The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted 'fast track' status to Melbourne drug developer Starpharma's (ASX:SPL) VivaGel. [ + ]

A report in Science journal relating to gene patenting claimed: "Nearly a fifth of all human genes have been patented, a study has found, leading to fears that research into diseases such as breast cancer, diabetes and obesity could be stifled."

Researchers have demonstrated a practical x-ray device that provides 2- and 3-dimensional images of soft biological tissue with details that are ordinarily hard to discern with conventional x-ray imaging.

Researchers at Rice University, the Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Houston and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland have created what they claim is a new class of magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents that are at least 40 times more effective than the best in clinical use.

Sydney oncology therapy developer Psiron (ASX:PSX) has received orphan drug designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its lead oncolytic virus Cavatak (coxsackievirus A21) for the treatment of stage II, stage III and stage IV melanoma. [ + ]

The merger between Melbourne-based companies Cryptome Pharmaceuticals (ASC:CRP) and diagnostics developer HealthLinx has been formalised, following the firms entering a non-binding terms sheet in November. [ + ]

Australia's largest cancer research agency, Melbourne's Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, is linking up with the National Information and Communications Technology Agency (NICTA) to develop adaptive software to sift huge datasets from microarray chips for patterns of gene activity distinctive to different cancers. [ + ]

Tissue engineering specialist Clinical Cell Culture's (ASX:CCE, C3) share price dropped by nearly 30 per cent today on news that the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) intends to reject approval for its ReCell product in Australia. [ + ]

Australian biotech firms are celebrating Christmas early, unwrapping multi-million dollar AusIndustry Commercial Ready grants from the federal government in the lead-up to the holiday season. [ + ]

Hip replacement specialist Portland Orthopaedics (ASX:PLD) has listed on the ASX today at AUD$0.28, three cents above its issue price of $0.25. [ + ]

The pharmaceutical industry should fight a major battle to prolong patent protection and encourage real innovation and discovery, a leading pharmacologist told a Melbourne audience last week. [ + ]

The recommendations from the independent stem cell legislation review committee chaired by former Federal Court judge John Lockhart have been welcomed by many of Australia's stem cell research scientists as well as biotechnology and patient advocacy groups. [ + ]

The independent stem cell legislation review committee chaired by former Federal Court judge John Lockhart has given its support for somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), sometimes known as therapeutic cloning. [ + ]

ASX-listed, Singapore-based Rockeby Biomed (ASX:RBY) has said it might break even in the year ending June 2007, thanks to its new bird flu test kits. [ + ]

Five years after founding Sydney-based biomaterials company Avastra (ASX:AVS), managing director Paul Ralph has resigned. [ + ]