[Music plays and an image appears of the Australian Government Coat of Arms and the Prime Minister’s Prize For Innovation badge and text appears: Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation, Associate Professor Peter Czabotar, Professor David Huang, Professor Guillaume Lessene & Professor Andrew Roberts, Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science, Celebrating 20 years]

[Image changes to show Professor David Huang talking to the camera and text appears: Professor David Huang]

Professor David Huang: When I was a young doctor I looked after a patient diagnosed with leukaemia and she essentially did very badly.

[Camera zooms in on a profile view of David as he talks and then the image changes to show a facing view of David talking to the camera and then the image changes to show a profile view again]

That was one of the reasons why I wanted to get into research because I thought if I could understand this disease better perhaps we might have a chance of making a difference.

[Images move through of David working in a laboratory, looking at liquid in a test tube, and then Professor Andrew Roberts talking to the camera and text appears: Professor Andrew Roberts]

Professor Andrew Roberts: Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia is the most common leukaemia in Australia

[Image changes to show laboratory workers at work]

…and in many countries.

[Image changes to show a female exiting the Walter + Eliza Hall Medical Research Institute building and then the camera zooms in on the sign on the side of the building]

Over 1,000 people are a diagnosed with it every year.

[Images move through of a lab worker submersing a container in liquid and then the image changes to show Professor Guillaume Lessene talking to the camera and text appears: Professor Guillaume Lessene]

Professor Guillaume Lessene: The aim was to take a fundamental discovery around the understanding of how cancer develops and where we can target it

[Image changes to show Associate Professor Peter Czabotar submersing an instrument in liquid and then the image changes to show Peter looking into a microscope]

…and to transform that discovery into a product or a new medicine that can help patients. [Image changes to show a hand dotting liquid on to a microscope slide and then the image changes to show Guillaume drawing a diagram on glass]

Venetoclax targets the Achilles heel of certain cancers.

[Image changes to show Associate Professor Peter Czabotar talking to the camera and text appears: Associate Professor Peter Czabotar]

Associate Professor Peter Czabotar: Cancer cells often have too much of the protein that this drug targets.

[Image changes to show Guillaume drawing a diagram on to glass and the camera zooms in on his hand holding the pen and then out to show him drawing the diagram again]

That protein keeps the cells alive. This drug makes the cells die by neutralising that protein.

[Image shows a cell structure diagram superimposed over Guillaume drawing on glass and then images move through to show David talking to the camera, and Guillaume working on a computer]

Professor David Huang: It’s almost like a precision medicine that’ll allow you to avoid many of the side effects that you see with conventional intensive chemo and radiotherapy.

[Images move through of the group looking at a model, Andrew talking to the camera, a researcher at work in a laboratory, a petri dish, and David and Peter looking down at the petri dish]

Professor Andrew Roberts: The first person in the world to know that the drug was working was the first patient to receive it.

[Image changes to show a microscope lens and then the camera zooms out to show David watching a female laboratory worker look through the microscope]

Within hours of taking the first dose that patient said to me, “Oh doc, I think it’s working”.

[Image changes to show a rear view of Peter walking through the laboratory and then the image changes to show Andrew talking to the camera]

I had to wait until the next day and I looked at the blood tests but the patient was right. It was causing leukaemia to melt away.

[Image changes to show profile and facing views of David talking and then the image changes to show David and Peter looking at something and smiling]

Professor David Huang: That to me was wow there’s something very special has happened.

[Image changes to show Peter and David standing in a laboratory talking and then the image changes to show Peter talking to the camera and then the image changes to show Peter watching a lab worker]

Associate Professor Peter Czabotar: One of the great things about this award is it recognises the value and importance of teams in making big discoveries and making big differences.

[Images move through of David talking to the camera, laboratory workers at work, David squirting liquid into a container, and then Peter and David talking at the laboratory bench]

Professor David Huang: We all had this idea and we, of course we weren’t sure that it was going to work but we were very excited about the challenge of doing it.

[Image changes to show David talking to the camera]

We felt that we were breaking new ground almost every time we got together.

[Images move through of Andrew and a lab worker walking towards the camera, Andrew talking to the camera, a rear view of Andrew and the lab worker walking down a corridor]

Professor Andrew Roberts: Looking forward, we’re anticipating the trials will show venetoclax to be a significant advantage

[Image changes to show David looking through the microscope, and then the image changes to show a research laboratory and the camera pans down the corridors showing researchers at work]

…in some other blood cancers and I think the impact will grow to hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

[Music plays and the image changes to show David, Guillaume, Peter and Andrew standing in a corridor and smiling at the camera and the camera zooms in on them]

[Image changes to show the Australian Government Coat of Arms and the Prime Minister’s Prize For Innovation badge and text appears: Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation, Associate Professor Peter Czabotar, Professor David Huang, Professor Guillaume Lessene & Professor Andrew Roberts, The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science, Celebrating 20 years]