A federal US judge set a precedent last week in ruling against the
US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in a four-year dispute
against Utah Medical Products.
Penn Pharmaceutical Services has reported strong sales figures for
the fifth consecutive year, with a key driver of recent growth
being attributed to a boom in contract manufacturing as well as
small-scale commercial batches.
Cambrex has recorded a gain in the third quarter of this year, with
growth in its Bioproducts and Human Health segments. The company's
troublesome BioPharma division continues to underperform,
indicative of a market for outsourced...
Cardinal Health reported a varied first quarter, with sales and
income receiving substantial gains due to across-the-board
improvement in pharmaceutical distribution, medical products and
services and clinical technologies.
Arsenal Capital Partners has acquired a majority stake in Reilly
Industries for €209 million and Velsicol Chemical for an
undisclosed fee. The purchases continue a rich vein of activity for
the private equity firm, which now hold...
Millipore, a maker of purification systems used in drug
manufacturing, reported lower third-quarter profit due to
acquisition-related tax charges and manufacturing consolidation
costs.
Drug packaging maker West Pharmaceutical Services release its 3Q
results, which indicate a rise in profits but fell short of analyst
estimates, due to slow sales in some segments and high raw material
and energy costs.
Bruker AXS, a subsidiary of the Bruker BioSciences Corporation, has
announced an agreement to purchase Roentec, an x-ray microanalysis
instrumentation company that signals Bruker's intention to
reinforce its standing within this...
Actavis's $810 million (€677 million) cash acquisition of
Alpharma's US and international generic drugs division is part of
the firm's strategy to become one of the global leaders in the
sector.
Dutch pharmaceuticals and chemicals giant Akzo Nobel reported
third-quarter sales of €3,29 billion, a slight decrease from the
previous quarter but up 5.4 per cent from the comparable period in
2004, thanks to growth in all its units,...
The GEA Group has acquired the manufacturer of freeze dryers for
pharmaceutical products, STERIS, a unit of US-based STERIS
Corporation in a deal that aims to strengthen the group's Process
Engineering Division in the Process...
BASF has announced it is to reduce production at one of its main
sites in a move that reflects the declining demand for
pseudoephedrine and caffeine caused by a change in prescription
regulations and pricing pressures.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers, Wyeth, are to phase out manufacturing
at its US facility as part of its consolidation plans, which will
see the gradual phasing out of all operations at the New York
facility by late 2008.
Contract biopharmaceutical manufacturer SynCo Bio Partners has
started construction of two new manufacturing suites at its
facility in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in a move that builds on
the firm's ability to make microbial...
India's Matrix Laboratories has made two acquisitions that will
enhance its presence in the European and Asian markets for
pharmaceutical intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients
(APIs).
UK drug delivery company Phoqus has said it plans to list on the
Alternative Investment Market (AIM) via an institutional placing
that should raise proceeds of £10-£12 million.
According to a recent report, the emerging market for protein
microarrays will experience strong growth buoyed on by the
emergence of the technology's ability to detect protein expression
more quickly and easily than traditional...
S R Pharma have released its interim results for the first half of
2005, which show the continued consolidation of Research and
Development costs as resources were diverted to acquire contract
development services provider, Atugen.
Celtic Pharma has announced the acquisition of a stake in IDEA - a
biopharma company, which is developing targeted therapeutics based
on novel, Transfersome carriers that can increase drug potency and
diminish harmful side effects.
DecisionNews Media is seeking a further reporter for its
pharmaceuticals industry news services. Applicants must be
exceptionally bright, ambitious and talented, with experience in
news writing on the pharmaceuticals industry.
US biotechnology major Genzyme officially opened four European
facilities last week as part of a investment package eventually
expected to cost $540 million (€449m).
The Advanced Biosciences division of US specialty materials maker
Rohm and Haas has decided to sell its entire range of solutions for
the production of biopharmaceuticals directly to customers.
New discoveries and innovative technologies will create growth
opportunities in the in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) market with
molecular diagnostic assays set to feature strongly in the
development of personalised medicine and theranostics.
PANalytical has added a new focusing mirror to its range of PreFIX
optics that for the first time, can analyse macromolecules using a
standard, laboratory-based XRD system, rather than on a synchrotron
beam line or a single crystal...
German packaging company Gerresheimer has announced plans to take
over the pharmaceutical business of troubled Glass Group Inc (GGI)
of the US, after a Delaware bankruptcy court approved the
transaction.
Galapagos has announced that its acquisition of BioFocus' would
accelerate its transition to a fully integrated drug development
biopharmaceutical company after the two companies reached agreement
on the terms of a recommended...
Celsis International has signed a collaboration with BioVentures to
develop a microarray-based microbiological testing system to detect
contamination in pharmaceutical, biotechnology and other process
industries.
Eisai has become the first Japanese drugmaker to set up a dedicated
subsidiary in India in order to tap into local expertise in
manufacturing and research, according to local press reports.
Euroscreen has announced the issuance of a US patent, which covers
the use of a human G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) human P2Y13.
The patent protects screening processes using this receptor to find
compounds that modulate its activity,...
Biotrace of the UK has acquired MicroSafe Group, an Italian
supplier of microbiological testing products for the
pharmaceutical, food and defence sectors, for £2.5 million.
The consolidation in the generic pharmaceutical industry continues
apace, with companies in the easterly reaches of Europe now getting
in on the act. Czech Republic-headquartered Zentiva has signed an
agreement to acquire 51 per cent...
MerLion Pharmaceuticals has entered into a large-scale screening
programme with Cancer Research Technology (CRT) to identify new
anti-cancer drug candidates derived from natural product chemistry.
KemFine, the fine chemicals business created via a management
buyout from chemicals group Kemira last year, has acquired Avecia
Fine Chemicals' business based in Grangemouth, Scotland.
UK pharmaceutical testing company Cirrus Laboratories has been
acquired by Bodycote Materials Testing, an international provider
of materials testing services to industry.
Medimmune announced the signing of an agreement to acquire
Cellective Therapeutics, in a deal that furthers its strategy of
increasing new drug candidates in its specialist areas of cancer
and autoimmune diseases such as lupus and...
Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly looking to retain their
internal focus on research and development (R&D) and marketing
while outsourcing their manufacturing processes, thus fueling a
growing demand for the manufacturing...
BioSante Pharmaceuticals has licensed its calcium phosphate (CaP)
nanotechnology - used for drug delivery and as an adjuvant for
vaccines - to an unnamed European pharmaceutical company.
Switzerland's Lonza has boosted its ability to make active
pharmaceutical ingredients (API) at its Visp site in response to
what it said was 'ever increasing hygienic and regulatory
requirements'.
Ambion and Rosetta Genomics have announced a licensing and
commercialisaton agreement to advance microRNA research. The
results will facilitate microRNA research that hails this as a
promising area in the treatment of a range of diseases.
Biotechnology firm, MorphoSys, have announced an agreement with
pharmaceutical company Shionogi, in a deal that fits into
MorphoSys' effort to expand geographically into the Japanese market
- currently the second largest individual...
Anglo-German company Evotec has reorganised its pharmaceutical
development services business by integrating its ProPharma
subsidiary, based in Scotland, into a new structure alongside its
in-house activities.
Akzo Nobel business unit Diosynth, which specialises in the
production of complex active biopharmaceutical ingredients for the
pharmaceutical sector, has won a contract to apply its new method
for manufacturing synthetic peptides...
French drug delivery company Flamel Technologies suffered another
blow yesterday when it was revealed that TAP Pharmaceutical
Products has pulled out of deal to develop a formulation of its
big-selling gastrointestinal drug lansoprazole...
Following hot on the heels of the GSK's expansion of its vaccine
division, Novartis is seeking to take control of vaccine maker
Chiron by buying the remaining shares it does not already own in
the US firm for $4.5bn (£2.5bn).
Britiain's largest drugsmaker, GlaxoSmithKline, announced it is to
expand its ability to increase vaccines supplies by acquiring a
vaccine research and production facility from rivals Wyeth.
The cost-effective benefits and research standards set to become
international has added to the attraction of outsourcing R&D to
India and China - two developing nations that are set to ease the
ever-increasing cost pressures,...
Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), announced today that it has
been awarded an additional information technology (IT) outsourcing
contract with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), valued at $100.5 million (€82
million) over five years.
Peakdale Molecular launches its latest G-Protein Coupled Receptor
(GPCR) library, specifically designed to synthesise and
characterise for screening against aminergic GPCR targets.
BioFocus and Organon have announced they are to embark on the
second phase of collaborative projects involving key GPCR targets
for therapeutic applications and drug discovery.
Melbourn Scientific is to launch a new pharmacopeial test facility
providing a range of contract analytical services to the
pharmaceutical industry. The move comes in response to market
demand.