its inception, mRNA Victoria has provided a total of nearly $29 million to 57 projects through two grant programs, mRNA Victoria Research Acceleration Fund (mVRAF) and mRNA Victoria Activation Program (mAP).
For more information about mRNA Victoria and our research collaboration opportunities, please contact us via email mRNAvictoria@ecodev.vic.gov.au or follow us on LinkedIn.
Successful recipients of the mRNA Victoria Research Acceleration Fund Round 3 were announced in September 2024, with $2,097,612 of funding shared across 15 projects.
Lead Applicant | Project Partner | Project Title | Funding committed |
|---|---|---|---|
Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute | Monash University | Combining mRNA vaccines with Flt3L-secreting CAR-T cells for the effective treatment of solid tumours. | $100,000 |
University of Melbourne | Monash University | Leveraging mRNA and lipid nanoparticle technology to develop a cure for HIV | $100,000 |
The MacFarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health Ltd | Moderna, Inc | Novel mRNA-based antibody technologies for mucosal pathogens. | $100,000 |
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology | Monash University | Reprogramming T Cells In situ for Lupus Nephritis Treatment Using Novel mRNA-Loaded Lipid Nanoparticles | $100,000 |
St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research | Stanford University | A new mRNA therapy to combat Victoria’s spiralling liver disease crisis | $99,321 |
Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute | GenScript Biotech (Singapore) PTE. Ltd. | mRNA-based chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for the treatment of cancer | $100,000 |
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research | Monash University | Antisense oligonucleotide therapy for neurodevelopmental disorder Prader Willi syndrome | $98,950 |
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research | Centenary Institute of Cancer Medicine & Cell Biology | Lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery of gene therapy in inflammatory disease | $302,996 |
Messenger Bio Pty Ltd | BioCurate Pty Ltd | Development of mRNA Therapeutics for Genetic Brain Diseases | $499,045 |
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research | Murdoch Children's Research Institute | Supporting brain development in neurodevelopmental disorders through increasing healthy mRNA transcript levels | $97,300 |
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research | Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences | Formulating therapeutic cancer mRNA-LNP vaccines to elicit potent CD8 T cell responses | $100,000 |
RMIT University | Walter and Elia Hall Institute of Medical Research | Development of mRNA-encoded intrabody therapy to treat cancer | $100,000 |
University of Melbourne | Monash University | Development of novel LNP-mRNA formulations for the treatment of liver fibrosis | $100,000 |
University of Melbourne | The University of Wollongong | Restoring frataxin in Friedreich’s ataxia by nanoparticle-mediated delivery of frataxin mRNA | $100,000 |
The Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health Ltd | Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences | Developing potent and lifelong mRNA vaccines to combat global health threats | $100,000 |
Successful recipients of the mRNA Victoria Research Acceleration Fund Round 2 were announced in June 2023, with $2,747,426 of funding shared across 16 projects.
Lead Applicant | Project Partner | Project Title | Funding committed |
|---|---|---|---|
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research | The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity | Using lipid nanoparticles to deliver novel combination RNA therapeutics for pulmonary bacterial infections | $75,000 |
University of Melbourne | Children’s Cancer Institute Australia | Building predictive power to fast-track the evaluation and prioritisation of nanocarriers for therapeutic RNA delivery in brain cancer | $98,659 |
University of Melbourne | Denteric Pty Ltd | Development of an mRNA vaccine for a human bacterial pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis involved in Periodontitis and Alzheimer's Disease. | $500,000 |
St. Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research | Monash University | The use of mRNA therapy for blood cell cancers | $100,000 |
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research | Monash University | mRNA-encoded nanobody therapy against COVID-19 | $81,000 |
University of Melbourne | Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand | A mRNA vaccine for preventing liver-stage malaria | $93,296 |
St. Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research | The Royal Children's Hospital | RNA delivery of therapeutic gene editing to blood stem cells | $100,000 |
Monash University | Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory, Trinity College Dublin | A modular platform for the development of mRNA-based epigenetic drugs: a pilot. | $100,000 |
Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute | Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research | Development of nuclear mRNA targeting therapeutics to treat cancer | $500,000 |
Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute | Storm Therapeutics Ltd | Therapeutically targeting mRNA methylation to enhance anti-tumour immunity | $500,000 |
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute | Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) | Development of a novel ASO-based therapeutic for TRAPPC4-related disorder | $99,471 |
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research | Mermaid Bio Pty Ltd | Harnessing mRNA delivery for intracellular antibody therapies | $100,000 |
Hudson Institute of Medical Research | Hudson Institute of Medical Research | ASO against SRY as a potential therapeutic for Male Parkinson's Disease | $100,000 |
Hudson Institute of Medical Research | Silence Therapeutics | Modulation of Iron Overload in the Myelodysplastic Syndromes using siRNA therapy | $100,000 |
Monash University | PTNG Biologicals | Structure-based antigen design as a novel strategy for precision mRNA vaccines. | $100,000 |
Monash University | Ensign (CHINA) Medical Teck. Co Ltd. | Cardiac-homing Lipid Nanoparticles for Relaxin-2 mRNA Delivery | $100,000 |
Successful recipients of the mRNA Victoria Research Acceleration Fund Round 1 were announced in June 2022, with $2,057,407 million of funding shared across 12 projects.
Lead Applicant | Project Partner | Project Title | Funding committed |
|---|---|---|---|
Monash University | Alfred Health | Development of a lipopeptide-based nanoparticle RNA delivery system for the treatment of muscular dystrophy or acquired musculoskeletal conditions | $266,620 |
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health | Swinburne University of Technology | A new mRNA-exosome gene therapy for Niemann-Pick Disease Type C1 | $75,000 |
University of Melbourne | Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre | mRNA-based antiviral therapeutics for SARS-CoV-2 using Cas13 | $500,000 |
RAGE Biotech | Monash University | Accelerating the development of an inhaled RNA therapeutic for the management of chronic lung disease | $500,000 |
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health | Monash University | Developing an mRNA vaccine for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease | $16,298 |
Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Monash University | Anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic mRNA therapeutics: Potential game-changers for the therapy of cardiovascular diseases | $100,000 |
St Vincent's Institute | Monash University | Reversing autoimmune diabetes with mRNA therapy | $100,000 |
Hudson Institute | Pharmorage Pty Limited | Development of RNA based therapeutics for the management of TLR7-driven autoimmunity | $100,000 |
RMIT University | Austin Hospital | Novel mRNA therapeutic strategies for reprogramming tumour associated macrophages in lung cancer | $99,687 |
Monash University | Ensign (CHINA) Medical Teck. Co Ltd. | A novel mRNA-based therapy for chronic kidney injury treatment | $100,000 |
Monash University | Children’s Medical Research Institute | Combining mRNA delivery with viral gene delivery to treat metabolic liver disease in infants and children using in vivo gene editing | $99,802 |
RMIT University | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Developing novel mRNA vaccines for high-risk groups | $100,000 |
Successful recipients of the mRNA Victoria Activation Program were announced in October 2022, with $22,092,981 of funding shared across 14 projects.
Lead Applicant | Project Partner | Project Title | Funding committed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences | Doherty Institute | Manufacture of Monash COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate for Clinical Trials | $5,000,000 | |
Hudson Institute of Medical Research | RNAte Platform Commercial Business Case | $100,000 | ||
Hudson Institute of Medical Research | RNAte Screening Platform | $400,000 | ||
Monash University | University of Melbourne/ Doherty Institute | The Victorian Pre-clinical mRNA Innovation Incubator (VPMII) | $5,400,000 | |
Burnet Institute | Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences | Burnet Institute Vaccine Initiative: mRNA vaccines to tackle global pandemic pathogens that provide broad immunity. | $3,082,122 | |
Hudson Institute | University of Melbourne | Re-defining the RNA that activates innate immune sensors to produce safer and more effective RNA therapies | $690,000 | |
Messenger Bio Pty Ltd | GeneOne Life Science | High-throughput Automation and Scale-up of Preclinical mRNA Manufacturing and Expansion of the RNA Engineering Toolbox | $495,600 | |
Monash University | RaRtech: a novel and rapid mRNA manufacturing technology for pandemics preparedness and therapeutics. | $427,000 | ||
Monash University | A universal platform for affinity purification of RNA | $472,000 | ||
Monash University | University of Western Australia/ ANU | Novel enzymes to transform the manufacturing of mRNA in Victoria. | $606,435 | |
The University of Melbourne | Monash University | mRNA BEATs technology to enhance CAR T cell therapy of cancer | $788,377 | |
The University of Melbourne | Doherty Institute/ Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre | Leveraging mRNA technology to improve adoptive cell therapy for cancer | $1,306,536 | |
The University of Melbourne | Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre/ Monash University/ Melbourne Health/ St Vincent's Hospital | Developing a novel RNA therapeutic for chronic hepatitis B | $1,759,342 | |
The University of Melbourne, Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute | Sequence-Specific Silencing of Oncogenic Drivers with Personalized Cas13 RNA Therapeutics | $1,565,420 | ||
Page last updated: 22 November 2024