State-by-state Christmas celebrations start next week, with Western Australia the first to host AusBiotech's free Christmas event as their final networking event of 2013. The AusBiotech branch committee in each state is pleased to invite AusBiotech members to the end-of-year celebration in thanks for their support throughout 2013. [ + ]

After moving to Australia last month, New Zealand-born Innate Immunotherapeutics has kicked off an IPO, aiming to raise up to $12m for phase IIb trials of its SPMS drug candidate. [ + ]

Novogen (ASX:NRT) has applied for a family of US patents covering its newly licensed anti-tropomyosin cancer drug technology. [ + ]

Law firm Morrison & Foerster (MoFo) has released its latest BioMeter index, a quarterly deal report which measures the health of the biotechnology industry by tracking up-front licensing payments for pharma and biotech assets. [ + ]

Professor Ryan Lister, a genome biologist and Future Fellow in the ARC Centre for Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, has won the 2013 Tall Poppy Awards for Western Australia. [ + ]

The data safety board monitoring the phase I/IIa trial of Living Cell Technologies' (ASX:LCT) NTCELL in Parkinson's will allow the remaining three patients to be implanted. [ + ]

A new species of giant clam has been found on reefs of the Solomon Islands and Ningaloo in Western Australia. [ + ]

QRxPharma (ASX:QRX) has filed for US approval for dual-opioid pain drug MoxDuo for the third time and, assuming approval, now aims for a launch in the second half of 2014. [ + ]

The NSW Office for Health and Medical Research (OHMR) is undertaking a project to reduce barriers to conducting clinical trials in the state and is conducting a survey to help reform the health and medical research pre-approvals process and improve the Research Ethics and Governance Information System (REGIS). [ + ]

Sugar Research Australia (SRA) is calling for applications for research funding and postgraduate scholarships that will help build the profitability, productivity and sustainability of the Australian sugarcane industry. [ + ]

Scientists at the University of Adelaide's Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS) have been inspired in their research by a 1700-year-old Roman glass cup. [ + ]

Researchers at the University of Central Florida (UCF) have led a breakthrough in reducing the drug development process, which currently takes at least a decade and more than US$1 billion to complete. [ + ]

Researchers at EMBL Australia, based at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Monash University, have found a new mechanism controlling the process of how embryos change shape. [ + ]

The Australian Academy of Science has announced a new medal to honour women in science. [ + ]

The Australian Academy of Science has created a new award - the Nancy Millis Medal - which recognises outstanding research and leadership by early- to mid-career Australian women who have established independent research in the natural sciences. [ + ]