Our Projects

Working with Amyris and the Queensland Government

Microbial strains are both literally and figuratively the catalysts required for the conversion of Queensland’s naturally advantaged raw materials and location near Asian markets into a $1bn bio-manufacturing industry

Working with Zoetis

Through a linkage grant, we were helping Zoetis develop better vaccines for clostridial diseases.

Brewing natural products with yeast

We are replicating the biosynthesis of natural products in Baker's yeast to produce renewable versions of rare active ingredients for cosmetics, medicines and food supplements. This biotechnological approach overcomes the limited availability of these high-quality products and provides a sustainable alternative to the overexploitation of natural sources.

Innovative biologics for diagnostics and therapeutics

Developing recombinant proteins for applications in diagnostics, biosensing and therapeutics. This includes Bispecific Antibodies (BsAbs) which specifically bind to nanomaterials to enable rapid and simple generation of targeted hybrid bionanomaterials for diagnostics and imaging agents.  The BsAbs have been patented as a platform technology and licenced by the company InterK for the delivery of peptide-based therapeutics.

Sustainable Carbon with Lanzatech

We designed our cell factories to consume greenhouse gases and recycle carbon.
Inspired by a sustainable future we are working on Biological systems capable of consuming C1 feedstocks for sustainable carbon.

Working with Dow

Working with Dow to make sustainable propionic acid using biological systems

MRFF

 Large scale production of human cardiomyocytes derived from hPSC for clinical trials

Working with Dow AgroSciences

Helping Dow AgroScience develop a systems Biology platform for organic biopesticides.

Designing a vaccine for COVID 19

Supporting CEPI in their effort to develop a protein base vaccine against COVID 19.

Working with Servatus

To help them develop 
microbial Biotherapeutics
for the treatment of a variety of inflammatory conditions and bacterial infections

Woking with Plant extracts

To enable the thorough characterization of native Australian plant extracts.

Working with Xing Technologies: Yeast based bionanomaterials for diagnostics.

Bioengineering yeast to produce high affinity, cheap, easy to manufacture and stable diagnostic reagents.  Making yeast-based nano-fragments termed “nanoyeast” for detection of cancer biomarkers, immune checkpoints, Covid 19, Influenza and Dengue targets,

cell-free biotransformation

EnzOnomy is an innovative technology for cell-free and cell-based enzyme-driven biotransformations for industrial applications

Microbial bioplastic production

Plastic waste accumulation poses a global challenge. We work with the Evolve Group to produce biodegradable and recyclable biopolymers via microbial fermentation tailored for a circular plastic economy.

Revolutionary mRNA therapeutic development

The BASE facility will harness the expertise of Associate Professor Timothy Mercer, the biomanufacturing powerhouse National Biologics Facility led by Professor Trent Munro, and the RNA and DNA production expertise of the Protein Expression Facility, led by Professor Linda Lua.

Positive outcome for Hendra antibody trial

Professor Trent Munro, Director of the National Biologics Facility (NBF) based at AIBN, said the ability to produce anti-bodies at larger scales, coupled with formal regulatory approval via clinical trials, will play an important role in mitigating the impact and spread of these diseases.

Positive outcome for Hendra antibody trial

NBF QLD and VIC nodes established a manufacturing cell line and bioprocess for the UQ Molecular Clamp COVID-19 vaccine. This bioprocess was transferred to CSL for large scale manufacture.

Fostering opportunities for HDR candidates and postdoctoral fellows to pursue industrial training

The ARC Centre for Biopharmaceutical Innovation (CBI) strives to support career opportunities through providing students and staff with the opportunity to receive industry placement with their respective partners. Said partners include CSL, Red Cross Lifeblood, Cytiva, and Thermo Fisher Scientifica.

Driving growth, productivity, and competitiveness by linking to key growth sectors

Biotechnology and advanced bioengineering are important areas for future economic growth and remain in focus for CBI. The centre has driven research related to both new manufacturing methods, including continuous processes and molecule discovery, novel methods for phage display. These competitive areas benefit from the advances from CBI research.

Competitive research collaboration

Research collaboration has been ongoing between CBI and its partner institutions. This includes Cytiva, Patheon (now part of Thermofisher), CSL, and Redcross Lifeblood. The Centre also saw ongoing collaboration between Centre postdoc Lucia Zacchi, and Professor Hang Ta (at Griffith University) as well as WEHI facilities at the University of Melbourne.