Sydney antibody therapeutics developer Peptech (ASX:PTD) has signed an agreement with an unnamed biopharmaceuticals manufacturer to make its potent anti-inflammatory domain antibody (dAb) for preclinical and human clinical trials. [ + ]

The legal mists swirling the issue of ownership of key patents to RNA-induced (RNAi) gene silencing are lifting, with the US Patent Office granting CSIRO a patent for its Hellsgate family of vectors for exploring and manipulating gene function in plants and animals. [ + ]

Australia's medical research community has welcomed news of major changes to the nation's sole research funding agency, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). [ + ]

Licence discussions between RNAi specialist Benitec (ASX:BLT) and an undisclosed party caused Bentiec's share price to rise from $0.135 on September 8 to $0.17 on September 9, the company has told the ASX. [ + ]

Western Australian collagen purification company CollTech (ASX:CAU) has raised $2.27 million after fees from its recent private placement and share purchase plan. [ + ]

They were set up to bring key Australian scientists back from overseas. But nearly two thirds of last year's crop of Australian Research Council (ARC) Federation Fellowships was awarded to scientists already living here. [ + ]

Shares in Melbourne-based biopharma Biota Holdings (ASX:BTA) rose today in the wake of media reports that Holland has placed an order for Relenza, the anti-flu drug developed by Biota and commercialised by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). [ + ]

LabWare has won the Scientific Computing and Instrumentation Readers' Choice Award in the LIMS category for the past six years running. SC&I conducts an annual Readers' Choice Award survey asking readers to rate various laboratory applications and instrument categories.

Arthron, a subsidiary of Prima Biomed (ASX:PRR) has signed a license and option agreement with US biotechnology company Xencor to utilise Arthron's Fc receptor technology for enhancing the effect of anti-cancer antibodies. [ + ]

Continuing development of its lead product VivaGel has boosted Starpharma's (ASX:SPL) 2004-05 losses to $5.5 million, up 38 per cent from the previous year. [ + ]

Sydney proteomics R&D company Proteome Systems (ASX:PXL) will raise about $10 million through the issue of over 33 million fully paid ordinary shares to institutional and professional investors in the UK, US and Australia at a price of $0.30 per share. [ + ]

Scientists around the world are racing to create the first 'smart' contrast agent to enhance the use of MRI in measuring biological processes in the body, and three early-career researchers at the University of Queensland (UQ) are in the running. [ + ]

Specialty pharmaceutical company Acrux (ASX:ACR) has reported positive results from two more clinical studies of its Testosterone MD-Lotion treatment for testosterone deficiency in men. [ + ]

The market potential for Brisbane biopharma Alchemia's (ASX:ACL) generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) anti-blood clot drug Arixtra has been significantly enhanced by clinical trial results finding that the Arixtra is safer and as effective as Sanofi-Aventis' Lovenox, the traditional therapy used for preventing heart attacks, death and ischemia in people with serious heart conditions. [ + ]

Artificial heart company Ventracor (ASX:VCR) has recalled the external components of its VentrAssist left ventricular assist system (LVAS) following the discovery of an anomaly in certain lots of the cable which connects the externally worn controller to the implanted VentrAssist blood pump. [ + ]