Western Australian collagen purification company CollTech (ASX:CAU) has raised AUD$1.1 million by way of a private placement to institutional and professional investors. [ + ]

Cochlear (ASX:COH), the world's top maker of hearing implants, has turned around a poor performance from last year to record a net profit of AUD$54.52 million, up 48 per cent from last year. [ + ]

Victor Skladnev won't talk about last Friday's extraordinary general meeting of Polartechnics (ASX:PLT) shareholders. Referring only to the "disruptions" -- in which erstwhile chairman Richard Opara tried and failed to replace Skladnev as CEO -- Skladnev is keen to put the past behind him and focus on driving profits into the company. [ + ]

Psivida has been granted its fifth US patent for the classification of porous silicon into monodispersed particles with a tight size distribution. [ + ]

Adelaide-based venture and development capital firm Paragon Equity has invested more than $AUD850,000 to acquire a 10 per equity holding of Adelaide biopharma BresaGen (ASX:BGN). [ + ]

Andrew Nash has been named CEO of Amrad Corporation (ASX:AML), three months after he stepped into the role following the resignation of Peter Smith in May. [ + ]

Perth-based neurology-focused biotech company NeuroDiscovery (ASX:NDL) listed today on the Australian Stock Exchange at AUD$0.21, one cent above its issue price of $0.20. [ + ]

Melbourne-based biopharma Biota Holdings (ASX:BTA) has confirmed that the German government has ordered 1.7 million packs of its flu vaccine Relenza, but CEO Peter Molloy said he still believed that licensee GlaxoSmithKline was not doing enough to promote the drug, . [ + ]

Phylogica (ASX:PYC) and PharmAust (ASX:PAA) subsidiary Mimotopes have signed a collaborative partnership deal to develop peptide drugs. [ + ]

An extraordinary general meeting of Polartechnics (ASX:PLT) shareholders, requisitioned by the company's former interim chairman Richard Opara, has voted against each of the resolutions he put forward. [ + ]

Trading of shares in Perth-based nano-biotech company Psivida (ASX:PSD) resumed trading today, after the company revealed that it was in negotiations to acquire an as yet unnamed US based specialised drug delivery company. [ + ]

Melbourne-based Metabolic Pharmaceuticals (ASX:MBP) has received a go-ahead to progress its painkiller ACV1 to the second part of its phase I clinical trial dosing in humans. [ + ]

The oft-repeated cliche that Australia 'punches above its weight' in biotechnology is little more than a security blanket, and needs to be replaced with some real muscle, Merck Sharp & Dohme's external licensing coordinator, Graham Macdonald, told a meeting on Friday. [ + ]

Amid tough global competition, with 500 scientists from 62 countries, Australia has confirmed its position as one of the world's pre-eminent biomedical destinations by securing almost 20% of the prestigious worldwide medical research awards announced by the US-based Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).

Two researchers from Queensland are contributing to a $436 million global plan to improve the health of millions of people in some of the world's poorest countries.