Victoria University's discovery of a potential anti-cancer agent was a breakthrough of global significance – so it was no shock when offers to help develop it into a pharmaceutical drug came from medical establishments far and wide.

Peloruside was discovered in a marine sponge living in New Zealand's Pelorus Sound by Victoria University senior lecturer Dr Peter Northcote and colleagues at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA).

Its early development was in collaboration with scientists in the Schools of Chemical & Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences at Victoria University, the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research in Wellington, and the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre.

This work was aided by a $2.3 million grant from New Zealand's Foundation for Research, Science & Technology as well as grants from the New Zealand Cancer Society and the Wellington Medical Research Foundation.

A licensee is currently being sought for this project who will work with Victoria University to turn this discovery into an anti-cancer pharmaceutical drug.