WEHI's Peter Colman wins Victoria's top science prize

WA company Epichem and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative are collaborating to develop new drugs to treat African sleeping sickness and similar, forgotten diseases.

The Victorian delegation started BIO with a bang, announcing a slew of new initiatives.

On Friday, Biota Holdings (ASX:BTA) introduced Peter Cook as its new CEO and managing director, replacing Peter Molloy. On his first day at the company, Cook spoke with Ruth Beran about his background, the future for the company and the similarities between orbital engines and biotechnology.

The privately funded Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) has awarded a grant of AUD$900,000 to Melbourne's St Vincent's Institute (SVI) to establish a rational drug discovery facility for cancer research.

Melbourne-based biopharma Biota Holdings (ASX:BTA) today took the next step in its lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), filing particulars of loss and damage with the Victorian Supreme Court estimated to be in the range of AUD$308 million to $430 million.

Prof Mark von Itzstein has won the RACI's Adrien Albert Award for his contribution to medicinal chemistry through the design and development of anti-influenza virus drug Relenza.

The US government has announced that Medicare will test the idea of paying for antiviral drugs -- including Biota and GlaxoSmithKline's Relenza -- for some patients who catch influenza.

After running out of influenza vaccines during last winter's major epidemic, the US confronts the prospect of an even more severe shortfall in the coming season.

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.

The ancient Chinese pharmacopoeia has bequeathed Western medicine a dragon-slaying drug that promises to save the lives of up to two million people a year – half of them children under the age of two – in regions of the world haunted by drug-resistant strains of malaria.