A nanoscale imaging technology developed over more than 2 decades at The University of Queensland is moving into commercial application through Brisbane startup Accretion Bio, allowing scientists to track disease-related protein behaviors inside living neurons for early neurodegenerative drug discovery.
Tracking Single-Molecule Dynamics in Living Neurons
The platform is known as NASTIC, which stands for Nanoscale Spatiotemporal Indexing Clustering. Spun out into Accretion Bio with backing from global venture firm Antler, the technology lets researchers study real-time biological processes across space and time at the single-molecule level for the first time.
Professor Frederic Meunier led the research at UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute. “NASTIC allows us to track how key proteins move, cluster and interact inside living neurons and observe how potential drug candidates influence those behaviours,” Professor Meunier said.
The system provides an unprecedented view of what happens as diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s progress. UQ’s commercialisation company UniQuest supported the transition of the platform from an academic lab into a commercial venture.
Bridging the Functional Information Gap in Drug Discovery
Accretion Bio was founded by Phillip Craig, with technology co-founders Professor Meunier and Dr Tristan Wallis from the Queensland Brain Institute. The company plans to collaborate with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners to apply NASTIC to their programs while advancing its own neurodegenerative disease drug discovery program.
According to Phillip Craig, the pharmaceutical industry frequently makes high-stakes investment choices without essential mechanistic data regarding intracellular dynamics. “In neurodegeneration, that functional information gap is one reason programs fail late and expensively in the clinic,” Mr Craig said. “NASTIC allows us to observe how a drug candidate changes its target’s behaviour in real time, in a living cell, early in discovery. That is not an incremental improvement – it is a new class of evidence.”
Expanding Beyond Neurodegeneration Into Immunology
While the initial commercial application targets neurodegenerative disorders, the underlying platform architecture features broader utility. The system can resolve receptor clustering phenomena that govern cell signalling in immunology and oncology.
Global pharmaceutical companies have expressed interest in the technology, prompting industry-funded research already underway at the Queensland Brain Institute. Antler Australia Partner James McClure noted that Accretion Bio holds vital domain expertise for the global pharmaceutical stage.
UniQuest CEO Dr Dean Moss highlighted the collaborative effort behind the launch. “We’re proud to have helped take this technology from the lab to a company with global potential,” Dr Moss said.
Accretion Bio is scheduled to pitch at the Early-Stage Innovation Forum and exhibit within Queensland Startup Alley at AusBiotech 2026 on the Gold Coast, running from 21-23 October.
