Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche has begun a massive, 484-centre Phase III trial of its new drug for anaemia associated with chronic kidney disease. [ + ]

Eiffel Technologies (ASX:EIF) has established a Level 1 American Depository Receipt (ADR) program in a first step towards a possible international listing for the company. [ + ]

The merger of BresaGen's US-based cell therapy division with San Diego stem cell company Cythera looks like it will go ahead, after the two companies executed the merger agreement last week. [ + ]

Telstra has awarded a $950,000 contract to the University of Adelaide's Traffic Research Centre (TRC) Mathematical Modelling unit to develop analysis tools and techniques applicable to network infrastructure that will cater for next generation telephony, broadband data and mobile services.

Since last year's BIO, the Australian biotechnology sector has been all about growth, writes Melissa Trudinger. [ + ]

Australian biotechnology pioneer, Dr Tom Grace, has been awarded the Society for In Vitro Biology's highest honour, the 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the development of invertebrate in vitro biology.

Prof Len Harrison, of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, has been awarded the David Rumbough award for scientific excellence by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International for his research towards finding a cure for type 1 diabetes. [ + ]

Biosignal (ASX:BOS) has confirmed the efficacy of its furanone molecules in preventing bacterial colonisation of contact lenses in animal studies, paving the way for more extensive human studies. [ + ]

Ambri (ASX:ABI) has installed its SensiDX System at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney for evaluation and expects to install a second system at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital shortly. [ + ]

At a time of water restrictions across metropolitan Melbourne and Victoria's farmers crying out for rain, RMIT University researchers are coming up with a bright idea to save water.

If you need to give your humanised monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) a gecko-like grip on their therapeutic targets, who do you call? [ + ]

Medical researchers in Melbourne were given a brief glimpse this week of the potential of the synchrotron to enhance and expand medical science. [ + ]

Adelaide drug-discovery company Bionomics (ASX:BNO, US OTC:BMICY) has appointed Dr Tim Harris, CEO and co-founder of US biotech Structural GenomiX, to its advisory board. [ + ]

Sydney-based Ventracor (ASX:VCR) today announced its pilot trial, testing the safety of its VentrAssist artifical heart device, will continue. [ + ]

The administrators of Adelaide biotech BresaGen (ASX:BGN) today formalised the agreement the company has made with Queensland-based public unlisted biotech company CBio by executing a Deed of Company Arrangement for the restructure of the company. [ + ]