A team of researchers at Monash University in Australia will receive a $5m grant from the government for the development of CAR T cell therapy to treat prostate cancer.

Professor Gail Risbridger and the team received the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grant.

Australian Health Minister Mark Butler stated: “We are living through a supercharged period of discovery, especially in CAR T cell therapy.

“CAR T cell therapy is an immunotherapy that promises to turn medicine on its head, by unlocking the ability of a patient’s immune system to find and destroy cancer and other disease.

“This is world-leading health research and the Albanese government is proud to fund this important work.”

Risbridger’s strategy will leverage a new integrated approach of generating CAR T cells, a range of test models and imaging tools to expedite the therapy into clinical trials. 

CAR T cell therapy is an immunotherapy that selects immune cells from the patient's own body and provides those cells with the genetic data required to detect and kill cancer cells.

The project under Risbridger is one of ten developments to share $50m in funding through NHMRC's synergy grants.

NHMRC CEO Professor Steve Wesselingh stated: “The synergy grant scheme supports high-performing research teams to tackle complex research questions and improve human health.

“These grants offer opportunities to foster collaboration between diverse researchers to ensure a range of skills and perspectives are brought together to solve a problem.”

Cell & Gene Therapy coverage on Pharmaceutical Technology is supported by Cytiva.

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