Allied Healthcare (ASX:AHZ) has reached a milestone with its CardioCel cardiovascular patch product, announcing its first surgical use outside of clinical trials. [ + ]

The state finalists of the 2012 AusBiotech/GSK Student Excellence Awards have been announced. Sixteen promising research students competed for the chance to represent their state, and the six state finalists will now compete at the AusBiotech national conference to win a $7,000 travel grant. [ + ]

Researchers from The University of Western Australia, Ondek and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital are continuing a study into how the bacteria responsible for stomach ulcers, Helicobacter pylori, can be used as a carrier for ingestible vaccines. [ + ]

Bionomics (ASX:BNO) is presenting details of its its Alpha 7 program targeting Alzheimers and other neurodegenerative conditions at Neuroscience 2012, as it embarks on the hunt for a licensing deal. [ + ]

Specialised Therapeutics Australia (STA) has negotiated commercialisation rights for a new drug to treat cachexia-anorexia, a serious condition linked with advanced cancers. [ + ]

CSL (ASX:CSL) has announced another up to $900 million share buyback, and has affirmed its guidance for FY13. [ + ]

A new non-invasive test for colorectal cancer screening has demonstrated high sensitivity for detecting colorectal cancer; in particular, precancers that are most likely to develop into cancer. [ + ]

Thermo Fisher Scientific and Immundiagnostik have announced a collaboration to develop novel mass spectrometry-based assays for qualitative and quantitative analysis of proteins and peptides. The goal is development of commercial assays to be widely applicable in research and routine clinical analysis. [ + ]

The first published data from Clinuvel's (ASX:CUV) trial of SCENESSE in patients with skin condition vitiligo indicate that the treatment can help accelerate repigmentation of the skin. [ + ]

Data from a trial of Biotron's (ASX:BIT) novel hepatitis C (HCV) treatment candidate shows that all patients treated with the highest dose had undetectable levels of the virus at 48-week follow up. [ + ]

The Federal Government has announced the commission of an expert panel to review the “appropriateness of the extension arrangements for pharmaceutical patents.” This review is part of a broad range of measures the Government is undertaking to scrutinise the Australian patent system. [ + ]

Flinders University researcher Dr Jan Bekker is on a mission to chemically fingerprint South Australia’s marine sponges, with the wider aim of identifying new compounds that could ultimately play an important role in the fight against cancer and infectious diseases. [ + ]

Rats’ keen sense of smell can be exploited to dramatically reduce their attacks on native birds, researchers from the University of Sydney have shown. The technique could be adapted to protect vulnerable species worldwide. [ + ]

TAP Biosystems has announced the appointment of TrendBio as its new distribution partner. The appointment will provide scientists in Australia and New Zealand with rapid access to, and support of, TAP Biosystems’ range of automated bioprocessing and cell processing technologies. [ + ]

Prima BioMed (ASX:PRR) has reported promising interim results from a phase II trial of CVac, its prospective ovarian cancer vaccine. [ + ]