The bacteria that infect human beings have disarmed almost the entire modern arsenal of antibiotics. Not long after new antibiotics are deployed, resistance appears almost magically. [ + ]

The Kerry Packer-backed financial services and venture capital (VC) group Challenger International is nearing the end of negotiations to form a biotech VC fund out of Singapore which will trawl for investment opportunities across Asia, Australia and New Zealand, the company revealed on Wednesday. [ + ]

Brisbane biotech company Agenix will begin safety and efficacy trials of its new Thromboview blood-clot imaging technology in healthy human volunteers early next year. [ + ]

Perched at the top of the ABN Amro Building in the heart of Sydney's 'big end' of town, Sean Mordaunt, business development manager with Challenger International's Corporate Superannuation Fund, thrives on the manic energy pulsing through the busy business hub and the harbour below. [ + ]

Dietary fibre - already known to reduce the risk of colon cancer - may also have the potential to replace antibiotics, lower cholesterol and control blood sugar levels, according to emerging new Australian research.

Researchers at the Optical and Biomedical Engineering Laboratory (OBEL) at the University of WA were left surprised and disappointed after a decision by Perth-based company Xcell Diagnostics to withdraw funding from the lab's skin cancer project, which aimed to develop a new optical pen probe technique for early detection of skin cancers. [ + ]

Research firm IDC is to host two breakfast briefings on the bio-IT industry, with a particular focus on Australia and the Asia-Pacific. [ + ]

Iatia's QPe phase imaging technology proved popular at the recent International Congress on Electron Microscopy in Durban, South Africa, according to CEO Brian Powell. [ + ]

Sydney-based company Pi2 Limited has touted a new business strategy with two acquisitions, one in life sciences and the other in outdoor advertising. [ + ]

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca plans to augment the Queensland-based natural product research centre in which it has invested $55 million since 1993. [ + ]

Ellex Medical Lasers has boosted its scientific advisory board with the appointment Prof John Marshall, an international expert in ophthalmologic lasers, and Peter Falzon, the former director of business development at US-based laser device company Lumanis. [ + ]

Australian researchers have unravelled part of the process controlling the production of new neurones from stem cells in the brain. [ + ]

Australian sleep apnoea devices company ResMed has filed a lawsuit against US-based Respironics, claiming that several Respironics products infringe on ResMed patents. [ + ]

The scene has been set for a possible showdown next month between the board of drug discovery company Biota Holdings and Perth businessman Farooq Khan. [ + ]

A potentially lucrative bid to provide the drug industry with improved testing capabilities on animal models has been launched by two Australian biotechs. [ + ]