A new environment for pharmaceutical companies is on the horizon and it will be the fittest who survive, predicts Ian Nisbet.

Simon Easteal and Pythia Demonsthenes step back from 2050 to brief us on a century of healthcare.

Perth company Phylogica has launched its IPO and is hoping to raise AUD$5 million from the sale of 25 million shares at $0.20 to support the preclinical development of three lead candidates -- including an asthma vaccine -- and its protein libraries.

In the four months since it listed on the ASX, Melbourne-based Acrux (ASX: ACR) has had a busy time of it. This week the company announced successful completion of its Phase I study for a transdermal spray to deliver pain drug Fentanyl to treat severe chronic pain. CEO Igor Gonda is confident that this outcome gives the company an attractive commercial opportunity.

Long gone are the days when venture capitalists could be seduced with little more than a good idea, two smart people, and a hastily assembled PowerPoint presentation.

Melbourne meditech company Prana Biotechnology (ASX:PBT, NASDAQ:PRAN) is prepared to take its lead drug for Alzheimer's disease all the way to the market if a major clinical trial in the UK confirms its efficacy.

The outlook for 2005 is one of 'cautious optimism', with an increased emphasis on issues of compliance, pharmacovigilance, outsourcing, and the pharma CIO. Those were some of the key takeaways of the first annual Life Science Insights (LSI) Predictions for the life sciences industry, delivered today by Jim Golden, the firm's vice-president for research.

Open innovation -- the concept that ideas and technology have to flow both into and out of companies in order to maximise the development and commercialisation of innovative new products and services -- needs to be embraced by Australian companies both in the biotech sector and other industries, according to visiting academic Prof Hank Chesbrough.

"The right drug for the right patient at the right time" could be the motto of the Personalised Medicine Coalition (PMC), a non-profit group announced last week in Washington. The coalition, which includes members from industry, government, academia, and patient advocacy groups, aims to "foster understanding and adoption of personalised medicine for the benefit of patients."

Big pharma looks sick. A host of third-quarter earnings figures this week confirms the mounting pressures faced by many drug makers on both sides of the Atlantic as prices are squeezed, sales growth in major markets slows and research productivity falls.

New Jersey-based Merck has reported a 28 per cent drop in quarterly profit and said 2004 earnings will fall as much as 11 per cent due to last month's recall of its Vioxx arthritis drug.