Lightning Moment with Nobel Prize Winner Spurs on Misti’s Smart Inhaler for Advanced Respiratory Therapeutics

It was after an email exchange with Nobel Prize winning scientist Dr Kati Kariko, that Dr Anushi Rajapaska had a lightning moment and decided to back her research innovation – founding Mellbourne-based startup Misti to develop a ‘smart inhaler’ based on acoustofluidics. It’s engineered to deliver a wide range of biomolecules—including mRNA, antibodies, small molecules, and antigens. 

It’s a first-in-class solution for both chronic and infectious respiratory conditions using super-sonic sound waves to generate ultra-fine aerosol for lung delivery of respiratory medications. While smart circuitry enables breath-triggered dosing and seamless digital integration.

Anushi joins the podcast to talk about her 15 year innovation journey from PhD findings to setting up a global team connected to San Diego with a Victorian manufacturing base, the benefits of taking part in the JP Morgan Healthcare Week in early 2026 with Global Victoria’s delegation and the connections she has forged.

We also find out about her recent trip to BIO China in Suzhou where she took part in a panel discussion alongside MTPConnect CEO Stuart Dignam about how biotech startups can navigate cross-border collaboration between China and Australia. 

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Transcript

Welcome And Country Acknowledgement

Natalie Vella 0:01

This the MTPConnect Podcast, connecting you with the people behind the life-saving innovations driving Australia's growing life sciences sector from bench to bedside for better health and well-being. MTP Connect acknowledges the traditional owners of country that this podcast is recorded on and recognises that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are Australia's first storytellers and the holders of first science knowledge.

Caroline Duell 0:33

Hello and welcome to the MTPConnect Podcast. I'm Caroline Duell.

Meet Misty And The Mission

Caroline Duell 0:38

Today we're in Melbourne with a Melbourne-based start-up called Misty that's developing the next generation of smart inhalers to deliver advanced respiratory medications. We're delighted to be joined by MISTI CEO, Dr. Anushi Rajapaksa, to find out more about her founder's journey, how her MedTech startup is operating between Melbourne and San Diego, and hear about her recent trip to Biochina. Welcome to the podcast, Anushi. Thank you so much, Caroline and MTP Connect, for having me today. Well, let's kick this off. I'm really interested to find out you founded Misty in 2022. Tell us what inspired your start-up.

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 1:18

Yeah,

The Lightning Moment Behind Misty

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 1:19

so I call them lightning moments, as it should rightly be called. So the underpinning discovery that forms the foundation of MISTI was an accidental discovery during my PhD. So what we discovered is a way of turning a complex, fragile biologic molecule to be able to turn that into a breathable mist that retains the its original structure. Since then, I actually didn't progress this work until I had a family member, my own son, with a number of respiratory conditions. And we were dealing with him in and out of E.D. and hospital. I worked in a hospital at the time, you know, which could, you know, which was really interesting. And it became kind of my, I guess, you know, this, you know, life's work to progress this technology into the clinic. And I then uh, you know, decided to kind of, you know, look into this field and explore a little bit on the market demand side of things. Um, and I didn't incorporate the kind of the company until there was this transformative conversation. That conversation was an email to uh a leading uh scientist uh who hadn't won the Nobel Prize at the time, um, called Katalin Karikó. We all know she's the pioneer of mRNA vaccines. Um, and I probably sat on that email for too long, to be honest, and um wrote an email saying this is you know what what we've been working on, and uh, you know, something, you know, this this discovery could be transformative to the field. Um, do you do you think this there's value commercially in progressing? I think she responded within two hours, being on the other side of the world. It was literally this, I still remember like very strongly, um, and it is a formative memory now, um, on, you know, we we've been trying to work, we've been working on this for a number of decades. What have you got? And since then, it just was this kind of uh lightning moment, I have to say, to really take on the responsibility of progressing this technology because the I guess the commercial, clinical, uh, and scientific demand was validated through an external uh KOL that meant that you know that the fuel needed to be revitalized and um you know progressed. So hence why I'm here right now, very passionate about this problem that we're

Why Current Inhalers Fail Patients

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 3:39

solving.

Caroline Duell 3:39

What an what an inspiration. And what's wrong with the current inhalation devices? What sort of person needs this type of therapy delivered via an inhaler or a nebulizer?

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 3:52

Yeah, so there are a number of devices out there, and despite a lot of significant effort from um, you know, a lot number of teams around the world, what we do find is that the current uh technologies, including nebulizers and inhalers, fall short in in a couple of aspects. One is in terms of efficiency in delivery. So we now know that 80% of people misuse their inhalers. And this is not to do with the fact that, you know, we, you know, it's you know, it's just been designed with, you know, adults in mind, and we're talking about kids with so much going on around them, and if they're, you know, if they've got complications and they're, you know, happen to be neurodivergent, or they're dealing with a complication or comorbidity, the it's a struggle. Like it's a struggle for the parent, it's a struggle for the child, it's it's just it's just doesn't work. So what happens in that situation is that around 80, 70 to 70 percent of the actual drug is not delivered to the right, uh, and and what that leads to is suboptimal clinical outcomes. So what we're trying to do is, you know, literally put the patient at the center of our technology design and also put and provide that feedback to the clinician as well and the parent so that there's no mental gymnastics going on during the treatment time, and we, you know, we're providing that clinical care um as needed on demand for the P and understanding the patient need front and centre.

Building A Hands Free Smart Mask

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 5:15

.

Caroline Duell 5:15

So describe the inhaler, tell us about the actual product that you've developed.

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 5:20

Yeah, so we're hyper laser focused on um MedMisti. So MedMisti is our uh a clinical grade medical device technology, uh, and it is a drug agnostic platform technology. What that means is that we could be uh looking at a number of you know clinical indications, um, including chronic patients, you know, this includes your COPD, cystic fibrosis, asthma, uh, and even you know, we're looking at adjacent fields like you know, diabetes, for example. There's a number of different uh spaces that we've gone into, including uh space and defense. Um so from that perspective, we looked at um, so our technology is addressing um uh in the first instance uh an indication that is uh pediatric focused. And what that forces us to do is um design uh a product that, you know, A is in a very high needs population uh and is targeted towards a use case that is um you know really has a burning problem in this space. And we now understand that, you know, um the initial market that we're looking at is a $1.4 trillion opportunity. Um and the biologic space in particular is is is an exploding space at the moment, and you know the the beachhead is at 100 174 billion. It it just is just mind-blowing how fast things are moving. So that that's the opportunity ahead of us, and uh and we're focusing on providing a digital connected care, smart platform technology that you know puts the patient at first.

Caroline Duell 6:56

It is a device, obviously, as you say, it's digitally linked and it delivers some sort of respiratory medicine. Is it a worn device or is it a something that you hold? Can you talk us through it?

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 7:07

So at the moment, our form factor looks as though it looks like a mask. Um, and there are a number of benefits in in going for this form factor, especially with kids, you know, who you know have want to run around, you know, have so much going on, uh, hands-free, nature is very attractive for that reason. Uh, and we've actually uh done an early pre-pilot usability study where we actually compared this form factor um with the standard current standard of care, which has a mask, a tube, a spacer, and the inhaler. So it's quite long, even the current standard of care as it's approved. And our technology we put, you know, kind of side head on side by side, and I asked, you know, as petrifying as it is to ask kids what you think about you know your technology, we asked them that question. And in those early studies, what we found is that, you know, over 82% of our participants preferred to use our technology, even though we knew that it was in no means perfect at all. And so what we then then what we then did is took all the feedback that we got. Yes, we would like to make it a bit lighter, we would like to do all this, you know, maybe we can have you know other characters in there, it's a bunny nose at the moment. Um, you know, can we have Superman? Yeah, probably can, but you know, all this kind of feedback that we get got from uh early adopters to or you know users to give us the feedback, which then the next form factor might look a little bit different to to a mass, but you know, at the moment we're focused on this you this form factor because we understand for that population it is quite attractive.

Caroline Duell 8:43

Yeah, so you've got a quite a complex device here because you've obviously got to develop the device so that it's user-friendly and that that especially having something you know that you have to breathe in and uh, as you say, a mask type of thing. Um, so that's quite complex, and obviously you've been working with users and it's it's user-centric, which is great to hear. Um, talk us through the technology that, you know, is obviously invisible to the naked eye. What's

The Transducer That Controls Delivery

Caroline Duell 9:14

really driving this smart inhaler? What's the difference here?

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 9:17

Yeah, so so the key, um, I guess the technology moat lies in our, I guess, the underlying discovery of um what we now call a transducer technology. So it's a programmable way of controlling, tuning the particle size so that we can actually go precise in different regions of the lung. So that that's that that's that that's the key kind of technical technical moat. And so what that allows us to do is you know, work with interesting biological medicines. So your vaccines, your mRNA, plasmid DNA, monocle antibodies, even stem cells. There's a nut range of therapies that we could be working on. And we have decided to focus on one particular therapy being the mRNA, and hence the reference to Professor Kathleen Cariko. Um, and because this technology allows us to transform a molecule that is known to be sensitive into an elegant formulation that is a mist. Um, and and and that is the code key differentiator with our product with existing uh technologies that are out there.

Caroline Duell 10:23

So it's going to be delivering mRNA mist. Double M. Double M. I love it. So you've talked about this sort of um, I guess, reach out to um, you know, a Nobel Prize winner who's been working in this space, and it must have set off a chain reaction of perhaps international connections. Suddenly you were part of a global effort. Tell

Growing Globally From Two Hubs

Caroline Duell 10:48

us about, you know, navigating that and finding the people to work with to help you bring this to reality.

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 10:55

Yeah, I've always kind of thought about um, you know, global from day one, only because um, I guess, you know, the the person that I did my PhD with, I uh, you know, Professor James Friend, you know, had moved on from Melbourne to San Diego. So, so there you go. Uh, and and so so that was like a wonderful connection to to have uh a key opinion leader in this space, um, in rooted in San Diego, we now know, is a biotech hub in in the US uh and a number of uh, you know, a whole lot of interesting activity. And we've got a company uh that's you know a large medical device company headquartered in Sydney, also based in San Diego, which was quite complimentary, um, to have this kind of dual hub. Uh, so at one point we had uh two members of our team, and now it's three in the US, and majority of us in Melbourne. So we kind of made you know this kind of hybrid working ways of working, you know, from the day one because we didn't have any other choice. We had the best people we could find, that we have established wonderful connections with, uh, that we have published together. We have um, you know, had working relationships that span a couple of decades from from that point. So we then brought, I guess that, you know, it's about kind of formalizing who who is doing what and then how we're gonna progress things, including, you know, we then had to transfer, you know, early manufacturing protocols from San Diego all the way to Melbourne. Um, and and then, you know, building capability here. So all of that happened because we were, we had those connections built up. And I think that's kind of the value of you know this Melbourne ecosystem because you are truly global anyway, and then you kind of go off into, but you still keep in touch, and then you kind of bring in that expertise as as kind of needed. So it didn't happen overnight, I have to say, and it was these relationships and connections and trust that we've built over a number of decades that just came together. And and and I think I have from then on, we collected a lot of um amazing people that have been world leading truly in their own fields. And one such person I have to mention in this podcast is Professor Bruce Thompson, who is now uh uh you know a key pinion leader for us, and we've got a national industry PhD funded and an amazing um you know student who's driving that project in the biologic space. So it's been fantastic to have you know all of that in Melbourne. So from the get-go, um, you know, I've always had a passion for, I guess, training the next wave of I guess STEM individuals or and now I call them the future founders, because um I realized that A, the the top talent, you know, sits in the next generation. Uh, and and the and and the speed uh and the ways of thinking, the new perspectives, they're not gonna, they're gonna come from diversity of port. Uh, and so um I actually was um tapped on the shoulder with uh a mentor who said, Have you seen this program? And I know I know it was initially funded through MTP Connect, and we took on, we sat on actually, I had a call from what's up, someone from there just then, and it was around, all right, we'll just get one APR inter and then sat on an interview. Oh, the caliber was just outstanding. We ended up taking not one, but two, and and you know, one of them actually ended up uh staying with us, and and that is where the connection to APAC started, because one thing I think led to another in terms of like, you know, they were supporting this project, and at that time they were planning their wedding. And I met their father at the wedding, who happened to have a manufacturing footprint in APAC. We were just and then dinner conversations happened, and next thing you know, you're talking, you know, signing MOUs in, you know, so so this, you know, this is kind of you know, and building on trust, capability, uh, and you know, understanding, you know, that this kind of mutual benefit each of these partners bring to the table, and then just trying to um, you know, make make the most of the resources that you have and uh leverage. And I think that that's kind of been our you know, bootstrap mentality, you know, um, which has been really amazing. So the human capital that I have been blessed to, you know, bring progress. This technology has been amazing.

Prototyping And Manufacturing In Melbourne

Caroline Duell 15:16

And that's right, you've you have set up a Melbourne manufacturing base. So you're manufacturing, uh is it a prototype at this point?

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 15:24

So we've progressed, our proof of concept design is complete. So we put that into a usability study, and we're now hyper focused on our alpha prototype. Um, the transducer is being made in Melbourne, which is amazing, um, in particular it's at the Melbourne Center for Nanofabrication. So they're a partner of the National Industry PhD. Uh, and uh all of the, and that happens in a Class 10,000 clean room, and so we we we do all of that here. We will hit a ceiling in terms of scale, so hence why we're exploring, you know, what happens from then onwards. But we understand that there is capability in Australia to take it to the next level as well, beyond, you know, when we get ISL 13405 compliant and all the or you know, all of the regulatory hurdles that we will, you know, we will meet over time. And and then, you know, doing it here is just amazing.

Caroline Duell 16:13

You've talked about the matchup of med my sty with biologics. So you're talking about uh vaccine delivery.

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 16:22

Yeah, so the national industry PhD project is focused on biologics, in particular mRNA, and so um that's based. So mRNA can be used as a therapeutic or prophylaxis, so it can be used as either. So at the moment we are looking at a kind of a generic m, like assume in a generic mRNA formulation that to show to pro to progress it, yeah, is a formulation efficiency right, is a pharmacokinetic, you know, profile correct, all the rest of it. But then um, you know, because it's kind of a you know five-year horizon project um for that you know for that space, but there's a whole lot of activities to that has to happen in terms of de-risking each stage from a technology device perspective, and that's what we've been focused on from a company, and then that happens in, you know, it's a wonderful uh I call this the speed train, and then that's the uh the the other train, which will then come to the one platform. That's a lot of coordinating. Oh, yeah, that's the founders that that is the founder's role, isn't it? I think you know, because you kind of have to stay focused on getting the product, the first product to market, and then uh, you know, it's it's uh an opportunity, it's a multi-indication opportunity. So it's about how do we maximize, you know, what platform technology we have got to make the most of value adding to a partner uh with a biologic uh that de-risks a whole lot of activity that we have done so that they can then progress that further.

Caroline Duell 17:56

And along the way, I know you've been involved also in something called

BridgeTech Win And JP Morgan Lessons

Caroline Duell 18:00

the Bridge Tech program.

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 18:01

So, not me directly. So I saw chief medical officer who is actually currently based in Nashville, Tennessee. I I need to mention her in this podcast. Dr. Daniel Esler is Melbourne-born, Melbourne-raised girl who is based in the US at the moment, but she is a public health physician, and uh, you know, so she won the pitch, the last pitch in the Bridge Tech program. And how we use that funding is to attend JP Morgan Conference, which is how we ended up in San Francisco earlier this year. And um, and then the Bridge Tech program separately asked me to do their keynote uh last year for their latest cohort, which was really wonderful, like a full circle moment.

Caroline Duell 18:43

Well, tell us about the the JP Morgan Healthcare Week, because you know that's a destination I think that a lot of startups looking for funding uh you know have on their bucket list. What was the experience like?

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 18:56

So I have to say, um, a respiratory clinician actually again tapped me on the shoulder and said, Anushi, if you're not there, you're not even in the game. So um, which was like, okay, wake up. Um, and and and so because Danielle was already um rooted in the US, it was actually a compliment for me to go over. Uh, and we were supported by Global Vic, um, who have an office in, and we are um very grateful for their support in terms of facilitating those meetings and partnerships because you know it is quite overwhelming, uh, even you know, going to that space. So I think what we did is we made the most of every opportunity and meeting that we had. So we, you know, we we met investors, um, and I don't think I've ever met that many investors in a given amount of time. Uh, in particular, I have to say, when you say investors, there's a caliber. So, so what I'm saying is, you know, the the ones that are calling the shots. So they're the ones that attend JP Morgan, which I think is really valuable for early stage founder. You know, look, you might think you're too early, but you're, you know, you you've got to build these connections early because you, you know, when you're raising a series A round, those connections are not going to happen, you know, when you're raising, you're gonna happen now. Um, and so it's it's often uh I went with that mindset of like, this is what we're doing, let's just learn more about each other. And in in the US, they call it vibes. And I was like, is that now a thing? Right. So this is a thing now. So so it's about learning from each other and value adding to each other's journeys and and and also a lot of investors in the US. Um, so what they first did, we met with one, they introduce us to a founder that they've invested in.

Caroline Duell 20:40

Uh-huh.

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 20:41

That was interesting because we kind of connected and we could value add to each other. So I think they're also testing if you were a portfolio company, how are you guys going to work together? So I think it's it's it was really interesting way of looking at um, you know, a US investor, which is very similar to, I think, Melbourne ecosystem, because I think the portfolio companies kind of work together, you know, have those kind of organic connections anyway. And we have a number of med tech ecosystems in Melbourne as well. And it is very similar in the US. So I think what they're kind of a sense is are you going to be a good fit for that community, which I think is really valuable. Um, so so we've we've made a number of, you know, we met not just investors, but also founders who are building, you know, in the biologic space, in software space, who are also complementary to what we're doing. And, you know, and you know, without asking, sometimes they would make wonderful connections. So we we we were connected to Meow Clinic, for example, from one connection. So things like that just hap happens just by I think being there and I I think just exploring and just wanting to learn more and be being curious. Um, and I think that's uh kind of a very different mentality that Melbourne maybe should have because I I find that the Europeans were already heading to the US very early, way ahead of before they felt they were ready. Which I thought was really interesting. I met another female founder who were there, who was at San Francisco, and she told me, I'm actually here next year. But I came this year to prepare for next year. And I thought, wow. Yeah.

Caroline Duell 22:14

That's a long-term investment, isn't it, from a business perspective?

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 22:18

Correct. So I think there's a lot of preparation involved just going there and exploring. And it is, it is as they describe, chaotic, overwhelming, sensory overwhelm. That that that is exactly how I would describe it. But but it is short-lived, you know, it's like probably something that should have taken a month, squished into three days or four days. And so you've just got to experience it. It's very difficult to explain it, what happens in that Hilton lobby, as they as they call it.

How To Get Investor Meetings

Caroline Duell 22:46

If you had some sort of tips or things that you've sort of noticed from that experience to get your profile out there and to be profiled, what what do you need to do to sort of get yourself in front of investors there? Do you have to use their platform to book in the meetings or do you do pre-reach out, you know, before you go, that type of thing?

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 23:03

This is where kind of the connection to government is really helpful because we were, we had a lot of advice before we went to San Francisco with from Global Week. And so we kind of knew ahead of time what to expect and line up meetings where possible. And they do have a lot of, you know, what are they called partnering platforms. And some of some of them are facilitated and can be facilitated during, you know, you know, depending on what you have available from those interactions with government bodies. So I think, you know, we were fortunate to have uh been you know put forward for one such opportunity. And then we, you know, again make made the most of it because it it just because when you go there, there's you know a lot of people. And some of sometimes some high-profile investors are like they're not, they might not be there, but that their associates or someone that have direct linked to them might be planted in that room. So um we um so I think it's about just kind of making knowing, you know, doing the pre-work and knowing who is who, what are their latest investments, how do they invest, what does their fund look like, what are the what does the due diligence process look like? How long is it? You know, all of these questions a little bit early. So you prepare as much as possible. So you go into those meetings a little bit more informed. Um, but at the same time, be ready for, you know, a strategic that you might meet at the water cooler, you know, out of all the places. And and and that could happen too, um, because founders are really good at founders are really good at connecting investors to other founders. And I've done that, and I think I've been blessed to have a lot of other founders who do the same. And so we kind of have this ripple-on effect, it's gonna hit somebody. So we kind of just do it, and so it becomes uh, and you know, and that's how we met one perspective, and you know, we, you know, we we then have really great traction with this particular individual. Um, and we we are exploring, you know, kind of, you know, connections to US a little bit more um in intimately because of the deep kind of, I guess, you know, say for example, reimbursement is quite intimate in uh a particular sector, particularly in MedTech. So leveraging that know-how is super valuable even at an early stage because then we could position for you know the pricing strategy, align all of that to that. Um, and and that's really valuable because every state to state in the US is very diverse. And so understanding that, you know, which which is your, you know, what's your target, and then kind of you know, positioning it and aligning is then then becomes a lot easier. So so I think it was really valuable from that perspective to understand how do they think? Um, how do we, you know, being over here, as they call it, down under, how do we then position ourselves to be valuable and attractive? Um, and and I think there is, I have to say, a lot of recognition for Australian startups in the US, more and more so, because of the caliber of research and the development and the speed that we bring, that then becomes, you know, um very productive for for US um you know counterparts. So I think it's about positioning it in in that way.

APAC First With US Validation

Caroline Duell 26:16

Is your target to launch you know first in the US? Is that your plan or is it still open?

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 26:22

Actually, no, we've always had a strong pool from APAC and we've prioritised that. Um and and it's to do with the respiratory you know conditions being worse in that part of the world because of air pollution, aging population, and you know, uh, you know, the the respiratory capital happens to be in closer to us. So we've just gone with that model, but we but the feedback from that market has been that we would love for you to get regulatory approval from a US body, which means we have to go to US, US per se. But you know, and then uh but then obviously get that feedback. And you know, having that feedback means that we then can position our reg strategy and all of that to align. But you know, we are, you know, at the moment we we have, I guess, a horizon mapped up in terms of like which markets when, uh, and you know, and then then kind of just executing that plan,

BioChina Takeaways From Suzhou

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 27:14

really.

Caroline Duell 27:14

Talking about APAC, you were recently in Suzho uh at Biochina. Uh, MTP Connect CEO Stuart Dignam was there as part of a panel session at Biochina, um, a discussion about how biotech startups can navigate cross-border collaboration between China and Australia. And you were on that panel. Tell us about Suzhou.

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 27:39

Yeah, it's mind-blowing. Um, I think we, you know, the whole time, Stuart and I, we were we went on a couple of uh the panel was incredible. We were both invited by um a Melbourne-based um investor, Boson Ventures, and uh and and Betty Zhang did the keynote, and then we were part of the panel with Betty and Anne Law from WEHI Ventures and also a few others, um Sophie from CSL and uh Professor Lee from Monash. So it was fantastic to have this diverse and really productive panel. Um so the key takeaways was that you know China and in particular there you know in APAC is becoming a central hub for biologic manufacturing. And you know, there is for us, it it you know it's a productive customer that you know we could value add. And so we've been exploring that for you know for over time. Um, Misty won the Melbourne um future cities challenge. So Melbourne's mayor was in Nanjing uh six less than six months ago, and uh, you know, we we won the first prize. And so this is this was my third visit in like a span of like nine months or something, which has been incredible, I have to say. And every time you go, you learn, and then you kind of go deeper and deeper because it's it's it's very it's it's impossible to take the breadth scale of everything that is happening in the one one point. But but what we learned is that you know some of the world's biggest, you know, Fortune 500 companies, for example, uh have a footprint in Suzhou. There you go. So so that tells you something, uh, and that shows that there is value in exploring uh that space for, you know, no matter you know your company small or large, but having that conversation, learning, having that curiosity mindset and learning is really important, but at the same time, keeping your focus to which market you're going, because otherwise you, you know, as a young startup, you cannot do everything. You you have to stay uh focused to the the key use case that you're you're solving and the market uh market needs. So that's really, really important. So that's that's that that's been our Suzhou story, and and really I would encourage any founder to take up you know an opportunity like that and go and visit because this you know there's so much to learn, especially in the you know, in the medtech space, it's valuable.

Funding Milestones And The 2-3-year Vision

Caroline Duell 29:53

Tell us where is Misty sort of right now and where are you aiming to be in the next sort of two to three years?

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 30:00

Yeah, thank you, Caroline. So we've just closed a round uh and we're focused on uh building out our alpha prototype and which is which has already commenced. Um and uh and our next uh we're you know, we're raising um you know another round to help progress our technology to meet our next milestone. Um, you know, the the JP Morgan experience helped solidify, you know, the leading, you know, who is the lead investor? Where are they gonna come from? All of those conversations were strengthened by you know attending JP Morgan conference and you know, in particular the US presence that we do have, we have always had US presence from day one. And and strengthening that was really, it's a really strong comment that they come, oh, you already have someone in the US, which was really in our case, we have more than one in the US, which is also really good. Um, and then kind of navigating this, I guess, this pool that we have, you know, we've we're here in Australia, we've got a market opportunity in AIPAC and kind of an in you know capital market in the US, which is so I think Australia is very strategic in that sense. We're right in the middle. So yeah, that that that's also a kind of a strategic uh you know angle for us. And so uh, you know, for the next level, so we we've been really thinking hard about, you know, what is our next two to three year plan? And to be honest, after uh coming back from JP Morgan, we've actually been really hyper-focused on the 2030 vision because that's when we're going to be on the market and what does success look like for us. Um, and and I have absolute clarity on that because you know, we've had I've attracted mentors who live in San Diego who kind of push my thinking and you know, and you know, uh a few individuals that I've met are, you know, um, that have really shaped my thinking and really pushed my uh, you know, I guess the limits of my thinking at least to kind of think, oh, we could actually reach this point. So we're positioning our company for a, you know, we're tapping into the 174 billion market in the biologic space. We we are targeting uh, you know, a valuation of 200, 300, 300 million if um in that space. And we are really, really, really interested in, you know, building partnerships with partners who've got OSMEs, who have got interesting products in the biologic space, looking at the lung and if we can value at to help them unlock a market opportunity, that is where we see our biggest uh, I guess, joy um and and you know, and and value at. So I think that's that is how we see uh in a progression for the next kind of weeks, prioritizing partnerships um and building product uh that meets the needs of our patients.

Caroline Duell 32:34

We wish you all the best. It sounds like an absolutely insane ride. And obviously, yeah, exciting, exciting journey backed up with a lot of synchronicity, I would say, from the sort of the startup medical uh scientific community.

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 32:50

Absolutely. I have to say we've got the right ingredients and the right people. And you know, we've we are growing, we've got amazing uh people that have joined soon to be announced and soon to be announced news coming through. Um, and which is, you know, I'm really, really, really um passionate and you know proud of the team that we built over time and the incredible that work that we will do, and also the value that we will add to the patients that really mean so much to the clinicians that we care about and value add to their clinical workflow. So that's where you know we will find the biggest joy.

Caroline Duell 33:27

Well, thanks for coming on the MTP Connect podcast, Dr Anushi Rajapaksa. It's been an absolute pleasure.

Dr Anush Rajapaksa 33:33

Thank you so much, Caroline, and to the entire MTP Connect team for having me. And I I really enjoyed this too.

Caroline Duell 33:41

You've been listening to the MTP Connect podcast. This podcast is produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri people here in Naarm, Melbourne. Thanks for listening to the show. If you love what you've heard, share our podcast and follow us for more. Until next time.