A technology developed at The University of Queensland allowing scientists to observe how disease-related proteins behave inside living neurons will be used to advance early drug discovery for neurodegenerative diseases.<\/p>\n
The NASTIC (Nanoscale Spatiotemporal Indexing Clustering) platform, spun out into Brisbane-based startup Accretion Bio, enables researchers to study real-time biological processes in living cells across space and time at the single-molecule level for the first time.<\/p>\n
The platform is the result of more than 2 decades of research at UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute<\/a> (QBI), led by Professor Frederic Meunier<\/a> .<\/p>\n Professor Meunier said NASTIC emerged from a fundamental scientific question about how proteins behave in living brain cells.<\/p>\n “NASTIC allows us to track how key proteins move, cluster and interact inside living neurons and observe how potential drug candidates influence those behaviours,” Professor Meunier said.<\/p>\n “It provides an unprecedented view of what happens as diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s progress.<\/p>\n “Progressing the platform from discovery to commercial application is an opportunity to help researchers and drug developers make better-informed decisions, and ultimately, improve outcomes for patients affected by neurodegenerative diseases.”<\/p>\n With support from UQ’s commercialisation company UniQuest, NASTIC has been spun out into startup Accretion Bio<\/a> , backed by global venture firm Antler<\/a> .<\/p>\n Accretion Bio was founded by Phillip Craig with technology co-founders Professor Meunier and his QBI colleague Dr Tristan Wallis.<\/p>\n Mr Craig, Accretion Bio CEO, said the company would work with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners to apply NASTIC to their programs while advancing its own neurodegenerative disease drug discovery program.<\/p>\n “The industry has been making high-stakes decisions about which targets to pursue and which drug candidates to advance without a crucial layer of mechanistic data about what’s actually happening inside a living cell,” Mr Craig said.<\/p>\n “In neurodegeneration, that functional information gap is one reason programs fail late and expensively in the clinic.<\/p>\n “NASTIC allows us to observe how a drug candidate changes its target’s behaviour in real time, in a living cell, early in discovery.<\/p>\n “That is not an incremental improvement – it is a new class of evidence.”<\/p>\n While Accretion Bio’s initial focus would be on neurodegeneration, the platform could also resolve receptor clustering which drives cell signalling in immunology and oncology.<\/p>\n NASTIC has drawn interest from global pharmaceutical companies, and industry-funded research using the platform is already under way at QBI.<\/p>\n Antler Australia Partner James McClure said Accretion Bio was playing a vital role in the drug discovery lifecycle.<\/p>\n “The startup has true domain expertise and an ideal CEO to bring this successfully to the global pharmaceutical stage,” he said.<\/p>\n UniQuest CEO Dr Dean Moss said the UQ research team had developed a powerful new capability with the potential to advance drug discovery around the world.<\/p>\n “We’re proud to have helped take this technology from the lab to a company with global potential,” Dr Moss said.<\/p>\n “Accretion Bio demonstrates the strength of Queensland’s innovation ecosystem and the impact that can be achieved when researchers, entrepreneurs and investors come together around a shared vision.”<\/p>\n Accretion Bio will pitch at the Early-Stage Innovation Forum and exhibit in Queensland Startup Alley at AusBiotech 2026 on the Gold Coast from 21-23 October.<\/p>\n