April 2016
Besieged Bionomics brings investors inside board recruitment tent
Bionomics Limited has taken the unusual step of bringing shareholders directly into its director recruitment process amid an investor revolt.
- Tim Binsted
CVC's Bionomics board push falters as cancer drug trial kicks off
Activist investor CVC Limited is backing away from plans to nominate directors to the board of Bionomics in the midst of weak support from other shareholders in the biotech company.
- Updated
- Tim Binsted
March 2016
Bionomics shareholder lashes CVC board putsch
CVC Limited's push to roll two directors of biotech firm Bionomics and install its own candidates has taken a blow with Bionomics shareholder Private Portfolio Managers saying it does not support the move.
- Updated
- Tim Binsted
CVC Limited pushes to oust Bionomics directors
The board of listed biotech Bionomics is under fire after shareholder CVC Limited called an extraordinary general meeting to oust directors it claims are incompetent.
- Updated
- Tim Binsted
December 2015
September 2014
Bionomics buys Prestwick Chemical in ‘firesale’
Bionomics has bought the assets of Prestwick Chemical to broaden its drug portfolio and take over the company’s supply of chemistry services to giants like GlaxoSmithKline and Bayer.
- Updated
- Jessica Gardner
June 2014
Bionomics signs $US506m deal with Merck to fund Alzheimer’s research
Biotech firm Bionomics has partnered with American pharmaceutical company Merck to fund research into Alzheimer’s disease and other central nervous system conditions.
- Updated
- Vanessa Desloires
November 2013
Relief sought to soothe ongoing pain for the economy
Chronic pain is a serious drag on the economy through lost productivity, absenteeism and costs to the health system, costing Australian taxpayers an estimated $34 billion a year.
- Updated
- Simon Evans
June 2013
2013 a tough year for small caps
The past 12 months have been a miserable affair for many small caps, with the index now trading at its lowest point since April 2009.
- Updated
- Sally Rose
March 2013
Alchemia taps investors for $12m
Alchemia is the latest biotech to tap investors, with the company poised to raise $12 million at 30¢ a share through RBS Morgans.
- Updated
- Sarah Thompson | Anthony Macdonald
February 2013
Papillon pushes 15.9m share bookbuild
Perth broker Euroz is trying to drum up support for a Papillon Resources block.
- Sarah Thompson | Anthony Macdonald
Bionomics to seek $15m in rights issue
Bionomics is expected to ask shareholders for about $15 million in a rights issue through Bell Potter.
- Updated
- Sarah Thompson | Anthony Macdonald
January 2012
Healthy deals in San Francisco
It was at a chance meeting between some health industry heavy hitters in San Francisco this time last year that GI Dynamics decided to list in Australia, and the deal makers are back in the States this week.
- Stephen Shore and anthony macdonald
June 2010
Brief: Bionomics
Bionomics has completed the second Phase I clinical trial of its anti-anxiety compound, BNC210.
March 2010
Brief: Bionomics
Bionomics will initiate the second Phase II clinical trial of vascular disrupting agent BNC105.
December 2009
February 2008
Planets align for Bionomics
Trying to pick a winner in the drug development sector can be a daunting task. The technical hurdles are high, understanding the science can be difficult, becoming familiar with the competitive landscape takes time and effort, and that's all after making sure the company is sufficiently funded with a capable management team and a board of directors that is prepared to operate independently, intelligently and in the best interests of shareholders. What makes a good drug candidate and how can you separate the wheat from the chaff? One example where the planets all seem to be aligning is the biotech group Bionomics. This week the company announced it had started clinical trials with its lead drug candidate, BNC105, for the treatment of patients with solid tumours such as colon, liver, prostate and ovarian cancers. BNC105 is part of a new wave of oncology drugs called Vascular Disruption Agents that seek to specifically destroy the blood vessels inside tumours. Bionomics has a solid reputation in the sector, housing an experienced drug discovery team and now for the first time is moving into clinical drug development. Its chief executive, Dr Deborah Rathjen, was one of the inventors behind the core patents that underpin Arana Therapeutics' (formerly Peptech) lucrative royalty stream. Bionomics has some specialist biotech investors on its share register including venture capital group Start-Up Australia Ventures, which has a successful track record. The rationale behind the design of the drug candidate BNC105 has plenty of merit. The compound is based around an improved version of another cancer drug that is currently in Phase III clinical studies by UK biotech firm, Oxigene, which has yielded some positive results to date. Bionomics' version, however, has been shown to be 20 times more effective in laboratory trials, measured in terms of therapeutic window. An extensive battery of preclinical studies have been completed with BNC105, although it should be acknowledged that mice studies offer only a modicum of surety that results from trials in people with be equally successful. The design of this first clinical trial is intelligent and at the forefront of a move in the global biotech sector to gain the maximum amount of knowledge through what's termed an adaptive trial design process. Specifically, the company is using a series of diagnostic markers and imaging techniques in each patient to understand very quickly whether the drug is disrupting blood vessels in the solid tumours. The adaptive design process means if there is a hint of effectiveness in a patient with a particular type of cancer, the trial has the flexibility to allow recruitment of more patients with that same tumour type. Bionomics will be reporting on progress throughout the current trial. The challenge for this program will be to ensure that the drug acts specifically on tumours without damaging healthy tissues. The fact that early drug effectiveness and safety data should emerge quickly with this trial will make Bionomics a stock to monitor closely this year. * Mark Pachacz is co-editor of Bioshares.
- Mark Pachacz*
August 2006
Biotech talent driven with $35m
Adelaide's biotech sector is poised for another growth spurt, helped by a $35 million venture capital fund which is expected to be established at the end of the month.
- Chris Milne
January 2005
Bionomics' French purchase boosts profit potential
Biotech company Bionomics could find itself in the black as early as this financial year after taking over French company Neurofit, which is working on a treatment for Parkinson's Disease, and beginning to sell its epilepsy diagnostic tool in the United States.
- Chris Milne