this weeks forbes magazine positive

PSiVida Ltd.
[ASX: PSD]
www.psivida.com.au 011 (+61 8) 9226 5099
Perth, Australia
Chief Executive: Roger Brimblecombe
What it does: Biomedical nanotech using nano-structured silicon.
Not every country has the U.S.’s advanced venture capital system to
finance the growth of young technology start-ups. “In terms of
biotechnology, Australia’s more like the U.K. and Canada,” says Gavin
Rezos, managing director of Perth, Australia-based PSiVida (pronounced
sigh-veeda). “We don’t have liquid markets and there are no
really dedicated biotech funds. Since it’s harder to raise money as a private
company in Australia, we see companies go public much earlier.”
And that’s exactly what happened when PSiVida listed 102 million
shares on the Australian stock exchange in 2000.
PSiVida’s genesis is a mix of James Bond and a company called
PSiMedica. In July 2001, Roger Brimblecombe, prior chairman of
Smith Kline & French (now part of GlaxoSmithKline [GSK]), chairman
of MVM Ventures (the venture-capital arm of the British Medical
Research Council), and now chairman of PSiVida, was brought into
QinetiQ. QinetiQ was created to establish partnerships with companies
in hopes of commercializing research from the U.K.’s defense industry.
Brimblecombe found a material called BioSilicon and PSiMedica
was born. PSiMedica makes up the core of PSiVida. It is 43% owned
by PSiVida, 44% owned by QinetiQ and QinetiQ Ventures, and 13%
owned by management. PSiMedica raised roughly $8 million in
2000.
What exactly is BioSilicon? BioSilicon is nano-structured porous
silicon and has capabilities for multiple applications across the high
growth healthcare sector, including controlled drug delivery, needleless
injection, tissue engineering and orthopedics in human and animal
healthcare. “The key discoveries that make BioSilicon an enabling
platform technology are biocompatibility and controllable biodegradability,”
Rezos explains. “The silicon is 50nm in rough scale and has a
honeycomb structure which results in a massive surface area, facilitating
dissolution in body fluids. In the body, BioSilicon turns into silicic
acid, which is found in beer and is the natural form of dietary silicon.
There have been arguments about trace quantities of silicon being good
for health, especially stimulating bone growth.”
PSiMedica’s short-term commercialization strategy is focused on
brachytherapy (localized cancer therapy). Currently, the $600 million
brachytherapy market is dominated by radioactive “seeds,” mainly used
for the treatment of prostate cancer.Not only are these seeds expensive,
but often cause significant trauma upon use. PSiMedica, in co-development
with Singapore-based PSiOncology and Singapore General
Hospital, are working on a more user-friendly treatment.
And PSiVida might provide access to other technology companies,
much in the same way that TINY gives U.S. investors exposure to privately
held nanotechnology companies. “It is possible that we will take
a direct stake in PSiOncology along with local Singaporean institutional
investors,” says Rezos. Although both PSiMedica and PSiVida are
pre-revenue and will have to endure the long life sciences drug and device
approval processes, these are both companies to watch.