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Startup Daily Brisbane to the world: How biotech game-changer Gelomics expanded to 21+ countries in 5 years
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Latest Ā» Partner Content Ā» Brisbane to the world: How biotech game-changer Gelomics expanded to 21+ countries in 5 years

Business strategy

Brisbane to the world: How biotech game-changer Gelomics expanded to 21+ countries in 5 years

Adam Bub - August 14, 2023 4 MIN READ
Gelomics founder Christoph Meinert.
Dr Christoph Meinert, co-founder and CEO of Gelomics. Image: Supplied.

In partnership with

Pioneering a more ethicalĀ approach to clinical trials on animals and humans, Brisbane-based biotech startup Gelomics is having a life-changing impact in more than 21 countries. Being a part ofĀ Trade & Investment Queensland’s Go Global Export Program has been instrumental to their exporting success.

When we hear about clinical trials, it’s often about the results of a study and not the ā€˜how’.

The facts of the ā€˜how’ are sobering. More than 200 million animals are euthanised for research and development every year. Over 90 per cent of drug candidates in human trials fail, despite animal testing. It takes an average of 10 to 15 years to develop a new drug, and the cost to develop a drug is around US$2.6 billion.

Dr Christoph Meinert lives and breathes the ā€˜how’. Over the past 15 years, the researcher-turned-entrepreneur has worked in some of the world’s most prestigious labs and seen firsthand the barriers to developing lifesaving treatments every single day.

ā€œThere’sĀ literally millions of cell and animal experiments performed every single year globally in academic and pharmaceutical laboratories,ā€ Christoph tells Startup Daily. “But only a very minuscule proportion of the data that’s produced using such experiments actually predicts how human tissues and organs would react, for example, to drug candidates.ā€

While it’s been a well-known issue in the life science industry for a long time, the technology hasn’t been available to do something about it. Until now.

Evolution of a cell revolution

While studying a PhD in Bioengineering at the Queensland University of Technology, Christoph came up with a solution.

In 2021, Gelomics launched its flagship product, the LunaGelā„¢ 3D Tissue Culture System, which allows human cells to develop into microscopic representations of human tissue in a petri dish.

Traditionally, cells are grown and tested in a two-dimensional plastic petri dish, which is a “highly unnatural” environment that leads to misleading data, says Christoph.

The results are life-or-death: animal and human lives are lost due to faulty and unsafe drugs. So labs using Gelomics can undertake animal-free research that’s more accurate and cost-effective, as well as being safer and faster in identifying unsafe or ineffective drugs before they make it to trials in areas like cancer treatment.

ā€œOur 3D tissue culture approach represents a transformation to drug development and has wide ranging implications for more human and animal lives,ā€ Christoph explains.

ā€œIt’s really a game changer. Scientists can now grow tissues that are going to not only replicate a real thing, but also look, feel, and behave like it. So you can imagine tiny, beating little heart muscles or intricate vascular systems, functional livers or even microscopic little tumours that can be used for drug development.ā€

gelomics

Breast cancer tumour organoids grown in Gelomics’ product. Image: Supplied.

Exporting Gelomics to the world

Exporting the innovation was going to be key to Gelomics’ success. Like many first-time founders, Christoph went on a steep learning curve.

ā€œExporting was entirely uncharted waters for us,ā€ he tells us. ā€œWe knew that with the solution we have, we have to go global to truly have an impact on the industry. So we embarked on this journey learning about international regulations, cultural business nuances, and also the importance of local partnerships through distributors that we had as well.ā€

Trade & Investment Queensland (TIQ) proved to be a transformative partner in Gelomics’ exporting journey. Gelomics applied for TIQ’s Go Global Export Program, which gives export-ready Queensland businesses financial and on-the-ground support to finalise an export deal in a new market.

The program provides funding to help small and medium-sized Queensland businesses overcome specific challenges they are facing with a planned export transaction into a new international market, through matched funding up to $25,000 (excluding GST).

Upon receiving the grant, Gelomics were able to make inroads in Japan and get their first clients.

ā€œThe grant provided us with invaluable introductions, mentorship and on-site support,ā€ Christoph says.Ā ā€œIt was good to have somebody there to train us and mentor us throughout the process as well. So it wasn’t just about the funding, but it was also about bridging these cultural and business divides, which was establishing trust and laying a foundation for a partnership.ā€

Christoph says the grant helped kicked off what is now a “very active export program” with Japan. It also gave them the chance to provide sales and marketing training on the ground and get to know their distributor and keyĀ opinion leaders in the scientific fields they were servicing.

Since then, more countries have taken steps towards eliminating animal testing, which is only good news for Gelomics. Today, their 3D tissue culture models are being exported to more than 200 labs across the Asia-Pacific, Europe and USA.

gelomics

Vascular tissue grown in Gelomics’ product. Image: Supplied.

 

Apply for the Go Global Export Program’s 2023 grants

Christoph recommends other export-ready Queensland-based businesses seize the opportunity now before applications for this year’s program close on September 11, 2023.

ā€œMy advice would be to embrace the opportunity,ā€ he says. ā€œThe program is not just a grant. It’s really a partnership. It offers businesses a wealth of resources, networks and expertise that can be really instrumental in navigating complexities of new international geographical markets, which are often challenging to navigate initially.ā€

The Go Global Export Program is currently looking for innovative businesses across a diverse range of industries. Are you the next Gelomics?

Apply for the Go Global Export Program now for your chance to receive a $25,000 grant and support from Trade & Investment Queensland to help you export to a new market.


This article is brought to you by Startup Daily in partnership with Trade & Investment Queensland.

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Via Business strategy
Tags biotechBrisbaneQueensland
Adam Bub

Adam Bub is the Head of Commercial Media at Pinstripe Media, publisher of Startup Daily. Over the past 15 years, Adam has worked as an editor across Australia's busiest newsrooms including Mamamia and Nine Digital, as well as managing content for startups. He has spearheaded content marketing campaigns for 100s of the country's most respected brands across tech, finance, small business, lifestyle, entertainment and health.

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