QRxPharma was established by UniQuest in 2002 to commercialise the pain management and cardiovascular health technologies developed by University of Queensland researchers Professor Maree Smith, Associate Professor Fraser Ross, Dr Paul Masci, Professor Martin Lavin, Professor John de Jersey, and Associate Professor Lindsay Brown.

Australian and international venture capital of A$10 million was secured from Innovationⁱ Capital, Nanyang Ventures, SpringRidge Ventures, and Uniseed; possibly the largest first round investment for any Australian start-up. This funded the development of the company and its most advanced drug candidate, the “dual opioid” pain therapy, MoxDuo.

With the completion of Phase II trials in the USA and Federal Drug Administration approval to start Phase III clinical trials, QRxPharma was floated in 2007 to raise the necessary funds. The company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and, with 25 million shares, raised A$50 million, with an initial market capitalisation of A$150 million. It was an Australian record as the largest biotech IPO to date, and also the largest biotech capital raising at an IPO. A second A$21.6 million capital raising in 2009 was designed to further support the company’s plans for launching MoxDuo in the US in 2011.

Also in 2009, QRxPharma established a joint venture with Liaoning Nuokang Medicines Co Ltd to develop the commercial potential of two snake-venom based discoveries. The investment of US$5 million in QRxPharma’s venomics assets led to the formation of Venomics Pty Ltd, a Hong Kong-based subsidiary company incorporated in Australia, with operations in China.