VICTORIA, NSW BACK STEM CELL LAWS WITH $1m FOR RESEARCH
April 10th 2008 12:42
Thursday April 10, 2008
Daily news on ASX-listed biotechnology companies
* ASX DOWN, BIOTECHS EVEN: POLARTECHNICS UP 17%, PROTEOME DOWN 10%
* VICTORIA, NSW BACK STEM CELL LAWS WITH $1m FOR RESEARCH
* CIRCADIAN’S VEGENICS, BIOINVENT COLLABORATE ON ANTIBODY
* ASX IN WONDERLAND: IS SOLAGRAN'S 42% MATERIAL?
* ANZ’S SALE OF OP’S BIOTECH STOCKS
* LIM SEN YAP TAKES 12% OF ARANA
THE MARKET
Twelve of the Biotech Daily Top 40 stocks were up, 13 fell, 11 were unchanged and four were untraded.
Polartechnics was best, up two cents or 16.67 percent to 14 cents with 219,538 shares traded followed by Clinuvel up three cents or 7.32 percent to 44 cents.
Proteome led the falls, down 1.5 cents or 10.34 percent to 13 cents with 35,000 shares traded.
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VICTORIA, NSW
The Victorian and New South Wales Governments will each provide $500,000 to a collaborative stem cell research grants program.
Announced by Victorian Innovation Minister Gavin Jennings and NSW Minister for Science and Medical Research Verity Firth the fund will support research into treatments for diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease, spinal cord injury and diabetes.
In a joint media release the Ministers said there was “already proof of concept that stem cells can restore function to damaged tissues in models of Parkinson's disease and immuno-deficiency”.
“Recent US research has turned embryonic stem cells into insulin producing cells in mice, representing a possible cure for type 1 diabetes,” the media release said.
The State Governments said that funding applications would require research collaboration between the two states and must comply with Australia’s regulatory regime for research involving human embryonic stem cells.
“Recent changes to legislation in both Victoria and NSW have opened up new opportunities for stem cell research in Australia, including somatic cell nuclear transfer,” they said. “The amended Victorian Infertility Treatment Act and the NSW Human Cloning and Other Prohibited Practices Act have both provided a clear regulatory framework for stem cell research.”
The media release said somatic cell nuclear transfer used a patient’s own cells to create a source of individually tailored embryonic stem cells.
For patients with a specific disease these stem cells would have unique characteristics that may be used to understand and treat the disease process.
Significant advances have also been made in reprogramming adult cells to exhibit traits similar to embryonic stem cells and more research was needed to see if these can replace embryonic stem cells, the Ministers said.
Guidelines and application forms for stem cell research grants program are available at: www.biotechnology.vic.gov.au and www.osmr.nsw.gov.au.
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