Drug discovery can be enormously expensive when a drug becomes a disaster. Professor Susan Charman’s team is working to fix potential problems early in the drug-development process. [ + ]

Australian research into shark antibodies that holds out the potential for new drugs and diagnostic agents is a step closer to realising its goal following an agreement with international diagnostic and pharmaceutical giant Roche. The pioneering work, which has attracted worldwide interest, is based on research led by Associate Professor Michael Foley at the La Trobe Institute of Molecular Science (LIMS). [ + ]

DuPont subsidiary Pioneer Hi-Breed and agricultural research body ACPFG have expanded a longstanding agreement to collaborate on agricultural biotechnology R&D. [ + ]

An international consortium comprising around 100 scientists and mathematicians, including Australian researchers, has for the first time pooled shared knowledge and data to deliver a holistic understanding of the biological changes in a cell. The findings of the Bacillus Systems Biology (BaSysBio) project, published in leading journal Science, will ultimately lead to the development of new drugs to protect people against antibiotic-resistant infections, including golden staph. [ + ]

AusBiotech invites you to take part in the BIO International Convention, the largest global event for the biotechnology industry, attracting the biggest names in biotech. [ + ]

Sirtex Medical (ASX:SRX) has reported a 69.7% increase in 1H profit, due in part to accelerating sales of its radioactive microsphere treatments for liver cancer. [ + ]

Alchemia Limited (ASX:ACL) has been granted the second of four US patents it has applied for to protect its manufacturing process for the fondaparinux blood clot treatment. [ + ]

Living Cell Technologies (ASX:LCT) swung to an $8.1m profit in 1H12, after selling its DIABECELL assets to its new 50/50 joint venture. [ + ]

A substantial validation of the power of dye solar cell (DSC) technology to significantly impact the world’s renewable energy supply has come from the World Cultural Council, which has awarded Professor Michael Grätzel the prestigious 2012 Albert Einstein World Award of Science for his outstanding achievements in inventing and developing the Grätzel Cell, the Dye-sensitised Solar Cell. [ + ]

Genetic Technologies (ASX:GTG) has reported a $3.3m loss for 1H12, as a result of declining diagnostics and patent licensing revenue. [ + ]

Ian Frazer and the team at Coridon is working on a new vaccine that will also provide treatment for human papillomavirus (HPV) in infected women. [ + ]

The board of Allied Healthcare Group has announced that its investment company Coridon has embarked on the development of a next-generation therapeutic Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. The program will be based on preliminary work by Coridon founder Professor Ian Frazer’s team and follows on from Professor Frazer’s work that resulted in two successful cervical cancer preventative vaccines - Gardasil and Cervarix. [ + ]

DuPont and the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) have expanded their long-standing research collaboration to increase research scale on improving the overall productivity of wheat, as well as other crops. [ + ]

The Raising the Bar bill, which tightens Australian patent laws, including adding an exemption for researchers, has cleared the Senate and will move to the House of Representatives. [ + ]

Partnership and exhibition packages are now available for the AusBiotech 2012 national conference to be held in Melbourne, Victoria from 30 October to 2 November 2012. [ + ]