The unlisted Queensland company, which now boasts Nicholas Moore on its board and lists Yungaburra in the Atherton Tablelands as its headquarters, is aiming for a total $75 million from professional and institutional investors.

Its lead product is marketed as Stelfonta, which uses the seeds from bushwood berries, found in the Queensland rainforests. The drug is used for cancer treatment in dogs, but is now undergoing trials for use in humans for neck and head squamous cell carcinoma.

Managing director Dr Victoria Gordon said the company saw TDM as a long-term partner that was closely aligned with Qbiotics’ approach to be the business of pharmaceutical development and commercialisation.

“This funding enables Qbiotics to aggressively pursue our human drug development pipeline in both oncology and wound healing, support the marketing of our veterinary pharmaceutical, Stelfonta, and further strengthen the Qbiotics team,” she said.

Qbiotics has a veterinary-to-human drug development pipeline and was currently using the evidence from Stelfonta to investigate its active ingredient for use in treating human cancers.

In a dose-escalation safety trial in humans, four patients (18 per cent) achieved a complete response, or full tumour destruction. Two patients with melanoma also had anenestic response whcin is shrinkage or destruction of distant, non-injected tumours.

Phase 2 trials are now underway.

TDM  co-founder Hamish Corlett said the world’s biggest companies in the next few decades would be the biotechnology companies being built today.

“Despite having many of the world’s leading healthcare institutions and minds only one standalone, global pharmaceutical biotech category leader has been founded in Australia – CSL,” Corbett said.

“We believe Qbiotics has the potential to be the second. This is a rare and special opportunity. We are excited to become shareholders of a company that could change the lives of many.”

TDM paid 90 cents a share and was done on a valuation of $350 million, a 38 per cent increase on the previous capital raising in 2019.

Investors will be able to buy a stake at the same 90 cents a share.

Qbiotics has also built an impressive board including Richard Holliday-Smith as its chairman. He also chairs the ASX and Cochlear. Nicholas Moore joined in February. He was the former chief executive of Macquarie Group.

The company has a 20-year record of applying plant-derived small molecule scaffolds for applications