Sydney-based Proteome Systems has sweetened its chances of cashing in on its expertise in the promising field of sugar-coated proteins by signing a research pact with the world's leading food company, Nestle. [ + ]

Eiffel Technologies has increased its cash reserves to $6.2 million following receipt of partial payment from the sale of their manufacturing operation to Cottee International and a recent share placement. [ + ]

A young Australian biotech developing anti-pain and blood-clotting drugs, QRxPharma, has successfully completed a $US5 million financing round conducted by a group of Australian and US venture funds. [ + ]

Sydney-based company Gradipore is predicting increased sales in its main US market after launching a new range of electrophoresis gels. [ + ]

Sydney biotechnology company Peptech announced today it had appointed Mel Bridges, CEO of Panbio, as chairman of its board. [ + ]

A new pathway for the invasion of red blood cells by the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum has been discovered by Melbourne researchers based at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. [ + ]

A cluster of biotech-intensive entities have been created in the latest round of Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) grants, including a $17.5 million Australian biosecurity centre and a $28 million sugar industry innovation centre. [ + ]

Sirtex Medical has treated its first European patient, suffering from advanced secondary liver cancer, with its SIR-Spheres cancer treatment at the Leicester General Hospital, the principal teaching hospital at the University of Leicester in the UK. [ + ]

Gene silencing technology specialist Benitec is tidying up a corporate structure whose complexity led the company to miss an ASX reporting deadline in October. [ + ]

The NSW government has pledged $2.6 million over the next four years towards the establishment of a new business alliance created by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, the Westmead research hub and the Hunter Medical Research Institute. [ + ]

Pharmacists have the opportunity to take on a greater role in patient education and management as the number of biotechnology-derived drugs entering the market increases, but they need to be proactive about it, Dr Ines Krass of the University of Sydney's Faculty of Pharmacy told at the annual meeting of the Australasian Pharmaceutical Science Association today. [ + ]

A bioinformatics tool developed by Melbourne company Autogen to search public domain gene databases for specific genes of interest will be made available to academic researchers for free. [ + ]

Between the broad brushstrokes of the Federal government's four National Research Priorities, announced last Friday by Prime Minister John Howard, there is room for a major contribution from Australia's biotechnology and biomedical researchers. [ + ]

Thousands of years of trial and error have led to humans lacing their shoes in the strongest way possible, Monash University mathematician Dr Burkard Polster has found. But we haven't adopted the best way of tying laces into knots - many of us still use knots that are more likely to come undone.

Sydney-based company Peptech has flagged the imminent approval of another of its anti-TNF antibody patents by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). [ + ]