Scientists in the UK are tipped to be given approval this week to
create cloned human embryos to harvest stem cells to treat diabetes
patients and with the possibility of treating other diseases such
as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
A coalition of biopharmaceutical companies and regulatory agencies
has agreed on an electronic data standard that should make it
easier to file product approval dossiers to regulators
electronically, bringing drugs to market more...
The US Food and Drug Administration has suggested removing
essential-use status for metered dose inhalers (MDIs) used to
deliver the asthma drug albuterol (salbutamol) which use
chlorofluorocarbon propellants.
The annual US Biotechnology Industry Association event started this
weekend in San Francisco with the usual showcase of new
biopharmaceuticals and other technologies. But aside from supplying
the drugs of the future, the biotechnology...
In the build up to the American Society of Clinical Oncology's
(ASCO) annual conference, drug companies from around the world have
been showcasing potential drug treatments, with a number of new
molecular targets for cancer,...
Ministers at the Council of the European Union dashed hopes that an
EU-wide 'Community Patent' might be in the offing by voting against
the measure at last week's EU Competitiveness Council meeting.
The use of animal testing in pharmaceutical research and
development is to be revised after the UK government announced it
was to establish a national centre to reduce use and raise
standards of animal welfare, writes Wai Lang Chu.
RFID has arrived. Long hailed as the next IT revolution for
industry, communicating labels are being forced into place by
retailers and legislators alike, leaving manufacturers racing to
implement a newborn technology steeped in unknowns,...
The structure and remit of the European Medicines Evaluation Agency
(EMEA) will be overhauled from 20 May to give it a stronger
advisory role to industry, the healthcare profession and patients.
The number of animals tests needed for new chemicals could be
reduced significantly by the use of assays tests developed by
researchers at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. And
this should be welcome news for companies...
The US Food and Drug Administration has started a new comment
period on its bioterrorism regulations - designed to safeguard the
national food supply - which will have a significant impact on
companies importing pharmaceutical excipients...
The impact on the French chemicals industry of implementing the
European Union's REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation
of Chemicals) proposals could be as high €800 million in testing
alone and lead to the loss of...
The European Commission has reported on its progress in building up
Europe's competitiveness in the biotechnology and concludes that
while positive steps have been taken, there is still much to be
done, particularly with regard...
Swedish company Cypak has started two trials of its Intelligent
Pharmaceutical Packaging (IPP) technology, which offers an
alternative to radiofrequency identification (RFID) for tracking
the use of medicines.
Designers of child-proof packaging must always work against the
paradox that a package which is hard for a child to open can often
also be difficult for the adult patient it is intended to treat. In
fact, up to 90 per cent of adults...
3M has launched an updated version of its Integrated Packaging Tool
software that brings it into compliance with the US Food and Drug
Administration's 21 CFR Part 11 regulations on electronic
record-keeping, used to generate...
UK-based packaging company Rexam has provided further evidence of
its commitment to the pharmaceutical sector with the purchase of
Plastic Omnium Medical, a company specialising in plastic
components for medical devices.
IWKA PacSystems of the UK has introduced a new blister packing
machine that can dramatically reduce the time it takes to carry out
validation and get into production compared to rival systems.
A number of countries set to join the European Union in May,
including Hungary, have signed a petition against new EU
legislation that they claim would significantly raise the cost of
providing healthcare, reports Phil Taylor.
The UK's recently adopted standard for child resistance in
non-recloseable pharmaceutical packaging such as blister packs
contains a serious flaw that must be addressed, according to
Stephen Wilkins, secretary of the UK's...
Spain's Telstar Industrial is developing a technology for leak
testing of pharmaceutical packages that could revolutionise the way
this vital quality control function is carried out in the industry.
Weighing and metal detection specialist Sartorius has developed a
new detector that solves a tricky problem - how to detect stainless
steel shards in products like blister packs that contain aluminium
foil, such as blister packs and...
Two and a half years ago, Northern Ireland's Sepha sparked a minor
revolution in the blister packaging sector by unveiling the first
clean, non-destructive alternative to the methylene blue dye test
(MDT) for leak testing. Now,...
The pharmaceutical packaging market plays David to the Goliath of
the food and beverage sector, but is one of several sectors that
has the packaging industry interested, reports Phil Taylor,
who spoke with Rolf Borjesson the chief...
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has created a new rule
requiring content and warning labelling for over-the-counter (OTC)
drugs that contain levels of calcium, magnesium, sodium, or
potassium that might be harmful to people...
The first ever TOTAL Processing and Packaging Show opens its doors
this week, bringing together tens of thousands of processing and
packaging professionals across the pharmaceutical and food sectors
and providing a rare opportunity...
China's packaging industry is currently undergoing a growth rate
that is set to turn the sector into one of the country's leading
industries, report Simon Pitman and Phil Taylor.
Korean company Boo Yoon Tech has been granted a US patent on a
polyester resin that can be used to make environmentally-friendly,
biodegradable pharmaceutical bottles and blister packs.
Klockner Pentaplast has introduced a film for pharmaceutical
packaging that blocks out 25 per cent more moisture than any other
thermoformed film on the market, according to the company.
The European Union's Competitiveness Council has adopted the
legislation comprising the new framework for pharmaceuticals, but
its failure to agree on a pan-EU patent system has undermined the
progress made in the reform package,...
Canada's Information Mediary Corp (IMC) has launched a 'smart' cap
for medicine bottles and vials that can remind patients when their
next dose is due, writes Phil Taylor.
Pharmaceutical packaging demand in the US is forecast to rise 4.7
per cent per year to $6.8 billion in 2008, driven by new Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) regulations that will require unit dose
containers for a range of drugs,...
Companies involved in the parallel trade of pharmaceuticals have
been boosted by a court ruling which gives them the right to re-box
products shipped into the UK from another country in the European
Union.
The US Food and Drug Administration has issued a new rule that
makes it a requirement for most prescription and some
over-the-counter pharmaceutical products to carry bar codes. The
move is aimed at reducing the number of medication...
Italy's Bonfiglioli Pharma Machinery has launched a new machine for
testing that freeze-dried vials contain a vacuum that is much
faster than current methods.
In Russia, the Health Ministry suspended the licences of 321
companies manufacturing or trading in counterfeit medicines last
year, and a further 200 may also lose their licences following
ongoing investigations, according to the...
The expansion of the European Union to include 25 member states
after May 2004 presents significant opportunities for the
pharmaceutical industry to tap new markets, but companies should
think twice before launching new products there.
As reported last week, Mark McClellan looks set to leave his post
as Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to run
the agency that oversees Medicare and its new prescription drug
programme for the elderly and disabled.
MeadWestvaco Intelligent Systems has launched a radio frequency
identification (RFID) inventory system that enables manufacturers
to more accurately monitor drug delivery from production to
pharmacy distribution.
Management consultancy firm Accenture has formed a group of
industry leaders that will work together to evaluate the potential
of new radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to improve
pharmaceutical product manufacturing,...
The US Food and Drug Administration issued its final report on ways
to combat pharmaceutical counterfeiting and identifies
radiofrequency identification (RFID) as a primary means of tackling
the problem.
UK pharmaceutical packaging firm Jaycare has been sold to venture
capitalists for the second time in four years, in a deal worth more
than £45 million (€67m).
The development of new drugs, rooted within the pharmaceutical
industry, is inefficient and unsustainable and a new model is
needed to reduce the cost of medicines and improve access to them.
Despite widespread recognition of the dangers of misprescribing,
one in 12 visits to the doctor in the US results in the patient
receiving dangerous medications, according to new data from the
Centres for Disease Control and Prevention...
Drug major Eli Lilly has provided a detailed response to a US
congressional committee request for details of how the firm intends
to tackle the issue of drug counterfeiting.
US packaging giant MeadWestvaco has reported a 38 per cent increase
in fourth-quarter profits, helped by cost-cutting, cash from the
sale of forest land and strong sales of consumer packaging
materials.
A rheumatoid arthritis drug developed by Franco-German company
Aventis has been linked to the deaths of five patients in Japan,
prompting the company to warn against prescribing the drug to
people with respiratory problems.
A new metal detector capable of picking up ferrous and stainless
steel contamination within aluminium foil wrapped products has been
developed. Manufactured by German technology firm Sartorius, the
product, called the Observer, promises...
The number of novel pharmaceutical compounds approved for marketing
- a traditional benchmark for the industry's R&D performance -
has seen a welcome increase after years of declines.
