Ability Optics lights up a faster, clearer future for biotech
ANU spinoff company Ability Optics Pty Ltd is accelerating to revolutionise biotechnology with an aim to speed up early lead drug screening by 100-fold.
Founded by biophysical and optical scientists from the Optical Biofluidic Imaging Group at the John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR), the team is bringing their cutting-edge 3D imaging technology to market with support from CSIRO’s flagship ON Accelerate program, which helps research teams from Australian universities develop high potential deep tech ventures.
“At Ability Optics, we aim to challenge the speed of drug discovery by shortening a 555-day early lead drug screening process to just 5 days,” said Ability Optics Co-founders Dr Daniel Lim and Dr Tienan Xu.
Through a rigorous selection process, Ability Optics has emerged as part of ON Accelerator’s ninth cohort.
“The ON program has helped our team validate, test, and pitch our commercialisation strategies alongside the emerging deep tech start-ups,” says CEO and Co-founder of Ability Optics, Mr Zhiduo Zhang.
During the program, highly experienced advisors, venture capitalists, and potential commercial partners have highlighted the growing impact of the team’s imaging technology in drug discovery and high-throughput screening.
It took this team of optical imaging innovators both a mindset and a skillset shift to make their technology truly impactful in the real world, according to Dr Steve Lee, a JCSMR group leader and a Co-founder of Ability Optics.
“As a biophysicist and tool builder, our impact—within the limited resources of a small lab—centres on fundamental questions and discoveries regarding the physics of biology and optical imaging, with a focus on long-term implications,” he says.
“ON Accelerate let us see beyond our impact from our scientific discoveries and inventions.”
Basic research prioritises discovery, whereas industry focuses more on delivering value—and delivering it fast.
Throughout the program, advisors constantly challenged the team with tough questions like “What is your value, and to whom?”, driving a crucial mindset shift.
“It significantly helped everyone recalibrate their values to align with the tenets of our company,” remarks Steve.
For the next 15 weeks, Ability Optics will learn from domain coaches, investors and mentors to build a viable business plan.
The team feels fortunate to have been part of the ON Accelerate community and has already identified several business opportunities to move forward with the ON program’s support.
As for now, the team is focused on establishing partnerships and engaging with early adopters to purchase, test, scale, and expand their imaging technologies—technologies that will reshape how the world sees biology.
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