Portfolio
Ventures founded in Western Australia
Companies created from WA medical research, supported by HTG’s venture building and investment.
OUR VENTURES
Therapeutics · Cardiovascular
Atherid Therapeutics
Atherosclerosis, the build-up of fatty plaques in artery walls, drives cardiovascular disease, which causes around 18 million deaths worldwide each year. Current medicines and procedures manage risk factors, but they don’t remove the plaque that is already there.
Atherid is developing ATH01, a first-in-class biologic that targets and removes fatty deposits in artery walls.
Founders
Associate Professor Juliana Hamzah and Professor Shirley Jansen, with the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, University of Western Australia and Health Translation Group Limited
Lead program
ATH01 — preclinical, with manufacturing to GMP standard underway
Clinical trials
Initial trials planned in people with familial hypercholesterolaemia (inherited high cholesterol)
Partners
Consumer input through Limbs 4 Life and FH Australia
Funding
HTG led Series A investment round alongside high-net-worth investors and supporting successful non-dilutive grants including AUScelerate’s TTRA and WA Government’s MRIAS program.
TRACK RECORD
Case studies from our team
Our founding members and team have translated Australian academic research into successful companies and approved medicines.
Case study · Drug reformulation
iCeutica
SoluMatrix fine-particle technology, developed by HTG executives at UWA, reformulates existing medicines so they dissolve better and work at lower doses. iCeutica was formed in 2005, sold to its US partner Iroko in 2011 at more than 10 times its first-round valuation, and its technology underpins FDA-approved pain medicines, starting with Zorvolex in 2013.
The iCeutica technology has resulted in four FDA-approved drugs.
Case study · Chronic Kidney Disease
Dimerix
James Williams and Liddy McCall, with Professor Kevin Pfleger, co-founded and co-invented Dimerix’s lead program. Dimerix is developing DMX-200 for focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a rare kidney disease with no approved disease-specific treatment. Its pivotal Phase 3 ACTION3 trial completed recruitment in March 2026, and licensing partnerships across the US, Europe, Japan and other markets carry up to $1.9 billion in potential milestones, plus royalties.
Case study · Ophthalmic device
Argus Biomedical
Spun out of the Lions Eye Institute, Argus Biomedical commercialised AlphaCor, a synthetic artificial cornea for patients at high risk of rejecting a donor cornea. With James Williams and Liddy McCall as executives, AlphaCor gained CE Mark and US FDA 510(k) clearance, and US sales began in 2003. In 2004 NYSE-listed The Cooper Companies acquired the AlphaCor and AlphaSphere assets.
Case study · Diagnostics
Resonance Health
Resonance Health (ASX: RHT) commercialised FerriScan, an MRI-based test developed at The University of Western Australia that measures liver iron without a biopsy. As CEO/MD, James Williams oversaw its regulatory approvals and first market launch, with clearance in the US, Europe and Australia. In 2013 the FDA approved FerriScan as a companion diagnostic for Novartis’s Exjade in non-transfusion-dependent thalassaemia.
VENTURE INVESTMENT
Leading early-stage rounds
As co-founders and Investment Directors of Yuuwa Capital, a $40M fund backed by the Federal Government’s Innovation Investment Fund program, HTG executives James Williams and Liddy McCall, reviewed more than 500 opportunities and led investments including:
Series B lead investment · Drug delivery
PolyActiva
Founded in 2011 by the Bionic Ear Institute, the Centre for Eye Research Australia and CSIRO, PolyActiva develops sustained-release drug implants for eye disease, including glaucoma. With Brandon Capital, Yuuwa Capital led its Series B, and the company has now raised in excess of $90 million to advance its clinical programs.
Series A lead investment · Therapeutics
AdAlta
AdAlta (ASX: 1AD) developed i-bodies, a new class of protein therapeutics modelled on shark antibodies, from research at La Trobe University and CSIRO. Yuuwa Capital led its Series A raise and supported follow-on investments through to its successful ASX listing in 2016, which funded its lead fibrosis program into clinical trials.
7+
7 FDA-approved drugs, plus devices/diagnostics from WA academic research involving our team and partners
10+
startup companies formed or managed by our founding members and team
$2B+
in exits or future milestone payments from past and ongoing projects
Have a discovery, or want to partner?
Tell us about your research or your interest, we’ll connect you with the right person.