Two dedicated market watchers have decreed that it is time for an upturn in the biotech sector, not just in the US but in Australia too. But local fund managers may not yet have the ticker to make it happen. [ + ]

In a deal described by its authors as a "seven figure agreement", manufacturer Bio-Rad Laboratories is to link with the Australian Proteome Analysis Facility (APAF) to develop products and training tools for the proteomics market. [ + ]

African plant geneticist Dr Florence Wambugu has accused Western activists, seeking to block the introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops in Africa, of having “no understanding” of the needs of African farmers and communities. [ + ]

Adelaide company GroPep and cell culture reagent distribution partner CSL have amended their sales and distribution agreement to reflect expected demand for GroPep's growth factor products by extending the agreed minimum sales targets from the 2005-2006 financial year through to the end of the 2010 financial year, when the agreement ends. [ + ]

“Monash is making a major commitment to the commercialisation process. We have gone out on a limb in many ways, in doing what we have done.” [ + ]

Novogen’s US-based licensee The Solae Company has filed patent infringement suits against two of America’s biggest dietary and health supplement makers. [ + ]

The rapid and low cost analysis of air, water, vegetation, pork and even Viagra tablets using near infra-red rays were just a few of the topics discussed at a recent meeting in Spain of international scientists, including Charles Sturt University (CSU) Professor Graeme Batten.

The University of Melbourne has moved to position itself at the forefront of nanoscience and nanotechnology research - the 21st century frontier domain of microscopically small designer particles and devices.

The first HIV vaccine developed in Australia is expected to go to clinical trials within months, with results expected in mid 2004. [ + ]

South Australia's fledgling biotechnology industry has received the first of two shots in the arm with the commissioning of Hydra, a $AUD1.7 million system that is Australia's third-largest supercomputer and the largest of its type. [ + ]

Initial research by a PhD student at the Bioproducts Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) in Melbourne has shown an edible tapeworm vaccine is possible -- for pigs. [ + ]

Xcell has received European regulatory approval for its video-dermatoscope hair analysis expert system, designed to replace the traditional and painful trichographic method. [ + ]

Gene silencing company Benitec has locked in place US and UK patents for the technology which underpins a recent global licensing pact signed by the Brisbane biotech. [ + ]

Former Merck Research Laboratories director of neuropharmacology Dr Mark Varney has joined Adelaide company Bionomics as VP of drug discovery, where he will lead the company's epilepsy and central nervous system drug discovery program. [ + ]

The image analysis group at Australia's national research organisation, CSIRO, claims the nation's unique research history is about to land it a massive export windfall. [ + ]