Unilife licenses ready-to-fill syringes in multimillion-dollar deal

To no one's surprise, CSL has become the dominant force in the Australian biotechnology sector. Graeme O'Neill learns from CSL's chief scientist, Andrew Cuthbertson, about the solid research that will drive the company in the next few years.

Clinical trials have found that GlaxoSmithKline's anti-blood clotting drug Arixtra nearly halved the risk of blood clots in acutely ill patients, a result that is expected to boost the commercial prospects of Brisbane-based Alchemia's (ASX:ACL) generic version of the drug.

Animal health biotech Imugene (ASX:IMU) has signed an agreement with Abic Biological Laboratories Teva, the animal health division of Israeli-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, to develop and evaluate a new vaccine for the prevention of poultry coccidiosis.

Unlisted Brisbane biotech Xenome is making a strong push into San Diego, hub of the US West Coast biotech industry, in pursuit of venture capital and big pharma partners to develop its long and diverse pipeline of conotoxin peptides from the venom of Australian cone shells.

The incoming chief of Mayne Pharma, the global injectable drugs business soon to emerge from the break-up of Mayne Group (ASX:MAY), said growth would have to come from acquisitions and expansion into new areas.

Sydney animal-health biotech Imugene (ASX:IMU) has finalised an exclusive sub-license agreement granting international livestock health company and Merck-Aventis subsidiary Merial the global rights to develop and sell Imugene's poultry productivity enhancing product.

Dimerix Bioscience has closed a series A capital raising worth almost AUD$1 million, and has revealed plans to accelerate the development of its new compounds created by applying its technologies to novel G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) cluster targets.

Melbourne-based Biota Holdings (ASX:BTA) has confirmed that three more countries have placed orders for Relenza, the anti-flu drug developed by Biota and commercialised by Britain's GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

The market potential for Brisbane biopharma Alchemia's (ASX:ACL) generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) anti-blood clot drug Arixtra has been significantly enhanced by clinical trial results finding that the Arixtra is safer and as effective as Sanofi-Aventis' Lovenox, the traditional therapy used for preventing heart attacks, death and ischemia in people with serious heart conditions.

Brisbane cancer drug developer Progen Industries (ASX:PGL, NASDAQ:PGLAF) will expand its phase II clinical trial program into prostate cancer to assess the efficacy and safety of its PI-88 angiogenesis inhibitor in combination with Sanofi-Aventis' chemotherapy agent Taxotere (docetaxel).