Prima Biomed (ASX:PRR) subsidiary Oncomab has published results of an animal study demonstrating the efficacy of its anti-Cripto monoclonal antibody in a mouse model of human colon cancer. [ + ]

The news from a pre-clinical trial of Perth biopharma Solbec Pharmaceuticals' (ASX:SBP) lead anti-cancer compound SBO002 could hardly be more positive. [ + ]

Researchers at the Queensland Institute for Medical Research (QIMR) in Brisbane hope to begin human trials late this year of a vaccine that could prevent three different forms of cancer associated with infection by Epstein-Barr virus. [ + ]

Melbourne biotech Cerylid Biosciences has acquired fellow unlisted biotech Kinacia in a merger that finally puts an end to months of rumour. [ + ]

Perth-based opthamology specialist Regenera has prevailed in an increasingly tough IPO market, closing its IPO today AUD$2 million oversubscribed, having raised in excess of AUD$10 million. [ + ]

Perth-based nano-biotech company Psivida (ASX:PSD) has acquired 100 per cent ownership of its UK subsidiary PsiMedica in a AUD$57.8 million deal aimed at accelerating development of its BioSilicon technology. [ + ]

The wallaby genome project is poised to go ahead thanks to a last minute injection of $3 million into the project by the Victorian state government. [ + ]

Prof Doug Hilton, a researcher at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, has been awarded this year's GlaxoSmithKline award for research excellence, for his work on cell signalling. [ + ]

In future, the tooth fairy may leave children something more than a silver coin in a glass of water, in exchange for their lost milk teeth. Researchers at the Hanson Institute in Adelaide believe pluripotent stem cells from those deciduous teeth could help sustain their owners’ dental, skeletal, neural and cardiovascular health well into the autumn of their lives. [ + ]

Two Sydney cancer patients have made medical history as the first individuals to be diagnosed with cancer induced by spontaneous silencing of an otherwise normal tumour-suppressor gene. [ + ]

Australian scientists believe it may be possible to grow replacement organs organically, by providing organ-building stem cells with a 3D template and leaving them to grow in situ, within the patient’s own body. [ + ]

Can an extract of shark cartilage and crustacean shells alleviate the pain and inflammation of symptoms of osteoarthritis, the most common disease of aging? It’s a multi-billion question that medical science has shown little interest in answering, according to Melbourne rheumatologist and osteoarthritis expert Dr Daniel Lewis. [ + ]

A team at CSIRO Tropical Ecosystems Research Centre in Darwin is getting an insight into how soil macro-invertebrates like termites, worms and ants help to maintain healthy country in the tropics. [ + ]

Australia's tropical research science and innovation efforts are scattered over the continent's top end, from north-western WA to north-eastern Queensland. And addressing the challenges created by that kind of dispersal have become a key priority for the chief scientists of Queensland and Western Australia, along with the Northern Territory's Bob Collins, in the wake of a recent forum in Darwin. [ + ]

A full roster of conferences in Australia and its Asia-Pacific neighbours make the region a good place to visit this year. To start with, Australia's BIO equivalent, AusBiotech2004, will this year be held in Brisbane from November 7-10, with a theme of 'Going Global'. [ + ]