The Universities of Queensland and Melbourne, the founding investors in university based pre-seed venture fund Uniseed, have extended their commitments to the fund by a further $8 million each. [ + ]

Biotransformation - using plant cells in culture to create new pharmaceuticals that are safer, more powerful and effective than the old ones they are made from, is opening new horizons in drug design says Professor Tony Bacic of the Cooperative Research Centre for Bioproducts and the University of Melbourne.

Neuren Pharmaceuticals (ASX:NEU) has been issued two additional US patents expanding its portfolio to Parkinson's disease and hypertension. [ + ]

Medical diagnostics company Panbio's (ASX:PBO) new assay for Japanese encephalitis (JE), released for sale just two days ago, has received immediate interest and has been shipped to India where a JE outbreak has resulted in 1145 reported cases, including 296 deaths. [ + ]

A US$20 million grant to develop Proteome Systems' (ASX:PXL) proprietary therapeutic compounds for the treatment of radiation exposure caused by terrorist attacks or industry accidents has been awarded to a consortium comprising Proteome Systems, the Medical College of Wisconsin, Henry Ford Health Systems in Detroit, and the University of Toronto. [ + ]

Griffith University plans to almost triple its number of scientists from 55 to 155 over the next seven years to create the largest glycomics institute in the world following a commitment by the Queensland government and the university to spend AUD$22 million. [ + ]

Stem Cell Sciences (AIM:STEM, SCS) has signed a licensing agreement with US-based drug discovery tools and services provider Deltagen for use of its patented internal ribosome entry sites (IRES) technology. [ + ]

Point-of-care blood screening at airports, schools and the local GP's office could be a reality following the development of a micro-technology at the CSIRO that uses sound to mix blood. [ + ]

Brisbane cancer drug developer Progen Industries (ASX:PGL) has reported a strong cash position of AUD$23.43 million, up 64 per cent on last year for the year ended 30 June 2005, as it continues to trial its lead anti-cancer compound. [ + ]

Perth nano-biotech company Psivida (ASX:PSD, NASDAQ:PSDV, Xetra:PSI) has contracted North Carolina-based R&D organisation Cirrus Pharmaceuticals to develop a number of specific drug candidates formulated in Psivida's modified silicon product BioSilicon. [ + ]

WA agriculture minister Kim Chance has claimed that concerns over a canola crop which may have contained some genetically modified material have supported the state's moratorium on GM crops. [ + ]

Solbec Pharmaceuticals' (ASX:SBP) devil's apple-derived drug Coramsine (SBP002) has met the primary endpoint of safety and tolerability for the two-hour infusion cohort of its single agent phase I clinical trial for advanced solid tumours. [ + ]

The second patient to receive Sunshine Heart's (ASX:SHC) C-Pulse device has had the device removed one month after it was implanted, after he developed a related infection. [ + ]

Sydney drug re-engineering company Eiffel Technologies (ASX:EIF) has released its results for the 2004-05 financial year, showing losses of AUD$3.5 million -- down 8.3 per cent from the previous year -- but less than $630,000 cash in the bank. [ + ]

Perth-based Bone Medical (ASX:BNE) has signed a share purchase agreement with UK R&D company Proxima Concepts to acquire 100 per cent control of British biopharma firm Bone -- the company that holds the licenses to Bone Medical's platform technologies. [ + ]