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Financial sector observers say market valuations for Australia’s listed banks are increasingly hard to justify, and Bendigo Bank's latest dip in earnings - revealed on Friday - is a realistic reflection of what to expect.

Meanwhile, adviser to the ultra-rich LGT Crestone is preparing to bring three niche alternative strategies investing in litigation, royalties and insurance finance to the Australian market, which it says can deliver strong returns and defensive qualities.

And the Australian sharemarket ended the week somewhat deflated after Thursday's exuberance. A day after surging 1.7 per cent the ASX 200 closed down 0.9 per cent at 7814.4 points. The broader All Ordinaries was 0.8 per cent lower at Friday's close to finish the week on 8082.3 points.

The Big Read

There is an old saying that no one left the famed Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research unless they were taken out in a box.

In 1997, Professor Andrew Wilks broke the mould. He and his team of scientists at the Ludwig’s Melbourne branch had built a reputation on the global stage for developing a revolutionary molecule called momelotinib to treat bone cancer.

By then, Wilks had had enough of academia.

Antony “Tony” Burgess, for decades one of the nation’s top cancer researchers and the then director of the Ludwig – which is now part of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre – gave Wilks six months to raise the money to start a new biotech company.

“Having been fairly well regarded in a big lab of young scientists, I was very much viewed as a social pariah to have gone over to the dark side,” Wilks recalls with a smile.

Damon Kitney

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