Researchers target drugs that can cross into the brain

Australian researchers have secured $18.8 million to develop cancer drugs that can enter the brain, where most existing treatments cannot reach.

The Australian Government is funding the project through the Medical Research Future Fund’s Frontier Health and Medical Research program.

Researchers will target high-grade gliomas, including glioblastoma in adults and diffuse midline glioma in children.

Scientists aim to overcome the blood-brain barrier, which protects the brain from toxins and infections but blocks around 98% of cancer drugs.

Professor Guillaume Lessene, the chief investigator, said patients with glioblastoma and diffuse midline glioma face particularly limited treatment options.

“Therapies that have driven breakthroughs in other cancers offer little hope for these patients, meaning survival rates for brain cancer have barely shifted in decades,” Lessene said.

Lessene is a division head and associate director of therapeutic discovery at WEHI. He said brain tumours are a leading cause of cancer-related death in Australians aged under 40.

According to WEHI, the project will use a new approach to create brain-penetrating drugs and build a faster path toward clinical trials.

Seven partners build trial pipeline

The collaboration includes WEHI, The Brain Cancer Centre, the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Queensland and the University of Technology Sydney.

Together, the seven organisations plan to establish a drug development pipeline for brain cancer treatments.

Meanwhile, WEHI said its own contribution will complement the MRFF funding, with additional support from Carrie’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer Foundation.

Lessene said the team will try to deliver drugs directly into the brain and tackle the blood-brain barrier itself.

WEHI did not give a start date for the program.