A CANCER drug developed in Australia has received the green light from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a bone marrow cancer treatment. The treatment, momelotinib, has been invented at Cytopia, an Australian biotech company founded by Prof Andrew Wilks (pictured) in 1999, and listed on the ASX in 2004. The Cytopia team was headed by Wilks and Dr Christopher Burns. Wilks is currently Managing Director at SYNthesis BioVentures, a new life science venture fund, and Burns is CEO at Amplia. Prior to founding Cytopia, Wilks and his team at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research discovered and developed a suite of patents around JAK1 and JAK2, which were licensed by Cytopia. These JAK enzymes are the protein targets of Momelotinib. One of Momelotinib’s owners, Sierra Oncology, was acquired by GSK in 2022 for US$1.9b (A$2.9b), in an all-cash deal, making it the highest acquisition amount paid for a drug invented in Australia. While initially approved as a treatment for a type of bone cancer, myelofibrosis, the molecule has the potential to gain additional approvals for treating a number of inflammatory diseases. According to Wilks, FDA approval for Momelotinib is not only a personal victory but a triumph for the many scientists with whom he has worked across Australia. “Despite Melbourne boasting one of the world’s leading biomedical precincts in Parkville, Australian scientists often face a shortage of experience and capital required to maximise the value of their inventions,” Wilks concluded. JG