So, you're a small biotech looking to get into bed with Big Pharma. Kate McDonald spoke to Merck's head of research Ismail Kola about life on the dark side.

Agenix (OTC: AGXLY, ASX: AGX) subsidiary, Agen Biomedical has signed an agreement with diagnostics company Axis-Shield under which Axis-Shield will produce a new laboratory assay for deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. The Axis-Shield assay will use Agen's 3B6 D-dimer antibody, and will be incorporated into Abbott Laboratories' mmunodiagnostic analyser, AxSYM.

Expatriate Australian Dr John Sime is headed back to Australia next January, with plans to improve the links between the Australian and the British biotechnology industries.

Delegates from 10 UK biotechnology companies will attend the upcoming AusBiotech 2003 conference in Adelaide, led by expatriate Australian Dr John Sime, currently the director of research support and development at Imperial College, London.

Kinacia's chief executive officer Dr Ross Murdoch has jumped ship to join Alzheimer's disease treatment developer Prana Biotechnology in a newly created role.