Brisbane biotech Tissue Therapies (ASX:TIS) has completed a placement to investors, raising AUD$1.6 million before costs.

Alchemia (ASX:ACL) has raised AUD$14.6 million through a share placement and will commence a share purchase plan (SPP) to offer an additional $5 million to existing shareholders.

What are the odds that Australians' precious nest eggs be used to invest in something as risky as biotech? Well guess what -- it's already happening, and governments face pressure to free up more superannuation funds, writes Ruth Beran.

Sydney-based cancer drug development company PacMab has lodged a prospectus for an IPO to raise AUD$5 million to commercialise its treatment for a fatal blood cancer and potentially other blood disorders, with listing of its shares on the ASX expected in December this year.

Melbourne's Amrad Corporation (ASX:AML) has proposed that its name be changed to Zenyth Therapeutics.

Artificial heart company Ventracor (ASX:VCR) has recalled the external components of its VentrAssist left ventricular assist system (LVAS) following the discovery of an anomaly in certain lots of the cable which connects the externally worn controller to the implanted VentrAssist blood pump.

Biota Holdings' (ASX:BTA) US-based CEO Peter Molloy has decided not to renew his contract in January 2006 following the company's decision to consolidate its operations back into its Melbourne facility.

A Sydney company is hoping pathologists will be making room next to their flow cytometers for a new technology which provides doctors with a detailed profile of leukaemias and lymphomas, setting the scene for tailored treatment.

Brisbane cancer-drug developer Peplin (ASX:PEP) has announced a renounceable rights offer to shareholders aimed at raising AUD$10.2 million for the first Phase II clinical trial of its lead skin-cancer molecule, PEP005.

Brisbane company Tissue Therapies (ASX:TIS) has bolstered its cash reserves through a placement of $1.46 million before costs to institutional and sophisticated investors.

Drug delivery company Acrux is preparing for a late September float on the Australian Stock Exchange after filing its prospectus for an AUD$30 million IPO with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission yesterday.