The AUD$20 million flagship project of Tasmania's Intelligent Island initiative funded by the Australian Government and jointly managed with the state government -- the Tasinformatics Centre of Excellence at the University of Tasmania -- is due to get off the ground in the coming weeks, once final negotiations between the university and the state government have been completed. [ + ]

Chemeq (ASX: CMQ) has called a trading halt while it considers a proposal to raise equity funds to use as working capital and to expand its current production facility from 20 tonnes annual production capacity to 50 tonnes. [ + ]

Origin Capital, an unlisted pooled development fund set up by TSL Group's Ross Dobinson and Michael Naphtali, has raised AUD$6.5 million in private equity for investment into three biotech ventures. [ + ]

The early stage funding is out there, but would-be biotech companies need to demonstrate quality to get the cash, according to the people who hold the seed-funding purse strings. [ + ]

The US Food and Drug Administration has refused to approve a pacemaker-like device made by Houston-based Cyberonics to treat depression rejecting the advice of its own panel of experts. [ + ]

Two years after it was established, the NSW Agricultural Genomics Centre is showing its mettle, announcing the discovery of several DNA markers for genes conferring tolerance to aluminium toxicity. [ + ]

Stem cell company CyGenics (ASX: CYN) will collaborate with the Murdoch Children's Research Institute to perform clinical trials demonstrating that stem cells expanded from umbilical cord blood using CyGenics subsidiary Cytomatrix's proprietary cell growth scaffold retain full functionality and effectiveness. [ + ]

With almost no fanfare, Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) and Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) have joined forces to fund one of the largest and most significant projects in Australia’s history: a $30 million sheep genomics program. [ + ]

New Zealand will provide AUD$5 million towards the synchrotron beamlines, pushing beamline funding over $25 million - half of the $49 million required to set up the initial suite of beamlines. [ + ]

Xenome CEO Dr Tony Evans has stepped down as the company prepares to move into a new phase of development and activity with a focus on opportunities in the US. [ + ]

Having recently completed the Phase III clinical trials for its patented asthma prognostic, Aridol, Sydney-based Pharmaxis (ASX: PXS) today announced that the first patients had been enrolled in a major UK clinical study. [ + ]

There’s a distinct, rosy glow on the commercial horizon for unlisted Canberra vaccine developer Vaxine, with the company winning a AUD$770,000 AusIndustry R&D Start grant to advance its new-generation hepatitis B vaccine, and bringing in an equity partner to boost its cash reserves. [ + ]

Queensland’s Bioprospect (ASX:BPO) has entered into a heads of agreement with Perth’s Bio-Gene Technology for the grow-out and distribution rights of Qcide, BioProspect’s eucalypt-derived natural insecticide. [ + ]

Panbio (ASX:PBO) has received approval from the FDA for an improved diagnostic immunoassay for West Nile Virus (WNV). The new test, which has increased specificity and sensitivity and is easier to use, comes a year after the company received approval for the first WNV test on the market. [ + ]

An affidavit filed on behalf of Biota (ASX: BTA) in the Victorian Supreme Court this week has shown that the amount of money spent by GlaxoSmithKline in promoting Biota's drug Relenza in major markets dropped by 80 per cent in the second flu season after the drug was approved. [ + ]