Industry News
Metabolic obesity drug proven safe in trial
Melbourne biotech company Metabolic Pharmaceuticals announced the results of the Phase IIa clinical trial for its anti-obesity drug AOD9604 today, confirming the safety of the drug. [ + ]
Colman to address Sydney conference
Cloning pioneer Alan Colman, the director of research programs with Singapore company ES Cell International, will visit Sydney in May to address a conference on prospects for stem cell therapy. [ + ]
Patently, a battle for genetics' next big thing
Who invented hairpin gene silencing? It's literally a $64 million question, as the claimants to one of the most valuable biotechnology patents of the past decade begin skirmishing over its ownership. [ + ]
Agenix readies for phase I trials, pre-tax profits up
Brisbane biotech Agenix saw its first half revenues decline slightly while posting a 32 per cent rise in before-tax profits on a like-to-like comparison with the same period last year. [ + ]
ErbB2 research may give key to cancer growth
Researchers at the CRC for Cellular Growth Factors have determined the structure of ErbB2, providing an important clue in how the molecule may contribute to the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells. [ + ]
Bioactives easier to source than funds, companies find
It is easier to ferret out promising bioactive compounds in Australia's plant kingdom than it is to extract fresh funds from the investor community, young bioprospecting companies are discovering. [ + ]
Phase II trials next stop for AustCancer's Pentrix
Perth-based cancer vaccine developer Australian Cancer Technology is gearing up to begin Phase II trials of its Pentrix anti-cancer vaccine after it was shown to be well tolerated and elicit an immune response in all 14 patients with a range of metastatic cancers involved in the Phase Ib/IIa study. [ + ]
CSIRO releases gene silencing tools
Molecular tools for identifying the function of thousands of genes quickly and accurately will promote major advances in biotechnology and agriculture according to CSIRO researchers. Released by CSIRO Plant Industry, the tools - called gene-silencing vectors - allow high-throughput and highly efficient gene silencing.
[ + ]Gradipore shares drop after loss announced
Shares in Sydney-based biotech company Gradipore dipped sharply yesterday after the company announced a $AUD7.9 million loss for the December half of 2002. [ + ]
CSIRO looks at RNAi for plants and pest control
An ambitious project to knock-out the 25,000-plus genes of Arabidopsis one at a time using RNA interference (RNAi) is being developed by a European consortium headed by Ian Small at France's Unit‚ de Recherche en Genomique Vegetale (URGV) using a plasmid vector designed by CSIRO Plant Industry researchers to deliver hairpin RNA constructs. [ + ]
Bionomics, Florey in epilepsy collaboration
Adelaide biomed company Bionomics (ASX: BNO) has established a strategic research collaboration with the Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine that it hopes will speed its development of new drugs for epilepsy and other brain disorders. [ + ]
Xcell to complete Visiomed acquisition
Perth based devices company Xcell Diagnostics will finalise its acquisition of German company Visiomed this week, propelling Xcell into a leading position in skin cancer diagnostic instrumentation. [ + ]
PanBio losses cut, but riding flat sales
Medical diagnostics company PanBio has capped a period of management and structural reorganisation by announcing sharply curtailed first-half losses but flat revenues. [ + ]
New director seeks broader role for AGRF
Dr Sue Forrest, the new head of the Australian Genome Research Facility, is keen to raise the facility's profile as a natural home for agricultural genomics as well as biomedical, she said today. [ + ]
HIV vaccine research landscape 'not all doom and gloom'
New approaches mean there is still hope for an effective HIV vaccine, Australian researchers have said in the wake of today's release of disappointing AIDS vaccine results by US company VaxGen. [ + ]
