Adelaide-based GroPep has continued to shuck off the disastrous after-effects of its purchase of Biotech Australia by posting a second-half profit for 2002-03.

Bioprocessing and fermentation are essential parts of the biotechnology product development cycle. If a drug or therapeutic is produced by a living organism, whether it's bacteria, yeast, plant cells or mammalian cells, some form of large-scale fermentation or culture is required to produce the entity, and usually some form of downstream processing is necessary to extract, purify, concentrate and formulate the end product.

Adelaide-based biotech GroPep has named former Faulding Pharmaceuticals top brass Robert Finder as its new CEO.

Adelaide biotech GroPep has blamed the Sydney operations it took over when it acquired Biotech Australia earlier this year for most of the $6.89m loss it sustained in the 2001-02 financial year.

More than 30 staff at the former Biotech Australia (BA) will lose their jobs in the operational restructure planned by Adelaide growth factor company GroPep.

Adelaide growth factor biobusiness GroPep has laid out its path to profits by announcing plans to concentrate on growing its pharmaceutical cell culture division.

Drug discovery group GroPep (ASX: GRO) has forecast a $4 million loss this year despite predicting profits of $1.9 million for 2001-02 just two months ago.

Australian Technology Innovations Fund (ATIF), a Brisbane-based private investment company, is seeking to invest $50 million in biotechnology projects and companies.

GroPep is hoping to license out its research into a topical treatment for diabetic neuropathy after product development studies failed to come up with a suitable transdermal formulation.

For an industry that's touted as the way forward for Australia's economy, there can be a surprising lack of clarity or consistency of views about the biotech sector's prognosis.

A new group within industry association AusBiotech is about to host its first networking event.