Posted: 17 March 2026
Monash University researchers have been awarded up to $22.4 million AUD from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to develop new medicines aimed at restoring lymphatic vessel pumping and transport function. The initiative has been delivered through the GLIDE Program (Groundbreaking Lymphatic Interventions and Drug Exploration), which has been designed to advance therapies for lymphatic diseases and chronic conditions linked to lymphatic dysfunction.
The research has been undertaken through a collaboration between Monash University, the University of Missouri and the University of Pennsylvania, with the programme focused on creating first-in-class therapeutics capable of reversing impaired lymphatic contraction and transport.
Professor Arthur Christopoulos, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Monash, has said the work has represented “a new frontier” for medicine. He explained that lymphatic vessels function like a network of miniature pumps that drain fluid, waste and inflammatory cells from tissues, and that failure of these pumps can lead to swelling and inflammation associated with conditions such as lymphedema and arthritis.
Historically, treatment options for lymphatic diseases have largely been limited to symptom management, including lifestyle adjustments, compression garments and surgical procedures. The Monash research programme has aimed to address this gap by developing the first oral medicines specifically designed to restore natural lymphatic pumping and transport function.
The approach has been pioneered at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS) and has involved designing molecules that target specialised “allosteric” binding sites on muscarinic acetylcholine receptors found on lymphatic vessels. Unlike conventional drugs that operate through simple on-off mechanisms, these binding sites function more like a dimmer switch, allowing highly selective control of receptor activity.
Professor Christopoulos said: “By mastering the delivery of allosteric drug treatments through the body’s lymphatic highways with this level of precision, we can finally target the underlying mechanisms of lymphatic pumping and transport dysfunction in a way that was previously thought impossible.”
The five-year programme has been led by MIPS researchers including Associate Professor Celine Valant and Professor Natalie Trevaskis. The broader collaboration has brought together multidisciplinary expertise spanning drug discovery, medicinal chemistry, drug delivery and clinical research.
