Australia's Special Phage Services is now part of US-based AmpliPhi, following the closure of a merger between the two bacteriophage companies. [ + ]

AusBiotech, with support from the Victorian Government, has begun a project to support board and directors’ development and promote best practice reporting and governance. [ + ]

Australian Life Scientist magazine and its website have been acquired by Westwick-Farrow Media and will join its stable of B2B magazines and websites, including What’s New in Lab & Life Sciences (est 1990), www.labonline.com.au and What’s New in Food Technology & Manufacturing. [ + ]

Recent research has implicated a variation in the gene that codes for a protein called RAC-alpha serine/threonine-protein kinase (Akt1) in the risk for cannabis psychosis. [ + ]

Avexa (ASX:AVX) is committing most of its cash to an investment in a US coal mine to generate cash for development of its clinical programs including HIV drug ATC. [ + ]

Prima BioMed (ASX:PRR) has published a second set of encouraging early data from a phase II trial of CVac in ovarian cancer [ + ]

Viralytics (ASX:VLA) has received nearly $1.5m as an R&D Tax Incentive rebate, and will plough the funds back into its oncolytic virus clinical development. [ + ]

Growing on the success of the “Small Technologies Industry Uptake Program” the Victorian Government has launched a new “Technology Voucher Program” (TVP). [ + ]

Australian neuroscientist Professor Seth Grant, FRS, is transforming neuroscience by revealing the startling complexity of the synaptic proteome. [ + ]

Biotron (ASX:BIT) has commenced a pivotal phase II trial of BIT225 in patients with both HIV and HCV. [ + ]

Viralyrics (ASX:VLA) has published results from a phase I trial showing anti-cancer virus, Cavatak, show the treatment was well-tolerated. [ + ]

After years in development, New Zealand's Photonz is embarking on the hunt for partners to help commercialise its manufacturing process for a key cardiovascular drug component. [ + ]

Australia’s newest radio telescope is predicted to find an unprecedented 700,000 new galaxies, say scientists planning for CSIRO’s next-generation Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP). [ + ]

An event at the University of New England (UNE) last month marked the beginning of a new era of research on the plants of north-eastern NSW and the UNE’s contribution to botany. [ + ]

The prospect of creating clean, renewable hydrogen fuel is closer than ever after a breakthrough in our understanding of photosynthesis. [ + ]