Police recover body of man who jumped from Channel Island Bridge near Darwin
A Northern Territory Police Force spokesperson said the man — who the ABC has chosen not to name following his death — "voluntarily" jumped off the bridge "accompanied by workmates" some time after 9pm.
They said the man was reportedly "laughing and active within the water", but began drifting away "despite his friends' attempts to encourage him" to return to dry land.
"He was last seen in the middle of the channel, drifting toward Darwin City in strong tidal currents," the police spokesperson said.
"Witnesses observed him for approximately two minutes before losing sight of him."
Police launched an extensive search and rescue operation on Friday night with help from a CareFlight helicopter and the port authority, and were joined by NT Emergency Service volunteers and others when the search resumed on Saturday morning.
However, a body matching the man's description was spotted in the water about 11.30am and recovered, before he was officially declared deceased.
A report will be prepared for the coroner.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
SBS Australia
19 minutes ago
- SBS Australia
Australia falls further behind on Closing the Gap targets
TRANSCRIPT Australia falls further behind on Closing the Gap targets Minimal tsunami impact following major Russian quake Kimberley Le Pienaar wins stage five of the Tour de France Femmes A new report reveals Australia is on track to meet only four of 19 national targets to close the gap between outcomes for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The latest Productivity Commission report presents another year of data with 16 additional supporting indicators reported for the first time. There are four targets on track to be met by 2031, including preschool program enrolments and employment, and six targets are improving, but will still fall short. These include life expectancy, healthy birth-weights, year 12 or equivalent qualifications and appropriately-sized housing. The target of youth justice has shown no change from the baseline and four targets - including adult imprisonment, suicide and children in out-of-home care - are actively worsening. Productivity Commissioner Selwyn Button says over-incarceration remains a key concern, especially for those held without a sentence. 'We know that a large majority of adults in prison are in prison unsentenced, and that's a similar story for average Trust Islander children who are in youth detention, they're in their unsentenced.' International and local criminals are suspected of working together to firebomb a synagogue, as police arrest one of three men they allege carried out the arson attack. A 21-year-old Werribee man, who is known to police, was arrested in Melbourne's west as multiple search warrants were carried out around the city on Wednesday. Two buildings of the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne's southeast were destroyed in December 2024, with the fire attack forcing two congregants inside to flee for their lives. The man is yet to be charged but Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner, Krissy Barrett, says no offence is off the table and she expects more people to be arrested in the future. She says police believe there was involvement by foreign actors in planning the attack. "Our investigation is not limited to Australia. It involves exploring criminals offshore and we suspect these criminals worked with criminal associates in Victoria to carry out the arson attack." A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula that triggered tsunami warnings as far as French Polynesia and Chile, has seemingly passed without causing major devastation. The shallow quake damaged buildings and injured several people, and was followed by an eruption from the region's most active volcano, Klyuchevskoy. Evacuation orders were issued along Japan's eastern coast, still haunted by the 2011 tsunami, and in parts of Hawaii. By evening, most warnings in Japan, Hawaii and Russia had been downgraded, as well as in the United States, as Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem explains. "We're in really good shape right now. We have downgraded the tsunami threat that was established for Hawaii and some of the regions impacting Alaska as well, but we still have a warning out and an alert for the West Coast. But we anticipate it'll be minimal impact." However, authorities in French Polynesia are urging residents of the remote Marquesas Islands to move to higher ground, warning of waves up to 2.5 metres high. Israeli strikes and gunfire in Gaza have killed at least 46 Palestinians, most of them reportedly among crowds searching for food, according to local hospitals. More than 30 people were killed reportedly while seeking aid, with dozens more wounded. The Israeli military has not commented on the latest attacks, but maintains it targets only militants and blames Hamas for civilian casualties, citing its operations in densely-populated areas. The deaths come as the United Kingdom threatens to recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to conditions, after France said it would do so without imposing any conditions. British Foreign secretary David Lammy had this to say. "The decision that we have taken today puts us on a pathway towards recognition. And over the next eight weeks, what we are attempting to do is affect the situation on the ground. We have seen the most horrific scenes. The global community is deeply offended by children being shot and killed as they reach out for aid. The time has come for a ceasefire." Israel's foreign ministry has rejected the British statement. To sport and in cycling, Kimberley Le Pienaar has won the fifth stage of the Tour de France Femmes, making the Mauritian rider the first African to claim a stage in the Tour's history. The 29 year-old reclaimed the yellow jersey after the gruelling 165.8 kilometre day, the longest of the event so far. Multiple riders crashed, some leaving the race altogether. Le Pienaar shared her delight at reclaiming the yellow leader's jersey - and the traditional stuffed toy lion gifted to every stage winner. "Amazing. We had the plan to try and take it back today. The team rode amazingly. The plan was just to take the sprints and if it finishes in a small group try to take the victory, stage victory, and it worked out really well. I don't think it would have been possible without the team work, without Sarah (Gigante) at the end. It really was amazing, and now we have a second Simba (lion toy awarded to stage winners), so super happy." Demi Vollering is sitting in third place overall, while Pauline Ferrand Prevot is in second, sitting 18 seconds behind Le Court in the general classification.
News.com.au
38 minutes ago
- News.com.au
ASX Health Quarterly Wrap: Neurizon turns up the dial on ALS drug progress
The latest quarterly reporting season is underway, with investors tuning in to see how ASX-listed companies performed during the final months of FY25, and importantly what signals they're sending for the year ahead. Quarterlies offers a crucial opportunity to gauge business momentum and future prospects, particularly for the healthcare sector. After years of underperformance despite solid fundamentals, healthcare has been one of the market's long-suffering segments. While the broader market rose 10%, the ASX healthcare sector decline 4% in FY25. However, recent gains suggest the sector's fortunes may be shifting. The S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index (ASX:XHJ) surged 5.4% last week, building on a 5% jump the week before and is up so far this week with optimising growing of a rotation back into healthcare stocks. Neurizon advanced its development pathway for its lead drug candidate NUZ-001 during the quarter, achieving several manufacturing, preclinical, clinical, and regulatory milestones. These included development of a liquid formulation of NUZ-001 and promising interim results in the 12-month open label extension (OLE) study in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Neurizon completed a series of foundational studies during the quarter, which deepen the company's "mechanistic understanding of NUZ-001, highlight its differentiated pharmacology, and support its expansion as a platform therapeutic beyond ALS". During the quarter Neurizon made key appointments to its executive team bolstering expertise in finance, preclinical and clinical development as well regulatory strategy to position the company for its next phase of growth, drug development and commercialisation. The company also expanded its global presence and strengthened its engagement with key stakeholders in ALS and neurodegenerative disease through active participation in leading scientific, industry and community events. Neurizon said achievements during the June quarter provided the catalyst for crucial milestones post quarter-end, including an exclusive global license agreement with NYSE-listed Elanco Animal Health Incorporated for monepantel (NUZ-001). Post-quarter end the biotech received positive written feedback from the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on its strategy to resolve the clinical hold for NUZ-001. The company has submitted a comprehensive Clinical Hold Complete Response (CHCR) to the regulator requesting the clinical hold to be lifted, paving the way to advance its investigational new drug application (IND) and entry into the HEALEY ALS platform trial in the December quarter. Neurizon has also announced it has executed a loan agreement for $1.5m with specialist R&D financing firm Radium Capital, which is secured against a small portion of its expected 2025 R&D tax rebate. The loan provides provides non-dilutive funding on top of Neurizon's existing cash balance of $4,161,000 at the end of June to ensure the company can maintain its pipeline of work in advance of receiving this year's R&D tax rebate. Arovella Therapeutics (ASX:ALA) A biotech focused on developing its invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cell therapy platform, Arovella continued to progress its lead product, ALA-101, towards a first-in-human clinical trial and to expand its platform into solid tumours during the quarter. During the quarter, Arovella expanded its management team in readiness for its first-in-human phase I clinical trial for ALA-101 with the appointment of clinical operations leader Jacqui Cumming as senior director, clinical development. The company entered into an exclusive option to licence multiple patent families from Baylor College of Medicine to expand use and improve the performance of its iNKT cell platform. Arovella also set up its own research laboratory within the Jumar Bioincubator, with the new facility enabling Arovella to speed up its research output as it expands its solid tumour programs and continues building on its IP portfolio. At the end of the quarter, Arovella announced that Dr Thomas Duthy would retire as a non-executive director and chairman with current non-executive director Dr Elizabeth Stoner serving as interim chair. Arovella's CEO and managing director Dr Michael Baker said it was a productive quarter, including preparing an IND submission for the FDA. "We made significant progress preparing for submission of our IND application, and we believe we are positioning the company for the best chance of success with the FDA," he said. The company finished Q4 FY25 with cash of $20.9m, which is expected to fund the company through to completion of patient enrolment for the phase I clinical trial for ALA-101. The funding will also support the advancement of its solid tumour programs (CLDN18.2-CAR-iNKT targeting gastric cancer) and its armouring program (IL-12-TM). During the quarter Perth-based medtech Singular Health signed a commercial pilot agreement valued at US$1.3m (~A$2m). with major managed service organisation (MSO) in the US Provider Network Solutions (PNS), which manages care for more than 3.7 million people. The contract marks transition to phase three of the company's multi-phase engagement with PNS and involves co-development of a pilot program where 1,000 of Singular Health's 3DICOM MD licenses will be distributed to primary care providers. Following quarter close Singular Health announced a six-month collaboration with radiologist and founder of Life Radiology in Doral, Florida Dr Alex Alonso, who will serve as a strategic advisor and radiology architect for the PNS pilot, offering technical insight into US standards and workflows. Singular Health also progressed multiple commercial discussions across the US education and healthcare sectors during the quarter with proposals requested by private and public institutions. The company commissioned an independent report by Signify Research to quantify the US market opportunity. The findings show a total addressable market exceeding US$19 billion, with ~1.3 million primary care physicians in the US and each representing an average licence opportunity of US$800 per year. Singular Health continued to pursue strategic opportunities in Australia aimed at improving access to medical imaging data and supporting clinical training, including a proof-of-concept integration proposal submitted to government departments to address inefficiencies in retrieving imaging data across disconnected PACS environments. During the quarter, a capital raise of $8m was completed at an issue price of 35 cents per share, led by the Wallabi Group. The raise included participation from several institutional and high-net-worth investors, with further investment from PNS and Marin and Sons. On the regulatory front, the company successfully completed its ISO 13485 re-certification and confirmed SOC 2 Type 2 and HIPAA formal certification and also progressed technical development. The company closed out quarter with $13.7m cash and no debt. Nerve-repair company ReNerve reported quarter sales revenue rose by 25% to $94,000 and contributed to cumulative FY25 sales of $271,000, up 53% on the previous year. During the quarter ReNerve entered a partnership with Berkeley Biologics to develop two new product ranges, strengthening its commercial portfolio in the regenerative tissue and biologics sector. Launch of the first new product ranges under the ReNerve brand are expected in Q3 CY25 and second by end of CY25. The company received marketing approvals for its NervAlign Nerve Cuff in Bahrain, marking the first regulatory approval secured through its exclusive distribution agreement with Union MediScience B.S.C. ReNerve and Union MediScience are now progressing with commercial rollout processes for the NervAlign Nerve Cuff product in the country, with early clinical cases and data gathered now anticipated to support future regulatory submissions in additional Middle East and North Africa (MENA)jurisdictions. In April ReNerve signed a deal with NetCentrix Ventures to pursue regulatory approval and commercialisation of the NervAlign Nerve Cuff in India. The Indian nerve repair market is valued at ~US$115 million and forecast to exceed US$270 million by 2030. ReNerve's net cash position at the end of the quarter was $4.75 m. Imagion Biosystems (ASX:IBX) Focus on progressing MagSense HER2 breast cancer imaging agent program during quarter Working towards filing IND application to US FDA in Q3 FY25 for phase II trial Preparations underway for manufacturing of MagSense HER2 drug for use in trial The majority of Imagion's activities in the quarter focused on progressing its MagSense HER2 breast cancer imaging agent program towards filing an IND application to the US FDA for its phase II clinical trial including: Submission of a pre-IND briefing document to the FDA Preparations for manufacturing of the MagSense HER2 drug for use in phase II trial Surgical oncologist at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences College of Medicine Dr William Dooley appointed principal investigator Subsequent to the quarter close Imagion received positive written formal feedback from the FDA regarding the pre-IND briefing documents submitted. The IBX clinical team then held a meeting with senior FDA advisors to review the IND submission, which could be filed as early as Q3 CY25. Start of the phase II trial is subject to IND approval by the FDA, with a response expected in Q4 CY25. During the June quarter, Imagion entered into a master service agreement with Biosensis Ltd, providing the company with the ability to keep its operating costs low by not having to maintain an R&D facility or personnel, while still having access to new nanoparticle formulations for future research programs. The two companies previously entered a licensing agreement in 2024, allowing Biosensis to use Imagion's proprietary nanoparticle manufacturing methods to supply research markets. During the quarter vice chair of innovation at University Hospitals and an associate professor of radiology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland Dr Leonardo Kayat-Bittencourt was appointed clinical advisor for the company's prostate cancer program. Imagion ended the quarter with $883,000 cash, down $826,000 from the prior quarter. Operating cash outflow for the quarter was $818,000, a $141k improvement largely due to lower admin and corporate costs. The company expects reduced outflows next quarter as it focuses on cost control and funding the IND application.
News.com.au
38 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Doubling up: How ASX biotechs are multiplying their impact
ASX companies finding smarter ways to stretch value of existing assets and launch into broader clinical areas LTR Pharma leveraging proven intranasal platform for erectile dysfunction treatment to target non-invasive relief for patients with swallowing difficulties From concussion to Alzheimer's the CogState Cognigram digital cognitive assessment system is used by physicians to monitor brain function As global biotech faces increasing pressure to deliver more with less, several ASX-listed healthcare companies are working to find smarter ways to stretch the value of their existing assets. Whether it's repurposing a drug delivery platform, extending the reach of a diagnostic tool or developing next-generation compounds that act on the same biological pathway to treat other conditions, these companies are using proven science as a launchpad into broader clinical territory. The strategy is playing out globally, with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly providing high-profile examples of repurposing GLP-1 drugs – originally developed for type 2 diabetes – for weight loss. Blockbusters like Ozempic/Wegovy (Novo Nordisk) and Mounjaro/Zepbound (Eli Lilly) are now reshaping treatment for obesity and related conditions. It's a compelling demonstration of how one well-validated mechanism of action can be leveraged across multiple disease areas in turn lowering development risk, tapping into existing safety and efficacy data, and accelerating time to market. For ASX healthcare companies navigating tighter capital conditions, similar strategies are proving to be a smart and resourceful way to unlock broader clinical value from their existing platforms. LTR Pharma rises above ED with nasal spray tech targeting broader conditions Developer of a nasal spray treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED), LTR Pharma (ASX:LTP) has turned to a secondary program using its innovative intranasal delivery platform but this time for oesophageal motility disorders (OMD). In May, LTR Pharma announced it had inked a collaborative development agreement with US-based Strategic Drug Solutions (SDS) to develop Oroflow a spray for OMD – a group of conditions that cause impaired swallowing (dysphagia). The program leverages LTR's proven proprietary intranasal delivery platform and foundational work from its Spontan and Roxus ED treatments to target rapid symptom relief for patients with swallowing difficulties, potentially offering a non-invasive alternative to current treatments. Oroflow aims to deliver relief in 10 minutes, bypassing swallowing barriers and offering a compelling althernative to treatments including invasive procedures such as pneumatic dilation, surgery, or botulinum toxin injections. LTR Pharma is addressing a $4.5 billion OMD market projected to reach $8.1 bn by 2034 with the company announcing in its latest quarterly report that proof-of-concept testing preparations were underway. LTR Pharma executive chairman Lee Rodne said Oroflow represented an exciting expansion of its nasal spray platform. "For patients with swallowing difficulties, oral medications present obvious challenges for patients," he said. "Our nasal spray technology is designed to offer a patient-friendly solution that avoids the need to swallow medications, have surgery or undergo other problematic treatments while providing rapid symptom relief. Neuren targeting broad set of neurological conditions Neuren Pharmaceuticals (ASX:NEU) is another standout. The company and US partner Acadia was in 2023 granted the first US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for a drug to treat Rett syndrome, a rare neurological disorder mostly affecting girls and emerging in infancy. Trofinetide, marketed as Daybue, is a synthetic analog of part of the hormone insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), which is a potent regulator of central nervous system development. Neuren is now advancing NNZ-2591, which also targets IGF-1. Building on the scientific foundation of trofinetide, NNZ-2591 is structurally optimised to improve brain penetration, enhance tolerability, and expand therapeutic reach across a broader set of neurodevelopmental conditions. Using a strategy that targets multiple indications from one compound, Neuren aims to accelerate development while reducing R&D expenses. Currently in phase II trials, NNZ-2591 could open new treatment avenues for other underserved neurodevelopmental conditions like Phelan-McDermid, Angelman, and Pitt-Hopkins syndromes. The company is preparing to start a phase III study of NNZ-2591 for its most advanced program Phelin McDermid. It also plans to consult with the FDA this year to establish a clinical path for NNZ-2591 to treat hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), which results from a baby's brain not getting enough oxygen or blood flow before, or shortly after, birth. "We believe the mechanism of action of NNZ-2591 can be broadly applicable to neurodevelopmental disorders, independent of the genetic origin," CEO Jon Pilcher told Stockhead. "We are striving to be successful in multiple settings, for the benefit of both the impacted families and our shareholders." Tracking cognition from concussion to Alzheimer's From footy fields to neurology clinics, the CogState (ASX:CGS) Cognigram digital cognitive assessment system is used by physicians to monitor key aspects of brain function – including processing speed, attention, visual learning, working memory and executive function. The test can assess cognition at a single point in time or track changes over multiple assessments. You may have heard of it referred to as the Cogstate concussion test in footy coverage. However, Cognigram has since evolved into a widely used tool in healthcare and research. Cogstate is riding a wave of global demand for cognition-related clinical trials, particularly in the race to treat Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. The company recently upgraded its financial guidance for FY25, reflecting strong performance and improved outlook across key financial metrics. Full-year profit before tax is forecast to be in the range of $12-14m, an improvement of 69% to 97% on FY24. "We are now using Cognigram, which is the same cognitive assessment used to assess AFL footballers for concussion, to prescreen for clinical trials in the earlier stages of Alzheimer's," CEO Brad O'Connor told Stockhead. "We have a contract with a large pharmaceutical company screening for 20,000 patients in the community to find those that might be appropriate to include in their very early stage Alzheimer's trials.
