Australian biotech market today 22.04.09

By Kate McDonald
Wednesday, 22 April, 2009

Most indices are down today, including pharma and biotech at 3.30pm, which is down just over one percent.

Good luck to Paul MacLeman, who has jumped from head lice company Hatchtech to the hot seat at Genetic Technologies (ASX:GTG), which has been involved in multiple dramas recently. GTG co-founder Merv Jacobson is due in court tomorrow. The market had no reaction to the news.

MacLeman is a well-known figure on the biotech scene, having acted as COO of Imugene and VP at Agenix, as well as involvement with industry association AusBiotech.

Circadian (ASX:CIR) is up 3c to 78c. The company announced today that its US licensee, ImClone Systems, had released data at the current American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) conference showing its monoclonal antibody IMC-3C5 proved an effective combination with standard chemo agents in inhibiting VEGFR-3 in a mouse model.

Bionomics (ASX:BNO) is up 3c on news of an extra indication for its lead candidate BNC105, also announced at the AACR conference.

Cellestis (ASX:CST) is up 8c, while Clinuvel (ASX:CUV) is up 2c.

The company formerly known as Ambri has been reinstated to official quotation. Now known as Diversa (ASX:DVA), the company is developing diagnostic sensors for a range of bacteriological and veterinary applications. Shares are trading at 17c.

Hexima (ASX:HXL) is down 5c to 40c on tiny volumes – keep an eye on the ALS website next week for a profile of this interesting agbiotech company.

Living Cell Technologies (ASX:LCT) is up 2c while Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) is down 2c. Pharmaxis (ASX:PXS) is up 7c to breach the $2 barrier, while QRxPharma (ASX:QRX) is up a touch on yesterday’s news about its dual-opioid trial.

Cochlear (ASX:COH) is down substantially, falling to below $50 after a $1 drop on today’s trading.

The Queensland Government is set to sell off the Australian Institute for Commercialisation and the state-sponsored CRO BioPharmaceuticals Australia as part of Anna Bligh’s response to an independent cost cutting review.