Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. will acquire Lightpoint Medical Ltd. in a $35 million deal that will expand its urology pipeline and bring in house a new surgery-focused unit. Under the terms of the deal, Telix of Melbourne, Australia, will pay Lightpoint $20 million up front and a further $15 million on achievement of certain development milestones. The up-front payment will be paid in equity, and the additional milestones will be payable in cash or equity, at Telix’s election.

After raising AU$4 million (US$2.6 million), Argenica Therapeutics Pty. Ltd. is gearing up to begin phase II trials in ischemic stroke for ARG-007, a glutamate receptor modulator that is believed to reduce brain tissue death after stroke.

Incannex Healthcare Ltd. had quietly been developing its commercialization plans for psychedelic clinics well before Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration announced it would allow psilocybin and MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine) to be prescribed by authorized psychiatrists for treatment-resistant depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Immutep Ltd. announced an AU$80 million (US$52.1 million) capital raise that consists of a AU$50 million placement and a AU$30 million entitlement offer to eligible shareholders to fund clinical programs for lead candidate eftilagimod (IMP-321, efti), a lymphocyte activation gene-3 (LAG-3) fusion protein and major histocompatibility complex class II agonist that stimulates both innate and adaptive immunity for treating cancer.

Mixing a trendy drug for a global health problem like obesity with a demand that far exceeds the supply cooks up a recipe too good for counterfeiters to ignore.

University of Sydney spinout Kinoxis Therapeutics Pty announced a partnership and licensing agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH to develop first-in-class oxytocin-targeting precision psychiatry treatments to improve the quality of life of people living with neuropsychiatric disorders.

Australia’s Department of Health is seeking input from the public on the country’s health technology assessment process that informs decisions about what drugs or devices should be reimbursed and under what circumstances a therapy should be subsidized and at what cost to the taxpayer.

Global interest in radiopharmaceuticals is growing, and some big deals in the space have sparked interest in the last few years. Novartis AG has spent about $6 billion in acquisitions and is seen as the global leader.

The Australian government will deliver $50 million to a new biomedical and med-tech incubator (BMTI) program for health discoveries spanning early-stage drug development through to cutting edge medical devices and evidence-based digital health technologies.