FDA officials consider longer trials; promise early warnings
04 March, 2005 by Staff WritersUS regulators are moving to get drug safety warnings to patients and physicians earlier, which should limit prescribing and cut the number of dangerous side effects, a top US Food and Drug Administration official has told the United States congress.
Qld aims to be pharma state
03 March, 2005 by Graeme O'NeillPremier Peter Beattie continues to lay the foundations for his ambition to make Queensland the nation's biotech-pharma mecca, by launching a new report on the state's growing pharmaceutical industry.
LCT upgrades technology through deal with Theracyte
03 March, 2005 by Graeme O'NeillKiwi-born cell-therapy company Living Cell Technologies (ASX:LCT) is to acquire the technology and IP rights of a potential competitor, US-based cell-therapy company Theracyte.
Patents won't save our genetic resources: report
03 March, 2005 by Melissa TrudingerA report by Monash University's Australian APEC Study Centre has cast doubt on the ability of patent-based regimes to provide enough incentive to protect the world's genetic resources.
Cash up for grabs from NZ fund
03 March, 2005 by Melissa TrudingerThe NZ$12 million Australia New Zealand Biotechnology Partnership Fund has awarded NZ$6.76 million in its first round of grants to trans-Tasman biotechnology projects.
Pharmas move towards full disclosure
03 March, 2005 by Mark D. UehlingThe 2005 Clinical Trial Congress explored what may be the most private area of any pharmaceutical company's anatomy: its unpublished clinical trials. Must the pharmaceutical industry reveal more? Or should it ride out the cries of journal editors who demand that it disclose the designs and results of trials? That question will roil government regulators, journal editors, and companies of all sizes this year.
Bresagen rights issue cancelled
02 March, 2005 by Melissa TrudingerBresagen (ASX:BGN) has cancelled its non-renounceable rights issue which the company had hoped would raise AUD$8.8 million, citing failure to meet the minimum subscription of $2 million.
Appointments: Pharmaxis, Bone Medical
02 March, 2005 by Melissa TrudingerSydney-based Pharmaxis (ASX:PXS) has appointed former Structural Genomix VP of drug discovery Ian Macdonald to the position of chief technical officer.
CSL, Bionomics complete deals
02 March, 2005 by Melissa TrudingerCSL (ASX:CSL) has completed the sale of its JRH Biosciences division to Sigma-Aldrich for US$370 million, and Bionomics (ASX:BNO) has completed the acquisition of a French contract research organisation.
Acrux begins anti-nausea trial
02 March, 2005 by Melissa TrudingerAcrux (ASX:ACR) has commenced dosing in a Phase I clinical trial utilising its MDTS transdermal spray to deliver anti-nausea drug granisetron. The pharmacokinetics trial will compare absorption of the drug, which is used to treat nausea in chemotherapy patients, against that of an oral formulation in six healthy volunteers.
Sumimoto goes cold on Qcide
01 March, 2005 by Graeme O'NeillBrisbane biotech BioProspect (ASX:BPO) has received a knockback from Sumitomo Australia as a potential licensee for its eucalypt-derived biocide Qcide, as a natural pesticide to control carpet beetles and clothes moths.
Antisense shaken by MS drug trial suspension
01 March, 2005 by Graeme O'NeillTrading in shares of Melbourne drug developer Antisense Therapeutics (ASX:ANP) was halted today, in the wake of after the developers of the promising new multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri withdrew it from the market after a patient died from a rare viral infection of the brain.
AustCancer CEO, board members resign
25 February, 2005 by Staff WritersPaul Hopper has resigned as CEO and managing director of Australian Cancer Technologies (ASX:ACU).
CSIRO shake-up in research divisions and executive
25 February, 2005 by Staff WritersCSIRO has shuffled divisions to create new business units in a bid to maximise its research capabilities, the organisation announced today.
Wallaby genome begins to reveal its secrets
25 February, 2005 by Melissa TrudingerThe first sequence data from the wallaby genome project has revealed 68 per cent similarity between the human and wallaby genes encoding NADH dehydrogenase, an essential protein in the cell's energy powerhouses, the mitochondria.
