Thread by @harry_wasity

Victorian biomedical science and innovation come of age. #mRNA #Protein #Vaccine

A somewhat long thread:

Our #mRNA vaccine was conceptualised, invented, developed and manufactured (mostly) right here in #Australia. And has now reached #clinical trials.
heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/…

2/ To say the least: It has been a thrilling journey.

All I want is to say a few words about innovating a new class of medicine and mention some of the important people and events related to the #mRNA vaccine.

This is my short and personal tribute to them and the events

To translate a product from bench to clinic in two years is not easy- but to do that with a completely new entity that has never been manufactured or developed in the history of Australia - mRNA vaccines- is even more challenging. But our team was up to the challenge.

But to do that- we couldn't only labour in the lab. We had to campaign. As one of the first mRNA therapeutics labs, we started campaigning on/off the media all the way back when the pandemic started. Here in April 2020- the importance of manufacturing:

https://twitter.com/harry_wasity/status/1250940259874926592?s=20&t=UhBtuOc8gJHseJxKr40viQ

All the way back: Out of the three designs, one was then selected:

https://twitter.com/harry_wasity/status/1245288644371304448?s=20&t=UhBtuOc8gJHseJxKr40viQ

The importance of rapid response and necessity of developing mRNA (March 2020):

https://twitter.com/harry_wasity/status/1239756800762626049?s=20&t=UhBtuOc8gJHseJxKr40viQ

And all the way into January and Feb 2020 and before COIVD19 has officially reached Aus, we campaigned for mRNA manufacturing necessity

https://twitter.com/harry_wasity/status/1223442069995175936?s=20&t=UhBtuOc8gJHseJxKr40viQ

I am proud of our groups' dedication. To name a few: our leader @ColinPouton, Thomas Payne, Asuka Takanashi, @EstelleSuys, Ruby Kochappan, Stewart Fabb, Serena Teo, Joan Ho and we have gone through many ups and downs- but has been an absolute privilege to work with everyone.

I am very thankful for @MIPS_Australia and @MonashUni support- mRNA product invented and developed at Monash is something we are all proud of and is something that universities can and should do more of! A program at this scale can only be done with great leadership from the top.

Also to mention the collaborators and the entire team of @IDTAus - who has been a great partner to manufacture the product- we learned so much from each other.

To the @TheDohertyInst team, great, professional, competent scientists who have been instrumental in testing and leading many aspects of the major program and now the trial- to develop 1 product into the clinic is challenging, to develop 2 simultaneously is on a different level

In particular, program CIA Dale Godfrey, Damian Purcell, Georgia Deliyannis, Samantha Grimley, Terry Nolan and their teams. Special thanks go to Damian Purcell who believed in our mRNA story from Day 1- he has been absolutely instrumental for the product to reach here.

Finally, I would also want to recognise many others who believed in this story- the journalist who first brought the attention to our work: Esp @NC_Robinson @YolandaRedrup and @KristyMayr7.

All the other supporting life science professionals from different companies who made it possible to research and develop the mRNA (NEB, Thermofisher, assay matrix, Cytiva, Merck and Sigma)- I want to highlight the dedication and patience of @TiffanyPang11 and Tom Spink.

Perhaps most importantly, I would like to thank the funders who made this possible. In particular to the #MRFF funding. And the Vic Gov funding through #mRNAVICTORIA- in particular, I want to highlight the faith and enthusiasm of @JaalaPulford throughout this journey.

It takes a village to bring a #biotech product to market- not one individual. And now that this milestone is at the door, we are looking to expand the use of mRNA to many applications: from curing genetic diseases to tackling pathogens to cancer.

The future is bright: but Australian innovation needs more than science- it needs courage, it needs dedication to translation and commercialisation and needs to be developed HERE. This is how you develop new economies: you lead, do it here and ride on a thrilling journey.

The project has been an amazing collaboration between universities, institutes, governments, industry and manufacturing sectors. This has taught us a lot to apply for future mRNA products that will be developed right here in Australia.

All I ever wanted is to invent and innovate. To see science make a real impact on people's lives and economies- This is very personal to me and is my passion. And to be deeply involved in developing and inventing this mRNA vaccine is an absolute privilege.