About EnGeneIC
Get to know the story behind the technology
EnGeneIC’s story is one of curiosity, courage, and a persevering belief that cancer treatment could, and should, be delivered with precision.
The Origins
EnGeneIC is an Australian-founded, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a world-first nanocell delivery platform designed to transform cancer treatment. It started with a promise. In the late 1990s, founders Dr Jennifer MacDiarmid and Dr Himanshu Brahmbhatt were vaccine researchers at CSIRO when one of their most skilled laboratory technicians, Kin San Lee, collapsed at the bench and was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Shortly before his death, he turned to them and said:
“If anybody can do something about cancer, you can. So go and do it.”
They began working nights on cancer research, and his words forged a partnership built on succeeding where conventional treatment could not.
The Challenge of Conventional Cancer Care
For decades, cancer treatment has relied on surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. While chemotherapy maybe important, it affects the whole body, damaging healthy cells alongside cancer cells and causing significant side-effects.
Repeated treatment can weaken patients and allow cancers to develop drug resistance. Many individuals cycle through multiple therapies until options run out, often imposing a heavy toll on quality of life. This remains one of oncology’s most enduring challenges.
At the core of this challenge is not only what drugs are used, but how they are delivered.
It was this reality that Dr MacDiarmid and Dr Brahmbhatt set out to change by rethinking drug delivery at its most fundamental level.
EnGeneIC Innovation
The EDV platform was inspired by naturally occurring bacterial vesicles and their ability to deliver material efficiently into cells. By adapting the way bacteria divide, the founders created a new form of delivery system to transport cancer therapies precisely to target cells and restore anti-tumour immune response.
EnGeneIC’s proprietary EDV platform is designed to address these limitations by:
- Delivering highly potent therapies directly to cancer cells while limiting systemic exposure;
- Triggering an anti-tumour immune response;
- Supporting repeat dosing, with the aim of overcoming multi-drug resistance; and
- Supporting affordability and broader global access to treatment.
The platform is protected by a robust international patent portfolio.
“It was very clear from the beginning that nature already had most of the answers. Our task was to recognise them.”
- Dr Brahmbhatt
“We realised bacteria already knew how to make the delivery vehicle. We just had to learn how to use it.”
- Dr MacDiarmid
Featured in SBS’s The Cancer Killers, EnGeneIC is redefining cancer treatment.
EnGeneIC Today
Core Values
The EnGeneIC team is a multidisciplinary group of passionate individuals aligned to drive the EDV platform from discovery to global impact for cancer patients.
Compassion
Developing therapies that maximise patient quality of life while delivering clinically meaningful outcomes
Fearless
Targeting high unmet-need cancers where conventional approaches have failed
Teamwork
Integrating scientific, clinical, and commercial expertise to accelerate development
Innovation
Utilising a unique platform to solve complex oncology challenges and create scalable solutions