Melbourne Pathology will be the first Australian laboratory to acquire PREVI Isola, based on LBT Innovations MicroStreak technology for automated agar plate streaking in microbiology laboratories.

Abbott Laboratories is believed to be considering the sale of its flu business, gained earlier in the year through its acquisition of Belgium’s Solvay Pharmaceuticals. [ + ]

Swiss-based Novartis is expected to be the world’s best performing pharmaceutical company over the next five years, bolstered by its vaccine and generics businesses. [ + ]

Researchers at the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran have found that a single blood test may be used to accurately deterimine at what age women will reach the menopause.

A protein key to the development of placenta in pregnant lizards may open the door to a promising new branch of cancer research. [ + ]

California’s MP Biomedicals has acquired the assets of Auckland-based protein biologics manufacturing company ICPbio in deal estimated to be worth. [ + ]

Federal innovation minister Kim Carr has affirmed that the government will seek to have its new R&D Tax Credit apply retrospectively from July 1 this year. [ + ]

The tobacco industry's funding of genetic research could potentially be used to shift responsibility for cancer from smoking to an individual’s genetic make-up.

A multi-institutional team has recently sequenced the body louse genome with Dr Stephen Cameron from CSIRO Entomology researching the gene that is responsible for body lice responding to their environment.

Scitech has been appointed as distributor for electrophysiology company Scientifica.

In this section of the roundtable the panellists discussed the so-called 'valley of death' between a promising discovery and having a product that the industry will actually put money behind. [ + ]

Global biotech company Amgen has acknowledged that proposed changes to the R&D tax credit arrangements would increase the appeal of the Australian biotech industry as the company prepares to embark on a global spending spree. [ + ]

In this final part of the roundtable discussion the panellists address the role of government in commercialisation and then provide their closing comments on how we can improve the system in Australia. [ + ]

It's the perennial question: how do we effectively translate cutting edge research into successful products in the market? Australian Life Scientist brought together a panel of industry luminaries to discuss the challenges of commercialisation in Australia. [ + ]

Researchers have added nanoechnology to an off-the-shelf digital camera to help doctors distinguish healthy cells from cancerous cells in the human body. [ + ]