If there’s a problem plaguing anyone on Earth, odds are someone in Brookvale already has, or is currently working diligently towards, the perfect solution. It comes then as no surprise, with the world grappling to com-bat the Covid-19 pandemic, that a Brookvale business, Cellabs – the oldest biotech company in Australia! – is at the forefront of producing cutting edge diagnostic assays to assist every-one monitor their immune response to the virus. Collaroy local and Cellabs founder, Dr Anthony Smithyman, tells us more.
Covid-19 diagnosis and vaccines have popularised the science of immunology, but what got you interested in this field?
I grew up in Nyasaland (now Malawi), one of the poorest countries on Earth. As a boy, I saw the devastating effects of tropical diseases, malaria especially. Children would die, waiting 3 or more days for a diagnosis, often too late to be treated. I understood, very early on, how crucial accurate diagnosis, effective drugs, in-novative vaccines and a strong immune system were to community health.
Growing up in Nyasaland, how did you become an immunologist based in Brookvale?
At age 10, I was sent to a school in Glasgow with a boarding house for far flung “children of the Empire”. Few places were farther flung than Nyasaland! I stayed in Scotland to complete a PhD in immunology, followed by a post-doc-torate in New York, forever fascinated with our disease defence systems. At this time my brother was working in Australia, sending me postcards of bright sunshine and crystal clear water. I moved to Collaroy in the early 1980’s, fell in love with the Beaches and decided my workplace wouldn’t be more than 5km from home. I set up Cellabs in Brookvale in 1985.
What exactly is the nature of the Cellabs business?
We are a diagnostics company, spe-cialising in the design, development, and man-ufacture of immunodiagnostic kits for tropical and infectious diseases. In plain English, we create tests to tell you if you have a disease. The business all started thanks to a parasite called Giardia. When I first moved here, it was an ongoing problem in the area and my family all got sick. I asked our family GP what diag-nostic tests existed. He said bluntly the current tests were as effective as tossing a coin. I got straight to work to create a more specific and reliable Giardia test which eventually was sold all over the world.
Jumping forward to the Covid-19 pandemic, what are you working on now?
We’re in the midst of the largest immunisation campaign the world has ever seen, therefore millions upon millions of people are going to want and need to know what their immune status is. By using certain key viral proteins as targets we can tell from a blood sample what level of antibodies you have developed against the virus. The net result is that your doctor will be able to assess very quickly what level of immunity you have. If you’ve been vaccinated, we can tell how you’ve responded to the vac-cine. These tests may also be used to distin-guish vaccinated people from those who have been naturally exposed, in other words have actually had Covid-19. And not only will we be able to see individual immunity levels, but we can look at whole populations, able to assess what’s happening with the virus among whole regions and zones. If everyone in a community has been vaccinated, what’s the actual level of immunity? Is it going up, down, what is really happening? Our tests will show this.
And you have a 10 minute test too?
Yes indeed. In collaboration with other partners we have developed a rapid test to detect the virus itself. As a society, we’re moving towards peo-ple having to use these tests on a daily basis, and the 10 minute test will be hugely important to know what’s going on.
Just like a pregnancy test?
Exactly! 1 line negative. 2 lines positive!