Meditech (ASX:MTR) will enrol an additional 12 patients in its Phase II trial, following promising early results from its HyCAMP treatment for advanced colorectal cancer patients at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Brain tumours account for only two per cent of cancer deaths but they are the fourth most important type of tumour in terms of life years lost, as they disproportionately affect younger people. But according to Prof Andrew Kaye, at the University of Melbourne, the next decade will see major advances in treatments for brain tumours that could turn around the statistics and extend the lives of sufferers.

CSL (ASX:CSL), which last week became the world's largest supplier of blood plasma products after its purchase of Aventis Behring, now aims to maximise its return from those products by developing a therapy for stroke.

Medica Holdings (ASX:MCA) subsidiary Cytopia says it is firmly on the path to clinical trials with its anti-cancer molecule, after getting positive results from animal studies.

Spearheading clinical trials in Victoria is Cancer Trials Australia, a consortium involving four hospitals -- including Austin Health, the Royal Melbourne Hospital, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Western Hospital -- as well as the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.

A breakthrough in the understanding of congenital neural tube defect spina bifida has been made at Royal Melbourne Hospital with the discovery of the responsible gene in the curly-tail mouse model of the disease.

A vaccine for coeliac disease is the focus of a joint venture between the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne Health and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI), in a project that has the backing of international VC group BTG International.

A tri-state research collaboration is set to use sibling pairs to examine the genetic reasoning behind the most common form of eczema

Melbourne genetic testing company Genetic Technologies (ASX:GTG) has acquired the exclusive worldwide rights to commercialise a test for a gene underlying athletics and sports performance from the University of Sydney.

The Cooperative Research Centre for Chronic Inflammatory Diseases has received AUD$5 million in supplementary funding from the federal government to implement two new programs.

A clinical trials program for neuroscience is being established as a platform by the National Neuroscience Facility (NNF) to encourage greater involvement of Australian neuroscience researchers and clinicians in industry-sponsored and investigator driven clinical studies.