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Matt Birney
The founders of GLP-1 receptors, the science behind Ozempic and his cousins, have become one of the most talked about medical breakthroughs of the past decade, reshaping the way the world thinks about diabetes and obesity. The numbers are staggering, the headlines are endless and the stock prices of the companies making them have reflected both.
But the West Australian biotechnology partnership thinks the GLP-1 story, as fascinating as it is, is only part of the type 2 diabetes puzzle.
ProGenis Pharmaceuticals, backed by Syngenis Labs of Perth, is working on a new class of RNA-based therapeutics designed to go where GLP-1 drugs can’t, targeting one of the primary molecular drivers of diabetes, which is insulin resistance. The difference is more important than it might seem at first.
‘Our approach is early intervention by improving insulin signaling and glucose metabolism using RNA therapy.’
ProGenis Pharmaceuticals chief scientific officer Dr Vinod Vathipadiekal
GLP-1 therapy works by affecting the body’s metabolic signaling system and reducing excess weight. Patients who stop taking them usually see their condition return. Side effects, including nausea and gastrointestinal upset, are common. Doctors have been clear on this for years. Medicine is good. However, it is not a complete answer.
“GLP-1 therapy has brought significant clinical benefits, but it is not a complete solution,” said ProGenis chief scientific officer Dr Vinod Vathipadiekal. “They work downstream, affecting metabolic signaling pathways rather than correcting the underlying molecular errors driving the disease. Our approach is early intervention by improving insulin signaling and glucose metabolism using RNA therapy.”
“Treatments that directly address insulin resistance at the cellular level will be an important treatment option for many people living with type 2 diabetes”, said Prof Bu Yeap, Clinical Leader of ProGenis.
The platform being built by ProGenis is based on antisense oligonucleotide technology. In short, chemically engineered RNA strands are designed to bind to specific messenger RNA sequences, denying or modulating the production of disease-associated proteins.
For those unfamiliar with the space, think of it as a molecular dimming switch for genetically defective instructions. Instead of preventing the consequences of an unregulated gene, therapy intervenes before those consequences are released.
Ability is important. By acting at the RNA level, it is theoretically possible to affect multiple disease pathways at the same time, thereby improving insulin sensitivity, an effect that existing therapies largely leave untouched.
What differentiates RNA therapies from conventional drugs, however, is the great technical skill required to make them reliably. They require precise chemical synthesis, careful modification to survive in the body without breaking down, and a level of quality control that goes beyond conventional pharmaceutical production. That’s where Syngenis Laboratories comes into the picture.
Operating out of Perth, Syngenis is Australia’s only commercial manufacturer of synthetic DNA and RNA oligonucleotides, currently serving researchers and biotech companies across the Asia-Pacific region. In the context of the ProGenis partnership, the company is responsible for developing high-fidelity RNA molecules that hold the therapeutic platform.
Syngenis Laboratories CEO Thomas Hanly said: “Next-generation RNA therapies require a level of molecular engineering that goes beyond conventional synthesis. Our mission is to ensure that these molecules are not only biologically relevant, but reproducible in high quality, safe and ultimately suitable for use in a controlled clinical environment.
The company is currently a research-grade manufacturer, but that is changing. It is building a “good manufacturing practice” facility in Perth, expected to be operational in 2026, making it the first commercial, human-scale short DNA and RNA manufacturing operation of its kind in Australia. For a company like ProGenis, this is a structural advantage.
Historically, Australian biotech companies developing RNA-based therapies have had little choice but to send their sensitive and critical work overseas, to labs in the US, Europe and China. That creates delays, creates supply chain risk and, under the Australian Government’s R&D Tax Incentive scheme, sits in a gray area due to the scheme’s preference for work done locally.
Syngenis estimates $130 million of GMP-grade oligonucleotide work leaves Australia each year, most of which is currently owed through the same R&D rebate. A compliant indoor facility changes that equation.
“For a company like ProGenis, having in-house access to research-grade and GMP-grade manufacturing is transformative,” Hanley said. “It allows for faster iterations, tighter quality control and significantly reduces the friction associated with offshore distribution. Most importantly, it keeps Australian innovation onshore.”
The partnership between the two companies is a practical example of how that land capacity translates into a competitive advantage in drug development. ProGenis can rapidly iterate, test molecules, optimize sequencing and scale production without the delays and compliance complexities that offshore sources introduce. In a field where clinical data timing is everything, that kind of delivery is golden.
As global diabetes rates continue to rise, the limitations of available treatment options are being increasingly considered. GLP-1 drugs will certainly remain a mainstay of treatment for many years to come.
The question, however, is what comes next, and is it possible to build a treatment that does more than control the disease and instead changes its course? It’s a question the industry is increasingly preparing to ask and one that points directly to the independent manufacturing capabilities Syngenis is working to establish.
Syngenis is not just a supplier of one drug development program. It is building a physical and regulatory infrastructure that Australian researchers, universities, biotechnology companies and diagnostic developers have never had access to before.
Academic institutions mapping disease pathways, diagnostic companies developing definitive tests and research organizations mapping molecular signatures of conditions that have defied treatment for generations need what Syngenis Labs is building. Until now, they have all had to look overseas to find it.
That is changing, and time is not a coincidence.
Syngenis Labs sits in the middle of those expectations. Its GMP facility, when completed, will represent a fundamental part of the national scientific infrastructure, the kind that determines whether a country will participate in the next era of medicine as a customer or as a contributor.
The history of medicine has always been written in step-changes, from antibiotics to vaccines to mapping the human genome. The RNA revolution is shaping up to be the next entry on that list, and the ability to develop the molecular tools that make it possible is no help. It is medium.
Syngenis Labs seems to have that responsibility, and in doing so, is helping to ensure that when the history of this medical chapter is written, Australia will not be a footnote.
Is your ASX listed company doing something interesting? Address: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
