At 10:30 (AEST), the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 20.30 points or 0.30 percent at 6,662.80, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 14.60 points or 0.21 percent at 6,902.50.
Officials revealed Friday morning that a COVID-19 vaccine under development by the University of Queensland and local biotech giant CSL would not progress to Phase 2/3 trials.
A deal between the Australian Government and CSL to manufacture 50 million doses of the vaccine was cancelled.
CSL, which is the second largest company on the ASX 200, saw its stock price plummet close to 3 percent in early trade.
Meanwhile, resource stocks rallied, led by a surge in large oil companies, with the energy sector up around 2 percent to start the day.
In the financial space, the big banks sank with Commonwealth Bank down 0.73 percent, Westpac Bank down 0.55 percent, ANZ down 0.82 percent and National Australia Bank down 0.38 percent.
Mining stocks varied with Rio Tinto up 0.32 percent, BHP up 1.58 percent, goldminer Newcrest down 0.30 percent and Fortescue Metals up 1.71 percent.
The country's oil and gas producers rallied with Oil Search up 1.88 percent, Santos up 2.46 percent and Woodside Petroleum up 1.85 percent.
Australia's largest supermarkets dropped with Coles down 0.55 percent, and Woolworths down 0.86 percent.
Meanwhile, telecommunications giant Telstra bounced 0.33 percent, the national carrier Qantas lost altitude 0.39 percent and biomedical firm CSL slumped 2.79 percent.
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