NZ's billion-dollar man aims to mend diabetes' broken hearts
10 September, 2004 by Graeme O'NeillProf Garth Cooper's ambition to build his second -- and new Zealand's first -- billion-dollar biotech company appears to be on track, with his Auckland-based biopharma company Protemix announcing remarkable results from a Phase IIa clinical trial of an oral drug that reverse heart disease in type 2 diabetics.
Select Vaccines partner ships hep E kits to hotspot
08 September, 2004 by Melissa TrudingerSelect Vaccines' (ASX:SLT) licence partner Genelabs Diagnostics has provided the World Health Organisation with a "significant quantity" of the hepatitis E rapid diagnostic kits developed by Select, the company said today.
Austcancer raises $3.8m
01 September, 2004 by Renate KrelleAustralian Cancer Technology (ASX: ACU) has announced it will raise AUD$3.7 million, placing 9.5 million fully paid ordinary shares with UK-base Mercury investments at AUD$0.40 per share. The company has also placed 1.7 million three-year options, exercisable at 60 cents per share.
Solbec wins ethics approval for psoriasis trial
30 August, 2004 by Graeme O'NeillThe Royal Adelaide Hospital’s human ethics committee has approved an application by Perth biotech Solbec Pharmaceuticals (ASX:SBP) to conduct a Phase I clinical trial of the company’s lead anti-cancer compound, SBP002, as a potential treatment for the painful skin disorder psoriasis.
Metabolic braces itself for a busy year
26 August, 2004 by Melissa TrudingerMetabolic Pharmaceuticals (ASX: MBP) is preparing for a busy year, with the results due in November for its critical Phase IIb clinical trial of obesity drug AOD9604 and the move into formal preclinical development for a second product.
Serum industry booming, Invitrogen to spend $3m on Aust facility
26 August, 2004 by Melissa TrudingerUS life science technologies provider Invitrogen will spend $3 million to expand its cGMP facilities for manufacturing bovine serum-based products and reagents in NSW.
Benitec in AIDS collaboration with LA's City of Hope
26 August, 2004 by Graeme O'NeillBrisbane gene-silencing company Benitec (ASX:BLT) and renowned Los Angeles medical research centre City of Hope (COH) have joined forces to develop a genetic bear trap for the AIDS virus, that they hope will prolong the lives of AIDS patients.
Blueberry compound fights cholesterol, study finds
25 August, 2004 by Staff WritersA compound used by blueberries and grapes to fight off fungal infections could help lower cholesterol, US researchers have reported.
NZ health service takes on GTG over licence fees
24 August, 2004 by Graeme O'NeillOn the eve of its landmark patent-infringement case against US gene-testing company Applera Corp, Melbourne-based Genetic Technologies (ASX:GTG) has been hit with a New Zealand challenge to its right to charge licence fees for access to its non-coding DNA patents.
Victoria Fellowship winner works on relaxin
20 August, 2004 by Melissa TrudingerVictoria Fellowship winner Daniel Scott will be using his prize money to spend some time at Stanford University in the US working on an inhibitor of pregnancy hormone relaxin.
Malaria: the wizard of oz
19 August, 2004 by Graeme O'NeillThe ancient Chinese pharmacopoeia has bequeathed Western medicine a dragon-slaying drug that promises to save the lives of up to two million people a year – half of them children under the age of two – in regions of the world haunted by drug-resistant strains of malaria.
Meditech boosted by Phase II results
19 August, 2004 by Renate KrelleWith all patients in the first stage of its Phase II HyCamp clinical trial escaping the gastrointestinal side-effects normally associated with standard colon cancer treatment irinotecan, Meditech (ASX:MTR) has announced it will forge ahead with second stage of its trial.
A Conneticut Yankee in Prana's court
17 August, 2004 by Graeme O'NeillPrana Biotechnology’s (ASX:PBT, NASDAQ:PRAN ) new American CEO Jonas Alsenas began taking an interest in the company several years ago, when he felt the faint tremors of a paradigm shift in the Alzheimer’s disease research field.
Somnomed propels itself towards the market
09 August, 2004 by Melissa TrudingerSydney-based company Somnomed is preparing to list on the ASX later this month, with an IPO expected to raise AUD$12 million through the sale of 40 million shares at $0.30 per share.
New test developed for oesophageal cancer
04 August, 2004 by Staff WritersResearchers at the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research at University College London have developed a test to detect cancer of the oesophagus which could improve survival rates.
