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Biotech News Company news Regular news within the Australian biotech industry. |
- Bionomics and Louisiana State University sign cancer gene therapy agreement
- Chemeq anti-super-bug agent production underway
- Circadian posts $5.8 million profit
- LICR Melbourne branch license antibody to KaloBios for arthritis therapy
- Proteome Systems and Schimadzu win R&D 100 award for ChIP technology
- pSiMedica gets Australian BioSilicon tablet patent
- Tissue Therapies and QIMR collaborate on cancer vaccine
Bionomics and Louisiana State University sign cancer gene therapy agreement
July 30 – Bionomics and the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Centre in Shreveport have finalised an agreement for collaborative study of a Bionomics proprietary gene showing promise for treating cancer. Under the terms of the collaboration, a gene delivery technology, pioneered by Associate Professor of Cellular Biology and Anatomy and Director of the LSUHSC-S Gene Therapy Centre, Dr J. Michael Mathis, will be used to deliver gene expression silencing molecules to solid tumours. These molecules have been developed as part of Bionomics' Angene platform aimed at targeting a Bionomics proprietary gene that is involved in blood vessel formation. The delivery of these molecules to solid tumours may result in the disruption of blood vessel formation and tumour growth arrest. In addition to the laboratory studies, Dr. Mathis and Bionomics will collaborate on research involving cellular and animal models of cancer to generate new data and other intellectual property based on proprietary angiogenesis genes discovered by Bionomics. Bionomics will have commercialisation rights over any new cancer treatments that are developed from the collaboration.
[Source: Company Announcement]
Chemeq anti-super-bug agent production underway
August 2 – Chemeq has announced successful production of the key ingredient in a world-first drug against anti-biotic resistant bacteria. Chemeq manufactured the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) of its drug Chemeq polymeric antimicrobial at its newly constructed manufacturing facility at Rockingham, Western Australia. API production marks a significant milestone in Chemeq polymeric antimicrobial commercialisation, with aims to enter the global veterinary drug pharmaceutical market as a replacement to the problematic use of antibiotics as a growth promoter in commercial animal production. Chemeq has been awarded Expedited Review Status by the food and drug administration of Chemeq polymeric antimicrobial in the US and has already been given approval for use in pig production in South Africa and New Zealand.
[Source: Company Announcement]
Circadian posts $5.8 million profit
July 29 – Circadian Technologies has announced a consolidated profit of AU$5.8 million, backed by the sale of six million fully paid ordinary shares in Metabolic Pharmaceuticals to the value of over AU$6.2 million. Circadian retains 48 million share in Metabolic representing a 21 per cent share holding. The profit announcement includes a AU$1.1 million gain in book value of its shareholding in Amrad Corporation Limited, however subsequently to June 30 has decreased its overall market value of this holding from AU$18.1 million to AU$17 million. Circadian retains holdings in Antisense Therapeutics Limited, Metabolic Pharmaceuticals Limited and Optiscan Imaging Limited and others which excluding the Amrad holding have a market value of AU$87.5 million at June 30 2004.
[Source: Company Announcement]
LICR Melbourne branch license antibody to KaloBios for arthritis therapy
July 22 – An antibody developed by a team of researchers at the Melbourne (Australia) Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) has been exclusively licensed to KaloBios Pharmaceuticals as a drug candidate for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. The initial clinical trials of this antibody will be in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that leads to painful inflammation and ultimately destruction of bone joints. Researchers at the LICR have identified a protein target that appears to play a key role in establishing and managing the disease processes. In animal studies, blocking the function of this protein with a neutralising antibody appears to prevent the induction of arthritis but more impressively, treatment of ongoing disease with the antibody halts the disease's progression. Gene "knock-out" mice are also resistant to the induction of several autoimmune diseases. Dr. Geoffrey Yarranton, CEO of KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, commented, "Because the function of this protein is well conserved among mammals, we are especially optimistic that the information and first generation antibody developed by the LICR will lead to an effective drug in humans.' KaloBios plans to enter the first generation antibody into human clinical trials by the second half of 2005.
[Source: PRNewsWire]
Proteome Systems and Schimadzu win R&D 100 award for ChIP technology
July 22 – Proteome Systems and Schimadzu Biotech's jointly developed Chemical InkJet Printer (CHIP 1000) has been selected as one of the 100 most technologically significant products introduced into the marketplace over the past year. The ChIP technology offers researchers a revolutionary new approach to automatic protein processing, identification and characterisation. Developed jointly by Shimadzu Biotech and Proteome Systems, with financial support from the Australian Government's START Program, the ChIP is a unique technology platform for executing micro-scale on-membrane chemistry that will have widespread applications in biomedical research and biomarker discovery, and enables microdispensing of biochemicals and reagents on just a fraction of the protein purified by electrophoresis. This allows further study on the remainder of the protein, which could prove invaluable for precious samples such as clinical biopsies and related samples. 'Our team developed the ChIP prototype in Sydney and then worked with Shimadzu towards the commercial release of the CHIP-1000. Partnering with a quality scientific instrument manufacturer such as Shimadzu has been a very rewarding experience for our company,' said Dr Andrew Gooley, Chief Scientific Officer of Proteome Systems and inventor of the ChIP technology. The CHIP-1000 represents the first product to use the technology described in Proteome Systems' recently granted US patent entitled 'Method for analysing samples of biomolecules in an array'.
[Source: Company Announcement]
pSiMedica gets Australian BioSilicon tablet patent
July 27 – pSiMedica, wholly owned subsidiary of pSivida, has been granted an Australian patent relating to an orally administered pharmaceutical product in the form of the company's patented BioSilicon technology. The patent strengthens pSivida's patent portfolio and offers progress towards the company's two stage developmental strategy in oral drug delivery. In the short term the company is focussing on biodegradable tablets that deliver over optimised periods. This will be followed by focusing on 'smart' tablets that release drug electronically. Electronically controlled drug delivery, in the form of chip-based BioSilicon offers processor-based drug delivery whereby a nearby sensor within the pill to automatically deliver the right amount of drug to target different parts of the gut.
[Source: Company Announcement]
Tissue Therapies and QIMR collaborate on cancer vaccine
July 21 – The Queensland Institute of Medical Research and Tissue Therapies have agreed on the terms of a new collaboration aimed at developing Tissue Therapies' VitroGro cell growth technology as a platform to produce cancer immunotherapy vaccines. The collaboration follows positive results from preliminary studies conducted by QIMR which indicate that VitroGro improves the yield and quality of human dendritic cells in vitro, and aims to enter VitroGro into Phase I clinical trials to be conducted by QIMR to further optimise VitroGro. Tissue Therapies says while the core function of VitroGro is in wound healing and cell culture products, emerging areas of cell-based therapies offers a natural extension for the VitroGro technology.
[Source: Company Announcement]
