The share price of AGT Biosciences leapt nearly 15 per cent today, after the company announced it had filed patent applications for a series of 10 proteins that are likely to be suitable targets for the development of over-the-counter products to combat obesity. [ + ]

Investors are from Mars and scientists are from Venus, according to one of the presenters at a biobusiness briefing in Melbourne this morning. [ + ]

Sydney-based medical waste equipment specialists MediVac (ASX:MDV) made its debut on the Australian Stock Exchange on Monday at AUD$0.30, 20 per cent above the IPO issue price of $0.25. [ + ]

Antisense Therapeutics (ASX:ANP) has presented preliminary data from a Phase I clinical trial for its antisense multiple sclerosis drug ATL1102 at the Australian Neuroscience Society's annual conference last week. [ + ]

Melbourne plant biotechnology company Hexima has applied to the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator to conduct a small field trial of transgenic cotton lines containing its novel protease-inhibitor genes. [ + ]

Brain tumours account for only two per cent of cancer deaths but they are the fourth most important type of tumour in terms of life years lost, as they disproportionately affect younger people. But according to Prof Andrew Kaye, at the University of Melbourne, the next decade will see major advances in treatments for brain tumours that could turn around the statistics and extend the lives of sufferers. [ + ]

Not all forms of dementia are the same, and researchers are starting to learn what distinguishes different forms of neurodegenerative dementias from each other. But one major problem remains -- most of the distinguishing pathological features of the diseases, such as protein accumulation and cell loss, can only be seen post mortem. [ + ]

The Australian Stock Exchange is working with a small group of biotechnology executives, analysts and investors to develop a draft proposal for reporting results and activities, similar to those in place for the mining and exploration sectors. [ + ]

Perth drug discovery company Solbec Pharmaceuticals (ASX:SBP) has set out plans to trial its promising anti-cancer compound SBP002 as a treatment for the chronic skin disorder psoriasis this year. [ + ]

Prion-like proteins may hold the key to understanding how the brain forms lasting memories, according to the Nobel prize-winning researcher from Columbia University Prof Eric Kandel, who is in Australia for the Australian Neuroscience Society conference in Melbourne this week. [ + ]

The Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne has entered into an alliance with international clinical trials organisation Quintiles to bring international paediatric clinical trials to the institute's clinical trials group. [ + ]

Melbourne pharmaceutical company BioDiem has listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX:BDM), cashed up with AUD$12 million to fund its research and development program. [ + ]

Researchers with Sydney meditech company Sirtex Medical (ASX:SRX) have decided to continue development of a radical new therapy that would destroy liver cancers with focused heat, after its researchers reported encouraging progress in solving technical problems involved in scaling up the technique from animals to humans. [ + ]

Researchers from the Women's and Children's Hospital (WCH) Adelaide, as part of an international collaboration, have identified a gene implicated in a type of intellectual disability called Sutherland-Haan Syndrome. The syndrome was first identified by and named after Professor Grant Sutherland and Associate Professor Eric Haan, from the WCH Adelaide, South Australia.

Sydney-based bioseparations specialist Gradipore (ASX:GDP) claims to have successfully completed proof-of-principle studies demonstrating scale-up of its Gradiflow technology to commercial levels. [ + ]