Â鶹ֱ²¥ and Australian Red Cross Lifeblood are joining forces to develop a new faecal transplant capsule for Australian clinical trials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The partnership between Â鶹ֱ²¥ and Lifeblood aims to design and co-develop a more patient-friendly, orally administered frozen liquid Faecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) capsule, which can be used in large clinical trials with patients suffering from serious infections of the gastrointestinal tract and to investigate the use of FMT for a range of other medical conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood successfully submitted a proposal via the WA Government\u2019s Market-led Proposals pathway to expand its FMT program in Perth. Earlier this year, Lifeblood received $2.5 million in State Government funding,<\/a> with a portion of the funds being used to develop an encapsulated product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Â鶹ֱ²¥ Vice-Chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne said the groundbreaking collaboration with Lifeblood reflects a shared vision to advance medical innovation and enhance patient outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis partnership is an exciting opportunity to leverage our organisations\u2019 research excellence and revolutionise how biologicals are being used to treat life-threatening diseases,\u201d Professor Hayne said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe collaboration could see a significant step forward in advancing patient care and accessibility to treatment for thousands of Australians experiencing debilitating gut conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n FMT is a procedure that uses healthy human donor stool to help restore beneficial gut bacteria and is already demonstrated to be 90 per cent effective<\/a> in treating the serious bacterial infection, recurrent Clostridioides difficile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Traditionally, faecal transplants are administered via colonoscopy, enema or nasogastric tube, and the development of a liquid capsule, filled with screened stool, could offer a simpler treatment option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lifeblood Executive Director Stuart Chesneau said there is growing interest in FMT capsules as a preferred delivery method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is a pressing demand to make FMT more accessible for clinical trials so we\u2019re very excited to partner with Curtin on a project which has the potential to remove cost and time barriers for patients,\u201d Mr Chesneau said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n