Australia’s biggest healthcare provider Ramsay Healthcare this week reported a 21.9 percent jump in full-year net profit to $178.5 million. [ + ]

Testosterone booster Acrux this week stormed into the black for the first time, announcing a net profit of $46.6 million after earlier in the year signing one of the biggest ever multinational licensing deals for an Australian biotech. [ + ]

Regenerative medicine specialists Mesoblast today reported a net loss of $14.8 million for the full year ended 30 June 2010, an increase on the previous year’s loss of $12.3 million. [ + ]

Regenerative medicine specialists Mesoblast today reported a net loss of $14.8 million for the full year ended 30 June 2010. The company, noted, however that it had finished the year with cash reserves of $32.5 million, up from $16.5 million for the previous corresponding period. [ + ]

Melbourne biotech Clinuvel announced today that it plans to conduct clinical trials of its UV protection drug Scenesse as a treatment for the skin pigmentation disorder vitiligo. [ + ]

Regenerative medicine specialists Mesoblast announced this week that it has convened an extraordinary general meeting with shareholders to vote on the proposed acquisition of the company’s US partner Angioblast Systems. [ + ]

Melbourne biotech Cellestis this week announced a full year net profit of $10.22 million, following strong growth in all of the company’s major markets. [ + ]

As the more traditional gold deposits of the world become depleted, mining companies are facing the challenge of processing ores that contain higher concentrations of other metals.

The Australian stock market finished down today amid renewed concerns about the pace of the global economic recovery and as local investors await the outcome of tomorrow’s federal election, which has become too close to call. [ + ]

In an exclusive interview with Australian Life Scientist federal minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Senator Kim Carr has launched a scathing attack on the federal opposition’s lack of vision on science and innovation warning that a victory for Tony Abbott tomorrow would represent a huge backward step for the nation. [ + ]

Professor Philip Hogg, Director of the new Lowy Cancer Research Centre at the University of NSW, has received the prestigious 2010 Industry & Investment NSW Eureka Prize for Medical Research Translation. [ + ]

Direct-to-consumer genetic tests provide access to a person’s genomic information without necessarily involving a doctor or insurance company in the process. Sadly, there is no guarantee that the consumer is aware of the limitations or implications of the tests.

Who would have thought that a staid structural part of the cell could be so treacherous in cancer, determining life or death? Maria Kavallaris at Children’s Cancer Institute Australia is using a mixture of proteomics and good old-fashioned biology to fight such treachery head-on. [ + ]

Predicting where Australia’s next mineral boom will come from is serious business. Data collected using satellite sensing, airborne surveys, seismic crews and prospecting teams is immense and is piling up rapidly. But what use is all this data?

CSL, Australia’s biggest biotech and the world’s second largest producer of plasma blood products, today reported an eight percent dip in full year net profit to $1.05 billion, as a rising Australian dollar dented overseas revenues. [ + ]