Industry News
AustCancer attracts $2m investment
US biotech company Bioaccelerate will invest AUD$1.88 million into Australian Cancer Technologies (AustCancer, ASX:ACU) through a private share placement of 4,893,301 ACU shares at $0.384 per share. [ + ]
Q-Vis rises from the ashes -- again
Former WA biotechnology company Q-Vis (ASX:QVL) has risen from the ashes to reinvent itself as Salus Technologies. [ + ]
Antisense to establish ADR program
Antisense Therapeutics (ASX: ANP) announced this week it would establish a level 1 American Depository Receipts (ADR) program in the US through the Bank of New York. [ + ]
RNAi experts hope for a knock-out
For Dr John McKinley, CEO of Brisbane RNA-interference therapeutics developer Benitec (ASX:BLT), the power and promise of RNAi technology is captured in one word: druggability. [ + ]
Finding the keys to the world of gene silencing
These are exciting times in medicine: the era of gene-targeting drugs has arrived, promising new standards in safety, selectivity and rational drug design. Antisense oligonucleotides are the best known examples of gene-targeting therapeutic agents. [ + ]
Prima sets sights on $10m capital raising
Melbourne's Prima Biomed (ASX:PRR) is aiming to raise between $5 and $10 million over the next two weeks to fund its research programs - particularly its Panvax vaccine technology. [ + ]
Early results bode well for Psivida's biosilicon
The first four patients with inoperable liver cancer involved in a Phase IIa clinical trial of an in situ radiotherapy treatment developed by Perth nano-biotech company Psivida (ASX:PSD) have experienced regressions of up to 60 per cent in their tumours. [ + ]
LABbuild 2004
Organisers of LABbuild 2004, a specialist conference for the design, management and maintenance of science and research facilities, have confirmed that several top industry experts will be presenting at the three-day conference.
[ + ]Cross-linked beta-amyloid implicated in Alzheimers
Cross-linked oligomers of beta-amyloid (AB) may be the primary neurotoxic agent in Alzheimer's disease according to Rob Moir, an expatriate Australian researcher in Rudolph Tanzi's Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University. [ + ]
Chemeq shares jump as first order shipped
Chemeq shares jumped 46 per cent today after the company announced that it had shipped its first order of its polymeric anti-microbial product to South Africa for use in poultry. [ + ]
Acrux completes Phase I trial of testosterone lotion
Acrux (ASX: ACR) has completed a Phase I clinical trial of its testosterone metered-dose lotion for the treatment of hypogonadism, or low testosterone, in men. [ + ]
Psiron to raise $10.5m to buy licence, boost R&D
With plans for its anti-cancer virus therapy mapped out, Psiron (ASX:PSX) today lodged a prospectus for a non-renounceable rights issue to raise approximately $10.5 million at $0.20 a share. [ + ]
Benitec US patents challenged, sets up equity arrangement
Benitec (ASX: BLT) has signed a term sheet for a AUD$7.5 million standby facility with Icon Investors, to provide the RNAi company with a flexible source of cash at hand for use as working capital, for expansion of its US operations or for future acquisitions. [ + ]
Pfizer says no safety concerns in Celebrex studies
Three long-term studies conducted by Pfizer seeking additional uses for its popular arthritis drug Celebrex have turned up no cardiovascular safety concerns, according to the company [ + ]
Biotech's growing in S Africa, conference hears
A leading South African biosafety expert has told a Brisbane conference that the biotechnology revolution is beginning to roll across Africa, with small-scale farmers clamouring to grow genetically modified crops. [ + ]
