WA pharmaceutical marketing company Helicon Group has come up with a very smart plan to penetrate the world’s most enticing market – China – by targeting its newly emerging middle class. [ + ]

Winning the 2008 NSW BioFirst Commercialisation award has come at exactly the right time for Special Phage Holdings, which has treated a patient in the clinic and is currently looking at a second round of private fundraising to develop its portfolio of bacteriophages [ + ]

Xceed and Metabolic trade PolyNovo Biomaterials [ + ]

Arana humanises VEGF-D antibody [ + ]

Alchemia registers loss, expects to be in profit in 2010 [ + ]

The antisense concept has been around for 30 years and now therapies are on the market and in the clinic, including a recently reported Phase IIa trial by Melbourne company Antisense Therapeutics. [ + ]

Arana files IND application for rheumatoid arthritis candidate [ + ]

Astronomer named as new chief scientist [ + ]

Unlisted Queensland biotech Xenome has reported good results in a Phase II trial of its candidate for chronic cancer pain relief and raised a good amount of cash to further its clinical development. [ + ]

Astronomer Professor Penny Sackett has been appointed as Australia's new full-time Chief Scientist.

Western Australian company Orthocell is pioneering biological therapies to repair and regenerate damaged tendons and ligaments. [ + ]

Monash University's Protein Crystallography Unit is being upgraded with a new automated protein crystallisation system, an imaging plate dectector and an HF X-ray source.

Xenome starts Phase II for acute post-operative pain [ + ]

Phosphagenics to delist from AIM, starts Phase I for delivery system [ + ]

BioProspects names new CEO [ + ]