Business View Oceania | April/May 2022

23 24 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 4, ISSUE 4 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 4, ISSUE 4 A NEW ERA FOR CANCER THERAPY We are committed to transforming current cancer treatments with our world-first oncology drug platform, TEX Core, by directly targeting tumor s whilst minimizing the toxic side-effects of traditional platinum-based chemotherapy. oncotexinc.com THE IQ GROUP GLOBAL your saliva, so you and your doctor can make educated decisions surrounding treatment and vaccination boosters.” The iQ Group Global’s second major project, the Tex Core Oncology Platform, develops compounds for cancer treatments that are designed to be tumor localising, well tolerated, MRI-detectable, and effective in the treatment of a variety of solid tumors. Dr. Syrmalis explains, “Our oncology portfolio company is commencing clinical trials for its first pharmaceutical product, the OxaliTEX compound. We will be trialling this drug for ovarian cancer resistant to platinum therapy. Ovarian cancer is dubbed the ‘silent killer’ because it is often caught in its later stages. Up to 50% of late-stage patients fail conventional platinum treatments due to a build-up of drug resistance. We have worked with the University of Texas to develop a platinum compound that overcomes said resistance, and the preclinical studies that we time, we commence research and development programmes and capitalise the product through systematic investment from our network of investors. After the first cycle of funding, we list on the stock exchange, and take the product through to completion. We seek out partnerships with the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies with whom we sublicense the end product, which they market, sell, and in many cases manufacture. Our companies then enjoy revenues through upfront sublicensing fees, and through sales, royalties, milestone payments, etc. It’s a globally unique business structure that we have implemented for the betterment of our network and the global healthcare sector.” The iQ Group Global has spurred the development of two major medical innovation platforms: The Biosensor Platform, and the Tex Core Oncology Platform. The Biosensor Platform uses Organic Thin Film Transistor (OTFT) technology to provide accurate medical testing on the spot- lessening the need for laboratory testing and placing diagnostic ability in the hands of patients and their doctors. Dr. Syrmalis explains, “Using this platform, we are the first company in the world to develop the Saliva Glucose Biosensor, which is a substitute for finger-pricking for those diagnosed with Diabetes. There are 500 million diabetics in the world, and their only option for the last 40 years has been to finger-prick multiple times per day to monitor their blood glucose. We are about to commence clinical trials on our Saliva Glucose Biosensor, which allows them to simply use our organic strip to measure their blood glucose levels in their saliva in conjunction with our digital app on their smart device. It makes finger-pricking, and the negative effects associated with it, obsolete. The bottom line is this technology will improve their quality of life dramatically, and that’s the reason for our existence.” The Biosensor Platform and OTFT technology has the potential to test for up to 150 medical indications alongside glucose measurement. The iQ Group Global is exploring diagnostic potential in Biochemistry (eg: saliva glucose, cholesterol, etc), Tumor Markers, Immunology (eg: allergens, communicable diseases), Hormones, and even Nucleic Acid analysis. The organisation has recently announced their partnership with Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, to work towards the pilot study development of the SARS COV-2 Antibody Biosensor, which uses OTFT technology to test for COVID-19 in minutes. Dr. Syrmalis says, “We know that accurate, real-time diagnostic tools are a future of global healthcare that we urgently need to accelerate into our current reality. Dependant on the outcomes of this research, we may be in a position to provide the global healthcare system with a point of care test capable of detecting SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, with the ability to provide results in minutes. And this test, it doesn’t simply give you a positive or negative result- it specifies how many antibodies are in