 |
| About Bioline | All Journals | Testimonials | Membership | News |
|
||||||
|
||||||
Australasian Biotechnology, Vol. 11 No. 2, 2001, pp. 9-14 BIOTECH BUSINESS Code Number: au01019
Alchemia has recently closed a $15.2 million financing round, one of the largest private financings in the Australian biotechnology sector. Investors in this round include Start-up Australia, Medica Holdings, AMWIN, Biotech Capital and Rothschild Bioscience Australia. These funds will be used to recruit new specialist scientific and management staff, expand Alchemia’s R&D facilities and US operations. Dr Ramsdale said “Alchemia has a unique carbohydrate-based platform technology with many possible applications. “These funds will enable us to take advantage of opportunities to discover new drug candidates for a variety of disease states including cancer, and inflammatory and infectious diseases. “It will also enable us to expand our US Business Development group to further service the needs of the US and European markets” said Dr Ramsdale. Alchemia has raised more than $23 million to date. Alchemia’s expertise includes drug discovery, drug delivery and custom synthesis of carbohydrates. The company has applied its technology to programs developing new anti-cancer and antibiotic drugs, and the manufacture of carbohydrate-based nutraceuticals and therapeutics. Alchemia has appointed Paul Goddard, PhD, as the company’s new Chairman. CHEMEQ ENTERS COMMERCIALISATION PHASEA fourth successful preliminary trial of Chemeq’s Animal-Intestinal Antiseptic has just been completed under the direction of Professor David Hampson. The market for animal intestinal antiseptics is $2 billion - including $1.5 billion for piglets alone, for the control of intestinal E coli infections. In addition to its primary market of veterinary pharmaceuticals, Chemeq is also pursuing the world market for preservatives in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and toiletries. Although this is a secondary market for Chemeq, it is still worth a substantial $500 million per annum. NORWOOD ABBEY ANNOUNCES IMMUNOLOGY BREAKTHROUGHDrug delivery technology specialist, Norwood Abbey (ASX: NAL), wishes to announce that its medical research partner, Monash University, has identified a novel way to stimulate the human immune system to combat a broad range of life-threatening diseases. This innovative medical research has identified a class of existing drugs (GnRH) analogues) that, in a preliminary human trial, has induced the production of new T cells. These white blood cells, which develop in the thymus gland, are a fundamental component of the immune system’s involvement in a range of diseases, including cancer, transplant organ rejection, autoimmune diseases and viral infections. Australian medical researcher, Associate Professor Richard Boyd, and his group at Monash University at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, are soon to publish data clearly demonstrating that the thymus can be regrown in adults, and can be effectively induced to create a new set of T cells. More extensive human clinical trials are soon to commence to investigate the benefit of this discovery for the treatment of diseases where the T cells are severely compromised. Completion of the trials is expected within 6 months. The current global market for GnRH analogues is in excess of US$2.5 billion per year. The potential new applications associated with today’s announcement could significantly increase the value of this market. PATHTECH ACQUIRES BARTELT INSTRUMENTSPathtech Pty Ltd has acquired the retail business of Bartelt Instruments Pty Ltd. Harald Bartelt and key personnel will work with Pathtech Pty Ltd to continue their association with the customers and products of Bartelt Instruments, their expertise and knowledge is integral to the new association. Website: www.pathtech.com.au or http://www.bartelt.com.au PANBIO’S OFFER CLOSES FULLY SUBSCRIBEDBiotechnology company, PanBio, announced on 26 March its offer had closed fully subscribed despite turbulent market conditions. PanBio Chief Executive Officer, Mel Bridges, said the successful closure of its offer amid volatile market conditions signalled strong investor confidence in quality biotechnology companies. PanBio was established in 1988 and has a product range of more than 60 diagnostic tests for a number of infectious diseases including dengue fever, Ross River fever, glandular fever and whooping cough. The company operates in the rapidly growing world-wide market for in-vitro diagnostics which is expected to reach US$22.9 billion by 2003. PanBio exports its products to more than 55 countries through its offices in Australia and the United States, and a network of international distributors. PROGEN SET TO EXPAND TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMProgen Industries Ltd has entered an agreement with Griffith University to fund a research collaboration to discover new heparanase inhibitors for the treatment of inflammatory diseases including multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Progen will invest up to $1.4 million into the research collaboration, which is the first to be conducted at Griffith University’s new Centre for Biomolecular Science and Drug Discovery in Queensland. The Centre was established in 2000 as a joint venture between Griffith University and the Queensland State Government. The research collaboration will be led by Professor Mark von Itzstein. Heparanase is an enzyme which acts to degrade the natural “glue” (or extra-cellular matrix) which holds cells together in the human body. Inflammatory disease is commonly caused by an over-infiltration of white blood cells (leukocytes) which burrow between cells lining blood vessels to reach the site of the disease. By inhibiting the action of heparanse, the inflow of white blood cells to the target site can be prevented, thereby relieving inflammation. BIOTA HOLDINGSBiota Holdings has reported a profit of $1.5 million on revenues of $7.6 million for the half year to December. Total revenues for the six months were $7.6 million compared to $8.9 million for the same period in 1999. Revenues for the half year included royalties on sales of Relenza® of $2.4 million and sales and profit share from Biota’s FLU OIA® influenza diagnostic of $3.4 million. The company also received Start grant contributions of $1.8 million and interest income of $1.2 million. The consolidated net profit for the half year was $1.5 million or 1.98 cents per share. This compares with a profit of $4.5 million or 6.18 cents per share for the same period in the previous year. Profit for the previous period included $5 million from one-off product licensing revenues and milestones. Research and Development (R&D) expenditure amounted to $4.85 million compared to $4.1 million for the same period in 1999. As of December 31, 2000, Biota’s cash and cash equivalents amounted to $41.4 million. Net assets were $42.4 million. Profit for the six months to December 31, 2000 is derived mainly from royalties arising from the sales of Relenza and the sales of FLU OIA test kits during the first half of the Northern Hemisphere winter. Royalties from Relenza sales have decreased by 14% compared to the same period last year. AGEN BLOOD CLOTTING TECHNOLOGY HAS POTENTIALDiagnostic technology for imaging blood clots has been developed by Brisbane-based biotechnology company AGEN Biomedical Limited. The technology, Thromboview™, uses AGEN’s clot-binding humanized antibody attached to an injectable radio-labelled molecule. Following injection of the product into patients, the radio-labelled antibody moves to D-dimer sites present on clots. Subsequent imaging of the patient with a gamma camera allows for confirmation of the diagnosis. “With this new technology, the guesswork can be taken out of the diagnosis, since the clot images are distinct enough that they can be read without a great deal of subjectivity,” said Dr Timothy Morris, who has been researching AGEN’s new imaging technology in San Diego for 12 months. Dr Morris is Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, at the University of California, San Diego. “In animal models of pulmonary emboli, blood clots were imaged reliably with this technique as hot spots on nuclear scans,” Dr Morris said. “Using widely available imaging technology, pulmonary emboli were visualized non-invasively and without exposure to potentially harmful contrast dye. Furthermore, the same technique could be used to diagnose leg thrombi almost simultaneously, saving money and time. If similar results are observed in humans, this technique could revolutionize how pulmonary emboli are diagnosed clinically.” Each year $US 3 billion ($A 4.6 billion) is spent worldwide on imaging procedures to diagnose blood clots. “If the current indications for use with deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism prove to be correct AGEN’s conservative estimate of revenue from end user sales (eg. sales to hospitals, etc.) for an imaging product is $US 250 million ($A 380 million) per year,” said Mr Richards. GENETIC TECHNOLOGIES’ INTERNATIONAL LINK OF SUCCESSGenetic Technologies Limited has announced it will increase its stake in US bio-instrument company Cytomation Inc. Cytomation was recently named one of America’s 500 fastest-growing companies and offers critical synergies to a number of the company’s current projects. Genetic Technologies’ “RareCellect™” procedure uses Cytomation’s flagship product “MoFlo®” - Modular Flow Cytometer and High-Speed Cell Sorter - to identify and separate rare foetal cells from a sample of the mother’s blood. Genetic Technologies announced to the Australian stock exchange recently that it would increase its stake in Cytomation to 3% from the 0.5% announced in February. Cytomation is the world-leading manufacturer of flow cytometers - machines that can sort selected living cells from a mixed cellular population extremely quickly and accurately. 328 PER CENT PROFIT INCREASE FOR AXON INSTRUMENTSAxon Instruments Inc. reported, on 8th March, an audited after-tax profit of US$3.04 million (AU$5.74 million) for the full year ended 31 December 2000. This represents an increase of 328% from the corresponding period in 1999. The above profit is after fully expensing research and development for the year of US$6.95 million (AU$13.11 million), a 49% increase on the corresponding period in 1999. Axon’s cash balance on December 31, 2000 stood at US$33.4 million (AU$63.0 million). The cash balance at 28 February 2001 stood at US$34.7 million (AU$65.5 million). BIOTECH INTERNATIONAL COMPLETES ACQUISITIONBiotech International has announced that it has completed the purchase of 31.25% stake in PhytoProtein Biotech Pte Ltd. The purchase will enable Biotech International to develop kits for the diagnosis of infectious diseases like malaria, melioidosis, typhoid, tuberculosis and dengue fever. The company provides the technology for the production of immunogenic proteins using plant cell-based expression systems. These imitation proteins offer significant advantages in yield and safety over existing systems improving the sensitivity of antigens and the efficacy of vaccines. METABOLIC PHARMACEUTICALS BEGINS HUMAN TRIALS ON OBESITY DRUGMelbourne-based biotechnology company Metabolic Pharmaceuticals started Phase 1 human trials on its anti-obesity drug AOD9604 on 15 February. The trials follow the successful completion of preclinical testing, and will take place at a human clinical trials unit in Manchester, UK. The Phase 1 trial will be a single-dose intravenous study on 16 volunteers, to be followed by oral and multiple-dose Phase 1 studies. The aim of the trial is to demonstrate that the drug is safe in humans. VACCINE STRATEGY LICENSED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW VACCINEThe CRC for Vaccine Technology and Vaccine Solutions Pty Ltd has signed a licensing agreement with the international vaccine company Bavarian Nordic (Copenhagen, Denmark) to develop a novel vaccine to combat HIV/AIDS. So far, efforts to develop a vaccine for HIV/AIDS have been disappointing. The virus has baffled scientists by constantly mutating and changing - a vaccine which trains the immune system to respond to one form quickly becomes redundant as the virus changes and escapes immune detection and destruction. Furthermore, traditional vaccines (against, for example, tetanus and measles) work by inducing antibodies. But antibodies may be of little value in protecting people against HIV/AIDS. A successful vaccine might need to activate a different arm of the immune system - white blood cells known as killer T cells. “There is now considerable evidence that cytotoxic or ‘killer’ T cells (CTL) can control HIV infection. Small regions of the virus recognised by these killer T cells (HIV CTL epitopes) have been identified and can be used to develop a HIV vaccine,” said Dr Andreas Suhrbier, CRC for Vaccine Technology. “Our Polytope™ technology allows large numbers of these HIV CTL epitopes to be combined and delivered as a multi-epitope HIV vaccine. When the virus mutates one epitope, the immune system - primed by our vaccine - should still be able to recognise and kill the mutated virus, via another epitope,” he said. “Through our partnership with Bavarian Nordic we gain the ability to combine our Polytope™ technology with their proprietary MVA-BN vector technology and HIV CTL epitopes and test the vaccine in the clinic.” Under the terms of the licence agreement, Vaccine Solutions will provide access to a novel patented technology (Polytope™) and Bavarian Nordic will make upfront and milestone payments and will pay royalties on sales of product. Bavarian Nordic has also secured options to the Polytope™ technology for other infectious diseases and cancers, including malaria and melanoma. Further information is available at http://www.crc-vt.qimr.edu.au PEREGRINE CORPORATE CONTINUES ITS PUSH INTO BIOTECHNOLOGYBoutique corporate advisory and venture capital group, Peregrine Corporate Ltd has continued its role in working with and raising funds for fledgling biotechnology companies with its latest project involving the Austin Research Institute (ARI), its commercialisation arm, Ilexus Pty Ltd and the ASX listed company Prima Resources Ltd. Following on from its structuring and floating of Prana Biotechnology Ltd on the ASX last March, Peregrine has continued to be actively involved in pursuing high quality opportunities within the sector. The opportunity to work with ARI and Ilexus arose following ARI’s need to raise additional capital to fund two of their existing projects in the autoimmune and cancer therapy areas. For further information contact: Richard Revelins or Peter Marks at Peregrine Corporate Ltd, Tel: (03) 9824 8166. BIOTECH INVESTMENT OFFICER APPOINTEDInvest Australia has appointed a Manager, Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals, to work with state governments and industry in attracting overseas investment in Australia’s biotechnology industry. Kate Parker, who has been in the newly-created position for around six weeks, is undertaking an initial consultation period with industry with the aim of identifying strategies for attracting appropriate offshore partners and investors. An Invest Australia team based in Canberra and headed by Michael Schwager has recently launched a research program to develop the basis for a Biotechnology Investment Strategy. The team is initially conducting an analysis of Australia’s biotechnology capabilities, identifying complementarities overseas, and drawing on the knowledge of overseas investment commissioners and Austrade to identify companies for potential partnering. For further information contact Kate Parker on (02) 9397 1646 or kate.parker@isr.gov.au. R&D START GRANT FOR ARTHRITIS RESEARCHBrisbane-based biotechnology company, Promics, has been offered a $1.9 million R&D Start grant to to prove the suitability of a new drug for treating rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory disorders. The company’s initial research has shown promise in animal models of inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis and has potential as a treatment for other inflammatory disorders such as atherosclerosis, ischaemic heart disease, reperfusion injury and Alzheimer’s disease. BIOTECH CAPITAL INVESTMENTSVenture capital firm, BioTech Capital Limited, has recently announced its third and fourth investments. A $4 million equity investment has secured a 19.9% holding in X-Ray Technologies Pty Ltd, a company set up in 1996 to commercialise x-ray phase-contrast imaging technology developed at CSIRO. The new technology, based on the refraction of X-rays as they pass through a material, provides a significant improvement in imaging over the conventional approach. XRT products include software licensing and instrumentation and a range of X-ray imaging applications. BioTech Capital has also invested $2 million for a 3.32% holding in Alchemia Pty Ltd, a biotechnology company specialising in the synthesis and manipulation of carbohydrates. The investment was part of $15.2m capital raising by a number of venture capital groups, and follows the announcement in December of a research and manufacturing alliance with the Dow Chemical Company. BioTech Capital’s other investments are in Proteome Systems and Pacific Knowledge Systems. STARPHARMA PROGRESSBiotechnology R&D group, Starpharma, has secured broad patent protection for its antiviral dendrimer products designed to protect against sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and a range of other antiviral applications. The lead compound SPL7013 is in full preclinical development for STD applications. Two applications for SPL7013 which will involve different formulations are being developed in parallel. They are a vaginal microbicide for the prevention of major sexually transmitted diseases (HIV, genital herpes, genital warts, hepatitis B and chlamydia); and a topical treatment for genital herpes outbreaks in infected patients. Clinical trials on the vaginal microbicide are expected to commence within 12 months. SPL7013 is a multi-acting compound and although the main focus of experimentation is on HIV and genital herpes activity, successful in-vitro results have been achieved for genital warts, hepatitis B and more recently chlamydia. Starpharma is also developing angiogenesis inhibitors for application in cancer treatments. The initial active compounds were dendrimer-based molecules and work is continuing on this class of molecule with the focus on bio-availability. In addition Starpharma has produced small-molecular-weight compounds which have been shown to be highly potent inhibitors of angiogenesis. Patent applications have been lodged to cover these compounds which are currently undergoing animal testing. Other Starpharma projects are targeting hepatitis B and associated liver cancer development, and respiratory viruses. STEM CELL GROWTHMelbourne biotechnology company, Stem Cell Sciences Ltd, has announced the formation of a wholly owned UK subsidiary, Stem Cell Sciences (UK) Ltd, to provide improved access to commercial opportunities in the UK and in Europe as a whole. The new company, which has offices and laboratories within the Centre for Genome Research at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, will be headed by Dr Ian Garner. Stem Cell Sciences is also establishing its operations in Australia, and has recently appointed Hugh Ilyine as General Manager, Dr Louise Baker as Senior Scientist, Embryology and Transgenesis, and Dr Megan Munsi as Senior Scientist, Cell Programming. Stem Cell Sciences is a public unlisted company which holds patents for technologies which enable the growth and selection of stem cells and their application in new drug discovery. The company aims to develop cell-based therapies for diseases including Parkinson’s disease and diabetes. NEW NAME FOR EXODUSExodus Minerals Ltd has taken the next step in its transformation into a biotechnology company by announcing plans, subject to shareholder approval, to rename itself Australian Cancer Technology Limited. The company has also appointed Associate Professor Ward, Head and Founder of the Molecular and Cellular Oncology Unit at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, as its Chief Scientific Officer. Professor Ward and her team discovered the p53 human antibodies that form the basis of the company’s cancer vaccine that will be entering clinical trials at St Vincent’s in July this year. She has collaborated with Johnson and Johnson over five years in development of diagnostic assays for cancer, and been involved in over 25 clinical trials. Professor Ward will be responsible for the management of the company’s biotechnology projects and will participate in the evaluation and sourcing of new research projects. Her appointment follows the recent appointment of former Peptech CEO, Dr Roger Aston, as a director and consultant to the company. PAN MAIDEN PROFITAustralian pharmaceuticals company, Pan Pharmaceuticals, has announced a maiden profit of $6.6 million on an operating revenue of $43.65 for the first half of the year. The company provides health-care products including vitamin, mineral, herbal medicines, trace elements, aromatherapy, homeopathic and nutritional supplement products. BIONOMICS RESULTAdelaide-based biotechnology company, Bionomics Limited, has announced a $1.4 million for the first half of 2000-01, and a total cash position of $7.8 million. Bionomics, which is headed by Chief Executive Officer, Dr Deborah Rathjen, is currently negotiating with the South Australian Government for a construction facilitation package at the recently established Thebarton Bioscience Precinct. Bionomics has filed patent applications covering 63 genes on human Chromosome 16, taking the company’s total number of genes covered by pending patent applications from its epilepsy and breast cancer projects to more than 100. Bionomics was awarded a $1 million R&D Start grant in December last year to support its R&D work into genes associated with epilepsy. SECOND START GRANT FOR VIRAXBiotechnology company, Virax Ltd, has been offered a $900,000 R&D Start Grant to progress clinical trials of its HIV treatment. The grant is in addition to an initial R&D Start grant of $682,500 for the preclinical stage. In November last year, Virax reported that its HIV treatment vaccine had entered a Phase I/IIa clinical trial to treat people infected with HIV in Sydney and Melbourne. The trial is evaluating the safety of Virax’s HIV vaccine, VIR20, and its ability to produce T-cells that “search and destroy” HIV infected cells in early stage HIV patients. The company anticipates that an initial safety assessment regarding the first group of patients enrolled in the trial will be available by the end of the year. Virax is also part of an Australian private-public consortium selected by the US National Institutes of Health to develop and test HIV preventative vaccines. Virax’s platform technology, Co-X-Gene, will be used to develop some of the vaccines to be trialled. Such vaccines will be manufactured and tested in Virax’s GMP manufacturing facility. FAULDING SELLS SOLTECPharmaceutical company, F H Faulding, has announced that it will sell its drug delivery unit, Soltec Research Pty Ltd to United States-based Connetics Corporation for $32 million. SUMICH PROGRESS ON SILICON TECHNOLOGYWA-based biotechnology company, Sumich Group Limited, has advanced its BioSilicon program with an agreement between its UK joint venture company, pSiMedica, and King’s College London to trial the technology in the treatment of osteoporosis. BioSilicon technology is a porosified form of the silicon chip, drawing on the biofunctionality of silicon which makes it an enabling platform technology in biomedical applications. The technology utilises the biocompatible nature and controllable biodegradability of silicon, its ability to bond with bone tissue, the potential for production of oral, patch, transdermal and systemic devices, and the ability to build intelligent regulatory devices into biodegradable implants. Potential applications include implant packaging, orthopaedics, controlled drug delivery, tissue engineering, neuro-interfacing, biofiltration, clinical diagnostics and gene delivery. Under the agreement with King’s College London (KCL), the BioSilicon technology will be evaluated in various preclinical model systems for the treatment of osteoporosis before being assessed in clinical trials. The research will be undertaken under the supervision of Dr Jonathon Powell at KCL and St Thomas’ Hospital London. PSiMedia (UK) is a joint venture between Sumich (40.05%) and the UK Government’s Defence Evaluation Research Agency (DERA) (41.65%), the inventor of BioSilicon, Professor Leigh Canham (7%) and Sumich Chairman, Dr Roger Aston (7%). pSiMedica has a royalty-free, exclusive license from DERA to develop, license and manufacture products from BioSilicon for use in human and animal healthcare. pSiMedica completed a fund raising in December to fully fund the next two years of development and commercialisation of the technology. The Sumich Group is soon to be renamed pSiVida Limited. PEOPLEThe Appointments Group has announced that Vince Rayfield has joined the company as a specialist recruitment consultant. He will strengthen the existing Food Appointments team and head up its latest venture in Life Science Appointments. It is believed that this new activity will meet a vital need in many growing businesses in the life-science area. Vince has extensive food and life-science experience having worked for more than 20 years in food ingredients, fermentation and biotechnology sectors with Burns Philp and Co, Mauri Laboratories, Gist Brocades/DSM Food Specialties and Globus Group. He has a strong background in food and fermentation technology, sales & marketing, business management and general management.
Importantly, Vince has had significant recruitment experience and has a good understanding of the needs of both employers and employees in the food and life-science industries. His appointment underscores the commitment of the Appointments Group to engage only consultants who have significant industry experience. He will be based at the Sydney office and may be contacted on Tel: 02 9223 5400 or Email: vince@appointmentsgroup.com.au
Copyright 2001 - AusBiotech
|
| |||||||||
During
his employment with Mauri Laboratories, Vince managed the only company in Australia
to win the AIFST Food Industry Innovation Award twice. He was also instrumental
in setting up the CRC for Food Innovation and was a member of the CRC board
from 1995 to 1999.