Startup Daily TV: Melbourne biotech Tessara Therapeutics has developed a 'mini human brain' to help find better drugs to treat diseases such as Alzheimers

Melbourne-based biotech company Tessara Therapeutics has developed microscopic 3D models of healthy and diseased brain tissues that can be used by researchers to study and discover better, more effective drugs to treat neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and epilepsy.

The ground-breaking technology has been called RealBrain, developed by a team of neuroscientists and biomaterials experts.

Because the highly reproducible neural micro-tissues are designed to mimic the physiology of the human brain it solves one of the pharmaceutical industry’s biggest problems: finding a more physiologically relevant alternative to in vitro and animal models.

The company is already producing its minimum viable product (MVP) and has shared the platform for evaluation by leading drug discovery companies and prospective commercial partners around the world, with the goal of a fully commercial product rollout within the next 18 months.

Tessara has now launched a capital raise seeking up to $10 million to fund the commercial development of the RealBrain technology, as well as commence preparations for formal preclinical studies of the RealBrain Therapeutics for regenerative medicine.

Neurological disorders are now the leading source of disability globally, and the ageing population is increasing the burden of neurodegenerative disorders.

RealBrain can be manufactured at industrial scale via a robotic manufacturing process, making it easily adoptable, repeatable, and scalable. This new technology can help reduce costs, shorten research timing and improve outcomes of neuroscientific clinical trials that will have a real impact in patients and their families’ lives.

Researchers at The Florey Institute are working to design implantable RealBrain micro-tissues for the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease and other neurological applications where cell or tissue replacement offers the potential of a cure.

Further collaborations with aim to achieve fully automated, industrial-scale manufacturing of RealBrain models for use by contract research organisations and pharmaceutical companies worldwide.

Tessara Therapeutics is one of the latest Tech23 companies, and CEO Dr Christos Papadimitriou joined us on the Startup Daily show to discuss the capital raise, the story behind RealBrain and its potential to revolutionise the development of drugs that treat neurological diseases.

Click on the link below to watch the interview.