The solutions in the second round of CUREator+ Dementia & Cognitive Decline grants, backed by government’s Medical Research Future Fund, range from gene editing for childhood dementia to tools for earlier detection.
The program supports early-stage therapies, diagnostics, medical devices, assistive technology and digital health, with a focus on commercial potential.
Kinoxis Therapeutics, now based in Melbourne, scored $2.5 million to develop a treatment for chronic agitation and aggression associated with dementia, having also banked a $6.75 million equity raise.
Tasmania’s TasTest received $2.5 million for a digital self-assessment tool intended to identify dementia risk decades before symptoms appear.
Victorian startup Synerva Therapeutics secured $2.49 million to develop treatments designed to prevent nerve cell death in Parkinson’s disease and related dementias.
Queensland’s Quinthera received $2.43 million for an oral treatment targeting inflammation in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
Western Australian startup CodeBreakers was awarded $2.13 million for a gene editing treatment aiming to reverse childhood dementia caused by mitochondrial disease.
Healthily, based in Victoria, received $1.93 million to develop an AI-powered voice platform for detecting cognitive decline earlier in older Australians.
Queensland’s Intracellica Bio secured $1.61 million for an antibody treatment targeting tau inside cells, for Alzheimer’s disease and related conditions.
CUREator program head Dr Amanda Vrselja said the complexity of dementia required multiple approaches.
“These seven companies are tackling that challenge from very different directions, including gene therapy, novel medicines, artificial intelligence and digital diagnostics,” she said.
“CUREator+ is committed to helping promising Australian innovations take the critical next steps towards commercialisation. By combining funding with experienced commercialisation support, we can help researchers and founders build investable companies and ultimately move new solutions closer to the people who need them.”
