Solbec Pharmaceuticals (ASX:SBP) has received orphan drug designation from the US Food and Drug Administration for its lead anti-cancer compound Coramsine for the treatment of high risk stage II, stage III and stage IV melanoma. [ + ]

Panbio's (ASX:PBO) US subsidiary Panbio Inc has been awarded almost US$100,000 (AUD$135,000) in funding from the US Deparment of Defence. [ + ]

Neuren Pharmaceuticals (ASX:NEU) and Metabolic Pharmaceuticals (ASX:MBP) have obtained promising results in an animal trial testing the ability of NNZ-4921, a neural regeneration peptide (NRP), to prevent or reverse sensory nerve damage. [ + ]

Melbourne-based Biota Holdings (ASX:BTA) has commenced a phase I clinical trial of its human rhinovirus (HRV) drug, BTA-798, for the prevention and treatment of one of the major causes of the common cold. [ + ]

Scientists at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) are planning to commence a phase I clinical trial in Brisbane for a new malaria vaccine starting late this year or early next year. [ + ]

The Food and Drug Administration has reviewed Idaho Technology's 510(k) application and cleared the Joint Biological Agent Identification and Diagnostic System (JBAIDS) for use as an aid in the laboratory of diagnosis of anthrax. The JBAIDS Anthrax Detection System can detect the gene components of Bacillus anthracis in a variety of environmental sample types, and also clinical blood samples as well as cultured organisms.

Blackwell Publishing, in partnership with Royal Australia and New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (RANZCOG) has released a study on foetal sex diagnosis.

Peptech chairman Mel Bridges today told shareholders that the company's best strategy for building value was to develop its product pipeline. [ + ]

Victoria took another step towards its biotechnology future today, with the opening of the new AUD$20 million Victorian Agribiosciences Centre at La Trobe University's R&D Park in Bundoora. [ + ]

PharmAust's (ASX:PAA) wholly owned subsidiary Mimotopes has signed a three-year contract with California-based Invitrogen to exclusively supply research-grade peptides to the global biotech group's customer base. [ + ]

Scientists at the Dairy Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) have discovered new methods to isolate and maintain large numbers of bovine embryonic stem cells. [ + ]

Adelaide-based GroPep (ASX:GRO) has increased its profit more than 80 per cent after tax to AUD$1.55 million in the half-year to December 31 2005, compared with $850,000 in the previous corresponding period. [ + ]

Every year, East Coast fever destroys more than a million cattle and costing some $200 million annually, this tick-borne disease rages across a dozen countries in eastern and central Africa. Now, an international team of scientists has taken the first major step toward a vaccine to prevent East Coast fever. Their work, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows how genomics can generate pivotal new vaccines.

With a new DNA test, tuberculosis infection can be revealed so quickly that a patient doesn't have time to infect others.

Changes in a widely used assay for parathyroid hormone (PTH) have made its use with the established guidelines for end stage renal disease clinical management both inappropriate and potentially harmful to patients. This research was published in the journal Seminars in Dialysis.