Companies developing a new treatment for insulin resistance and a medication-assisted therapy program for post-traumatic stress disorder have been recognised with 2025 WA Innovators of the Year Awards.
ProGenis Pharmaceuticals and Emyria Limited, both affiliated with The University of Western Australia, were awarded prize money to support the development and commercialisation of their innovations.
Perth-based biotechnology company ProGenis Pharmaceuticals was the Rio Tinto Emerging Innovation Award Winner for a new RNA treatment for insulin resistance.
Professors Bu Yeap and Girish Dwivedi, from UWA's Medical School, are clinical advisers to ProGenis Pharmaceuticals, which is investigating the use of a small RNA drug PGP-011 to treat insulin resistance in people with type 2 diabetes.
Professor Yeap, who is also clinical lead on the project, said type 2 diabetes mellitus was a major public health concern in Australia and globally, with more than one million people currently living with the condition in Australia and around 500 million worldwide.
As the winner of this award category the company was awarded $60,000 and also receives the benefits of a PhD student, through the support of Biodesign Australia.
Emyria Limited, a healthcare technology and drug development company, was Wesfarmers Wellbeing Platinum Award Winner for an advanced therapeutic model for treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder.
UWA has entered into an exclusive agreement with the company to investigate the therapeutic potential of compounds similar to the drug MDMA.
Emyria has secured the rights to a UWA library of more than 100 novel MDMA analogues (compounds), which were created in the research group of UWA medicinal chemist Associate Professor Matt Piggott, with an initial focus on drug discovery for Parkinson's disease.
As winner of this award category the company was awarded $30,000.
The awards recognise local innovators and businesses who are turning great ideas into real solutions, helping to make life better for Western Australians and build a stronger, more diverse economy.
