The Royal Society, UK, is calling for an international scientific body to be set up to help enforce the 1975 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, which bans the development, production, and stockpiling of biological weapons. Julia Higgins, the RS foreign secretary, said: 'The absence of a formal scientific advisory panel is a major constraint to developing a more effective Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention'. The RS envisages that the scientific panel would advise both national and international institutions.

The UK Environment Agency is inviting anyone with expertise in performing environmental risk assessments to take part in a public consultation on a proposed framework and methods for assessing how chemical contaminants in the soil pose risks to ecosystems.

Kemira, a Finnish chemical company, is expanding its coating business in Hungary. Its paint division, Tikkurila, has bought Akzo Nobel's Hungarian liquid coatings activities. Last year, this business brought in sales of ?1.2m (ca £0.8m).

Chiron, a US pharmaceutical company, has started clinical trials of its new HIV vaccine, one of a new generation. The vaccine uses microparticles to deliver DNA into cells, where it generates an immune response. A novel engineered oligomeric protein then encourages cells to produce neutralising antibodies. Chiron claims that the vaccine is the first of its kind to be tested in humans. The trial will involve about 168 participants and is scheduled to last two years.

Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT), a UK biotech firm, and Lonza, a Swiss life science company, have extended their manufacturing agreement to take them through to the end of 2006. Under the agreement, Lonza Biologics supplies CAT with clinical grade antibody drugs. CAT has three human therapeutic antibody products in clinical trials.