California-based biopharma company, OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, has announced it will run three Phase Ib clinical trials in Australia and New Zealand testing its humanised monoclonal antibody therapies for cancer via local CRO, Novotech. [ + ]

Listed Australian biotech Holista CollTech announced today that it has signed two significant deals regarding the research and commercialisation of its halal food-grade sheep collagen. [ + ]

The popular Swiss-made antiemetic post-chemo drug Aloxi (palonosetron hydrochloride) has been approved for reimbursement under the PBS. [ + ]

The International Solar Biofuels Consortium was established in 2006 to promote scientific and industrial collaboration to promote biofuels and renewable energy. [ + ]

Dow AgroSciences has joined forces with PICSE (Primary Industry Centre for Science Education) to help attract Australia’s future scientists to careers in agribusiness and research.

The University of Western Australia’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Alan Robson has announced his retirement from the position at the end of 2011.

Professor Peter Doherty has written his last grant application. But the 69-year-old Nobel Laureate hasn’t retired quite yet. [ + ]

Researchers at The University of Queensland believe they are a step closer to ridding the world of vaccinations with needles and syringes.

Xenotransplantation is the transplantation of organs or cells from a non-human animal into a human. [ + ]

When the immune system identifies a cell that needs to be eliminated, such as a virus-infected cell or cancer cell, natural killer cells descend and puncture the offending cell, injecting toxic enzymes to spell its doom. [ + ]

The S&P/ASX 200 Healthcare Index ended the month down on Friday closing at 8179.3 points compared to the 8202.1 point close on October 1, indicating that investors remain cautious about the sector. [ + ]

This year’s $400,000 Victorian Cancer Agency (VCA) Clinical Fellowship has been awarded to Dr Clare Scott from theWalter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) to help advance her ground-breaking work on epithelial ovarian cancer. [ + ]

PricewaterhouseCoopers has released its Q1FY11 BioForum report on Australia’s life sciences and biotech equities, revealing that the sector went backwards slightly as the wider market advanced. [ + ]

The first pilot phase of the 1000 Genomes Project has now ended with the results published this week in the journal Nature (doi:10.1038/nature09534). [ + ]

Living Cell Technologies (LCT), the Australian biotech developing a porcine-based cell implant to combat diabetes, today reported that 10 of the 12 insulin-dependent diabetes patients taking part in the clinical trial of its Diabecell product in New Zealand have shown marked improvement. [ + ]