Paul Trainor AO, 78, 'father of Australia's medical device industry' died on January 13, 2006.

It's hardly surprising that one of the Australian biotechnology industry's biggest bugbears is a communication gap between companies and their investors.

Unlisted Adelaide-based firm TGR Biosciences has attracted up to AUD$3 million funding from venture capital firm Nanyang Ventures to further clinical development of its treatment for oral mucositis, a debilitating side-effect of cancer treatments.

Adelaide-based GroPep's (ASX:GRO) net profit after tax for the 2004-2005 financial year has been boosted by a one-off tax benefit of AUD$3.4 million, and is now expected to be approximately $6.4 million compared with a previous estimate of $3 million.

Sydney venture capital company Nanyang Ventures has injected $2.5 million into Genetic Solutions to help accelerate the Brisbane genetic information-technology company's product development and international marketing initiatives.

Draft guidelines are already having an impact on the way biotechnology companies communicate, according to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).

There must be something in the water in Sydney’s North Ryde that encourages biotech.

Positive forces are at work in Australian venture capital circles, writes Renate Krelle.

Minimising the side-effects that plague patients taking opioid pain-relievers will be the big advantage of Queensland-based QRxPharma’s novel opioid candidate Q8003, according to Alex Baker, Program Manager at QRxPharma.

Last week, ResMed's California-based chairman and CEO Dr Peter Farrell was in his usual stirring form at a Melbourne speech, referring to Australia as "Botswana" and the nation's flag as a "dog's breakfast". But perhaps he was just getting it all out of his system one last time -- on Monday, Farrell was named a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), one of the top gongs in the annual Australia Day honours