Progen's vice president of R&D, Robert Don, is leaving the company to take up the "job of a lifetime" developing drugs for neglected diseases that affect developing countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas. [ + ]

In one of the more intriguing examples of technological cross-pollination, Melbourne dendrimer-drug drug developer Starpharma Holdings (ASX:SPL, USOTC:SPHRY) announced today it has become a foundation shareholder in a new Perth-based biotech, Dimerix Bioscience. [ + ]

Sydney virotherapy developer Psiron (ASX:PSX) reported this week that two end-stage melanoma patients have shown no adverse effects from the first human test its of its oncolytic virus therapy, [ + ]

Richard Opara has completed step one in his plan for Sydney device company Polartechnics (ASX:PLT), installing himself as chairman today, after Ventracor CEO Colin Sutton resigned from the position, ending a three week board tussle. [ + ]

Molecular oncologist Dr Kent Hunter, of the Laboratory of Population Genetics at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, told the recent Lorne Genome Conference that it may soon be possible to predict a patient's risk of developing metastatic cancer based on their individual gene-expression profiles. [ + ]

Melbourne's Prana Biotechnology (ASX:PBT) has begun a Phase I clinical trial of its synthetic, second-generation molecule PBT2 in healthy volunteers. [ + ]

There are tremendous opportunities in personalised or information-based medicine, according to Carol Kovac, IBM's general manager for life sciences and healthcare. Kovac has come to Australia as a visiting international fellow for the InnovationXchange Network. [ + ]

Melbourne stem cell therapy developer Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) announced today that founder and chief scientific adviser Prof Silviu Itescu has signed a memorandum of understanding to activate a AUD$1.5 million NHMRC research grant awarded to him last year. [ + ]

Prof Garth Cooper, the president and chief scientist of Auckland-based Protemix, has been named NZBio's 'distinguished biotechnologist of the year' at the New Zealand biotech organisation's conference. [ + ]

Rockeby Biomed (ASX:RBY) has appointed Italian company Named as its first distributor in the European market. [ + ]

The InnovationXchange's BRIDGE program is set to expand, as it moves toward the end of its one year pilot program. It plans new clusters in health, nanotechnology and medical devices, and has welcomed Resmed to its fold. [ + ]

RNA-interference therapeutics company Nucleonics has disputed claims by Queensland rival Benitec (ASX:BTL) that two new Australian patents on RNAi technology granted to the Medical College of Georgia Research Institute are "largely irrelevant" to companies involved in medical applications of RNAi. [ + ]

The launch of what is being touted as a new NZ $150 million (AUD$140 million) Australasian life-science venture capital fund, has grabbed centre stage on the first day of the NZBio conference in Auckland. [ + ]

The withdrawal of Tysabri in mid-Feburary not only "gutted" both Elan and Biogen Idec, but also hit the share prices of other publicly traded biopharmaceutical firms, sending the Burrill Biotech Select Index tumbling to end February down 2 per cent. [ + ]

AustCancer (ASX:ACU) shares have clawed back some of their recent losses since the company announced last Wednesday it has appointed US biotech executive Len Firestone as CEO. And although Firestone's recent experience would seem to make him something of a merger-specialist, he insists that he was not recruited to catalyse a merger. [ + ]