Island Pharmaceuticals has started surgical preparations on the 22 nonhuman primates that will take part in its Galidesivir dose optimisation study for Marburg virus disease.

Executive Chairman Dr John Prendergast said Mr McKeough had served the company for over eight years. "He has made a lasting impact on the Company, both as a Director and as Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee."

Neuren Pharmaceuticals has received orphan drug designation from the US Food and Drug Administration for NNZ-2591 as a treatment for neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, or HIE, a brain injury that affects newborns.

Mesoblast is farewelling two of its longest-serving and most technically experienced directors as the cell therapy company reshapes its board for what it calls the next phase of commercial delivery and growth.

Noxopharm has secured commitments for a $1.5 million placement and will offer existing shareholders up to a further $1 million to fund the next clinical study of SOF-SKN, its topical therapy for cutaneous lupus erythematosus.

The funds enable the Melbourne company to pay out its convertible note holder and avoid a further drawdown on that facility before its lead ALS drug reaches a pivotal trial readout next year.

OncoSil Medical has applied to regulators to manufacture its OncoSil device at a Macquarie Park, Sydney facility. The company said it hopes to start commercial production at the facility in the second half of the 2027 financial year.

Melbourne biotech Magellan Stem Cells is 17 years old and about to begin a pivotal Phase 3 trial of its stem cell treatment for osteoarthritis, a condition affecting more than 2 million Australians. Yet under legislation now before the Federal Parliament, it may also lose access to the refundable R&D Tax Incentive.

A small Melbourne company founded by two medical researchers has landed one of Australia's biggest potential licensing deals.

Neurizon Therapeutics has finished enrolling its pivotal ALS trial ahead of schedule. The US Food and Drug Administration has also told the Melbourne company that a single positive study could support approval of its lead drug, NUZ-001.

BCAL Diagnostics has secured a seat on Genetic Signatures' board, though it is only part of what it asked for. At an Extraordinary General Meeting, shareholders voted to appoint Dr John Melki to the GSS board but rejected the other three resolutions BCAL had put forward.

The Melbourne company dosed the first patient in its Beyond Harmony study of NTI164 on 21 September. All six sites across Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and Western Australia are now open.

Australia's life sciences sector has converged on the Gold Coast for what organiser AusBiotech describes as the event's biggest edition yet, and for the first time, the peak body is running its three flagship conferences as a single, connected program.

Investors and Australian life sciences company leaders met on the Gold Coast this week for AusBiotech Invest, a curated forum designed to strengthen engagement between life sciences companies and capital.

CSL has named Deborah Waterhouse, a British pharmaceutical executive who previously led GSK in Australia, as its next chief executive and managing director.

Telix Pharmaceuticals has reaffirmed that it will pass US$1 billion in revenue and other income this year. Its third-quarter sales were consistent with the previous quarter, and it is working through a US$1.65 billion merger.

BioNTech has opened its clinical-scale mRNA manufacturing and research facility at La Trobe University's Bundoora campus, nearly three years after it first announced the plan.