About Us

Based in Melbourne, Spinifex is a private, venture capital backed company established in June 2005 to develop new drug candidates for the treatment and management of pain.

Focus on Pain

Spinifex focuses on pain because it is an area of high unmet medical need. Demand for pain drugs continues to increase, fuelling the growth of a market that is expected to be worth US$50 billion annually by 2020. Neuropathic pain, where Spinifex is currently active, is estimated to affect 1.5 million patients worldwide and is currently poorly treated. With a range of causes, neuropathic pain can be debilitating and a significant opportunity exists for new candidates that can deliver improved efficacy, side effect profile, time to onset and simplified dosing.

Focus on Development

Spinifex's expertise lies in the development of pain drugs - adding value to 'drug candidates' in-licensed from academia and commercial institutions by designing and implementing effective development programs. Spinifex conducts preclinical and early-phase clinical studies before actively seeking a partnership with a major pharmaceutical company to complete clinical development, file for regulatory approval, and carry out marketing activities.

Spinifex believes that its core activities of preclinical and initial clinical development are the stages in the drug development process that provide the most potential return to shareholders by avoiding the high risks associated with initial drug discovery and the high costs incurred in the late-stage clinical studies and selling and marketing products. This focus allows us to operate with a small core staff, with expertise in designing product development plans, co-ordinating the management of clinical studies and the outsourcing of various specialised tasks such as trial monitoring, formulation, stability testing, product manufacture, and packaging, in addition to preclinical safety and toxicity studies. This 'virtual' model allows Spinifex to maximise our operational flexibility while minimising overheads.

The Company

Spinifex is backed by a syndicate of experienced life science investors including GBS Venture Partners, Brandon Capital Partners, Uniseed and UniQuest. Founded in 2005, Spinifex raised an initial AU$3.25 million in Series A fundraising and announced a AU$12 million Series B funding raising in 2008 to support the further development of EMA401. This round was expanded in 2011 with Spinifex receiving an additional AU$6.25 million to broaden the Phase 2 clinical program for EMA401 to new indications in neuropathic pain. Spinifex has a strong portfolio of intellectual property around its lead compound and the use of AT₂ receptor antagonists to treat neuropathic conditions, including a granted US patent.