Covance was nothing but optimistic about the future of contract
research organisations (CROs) during a JPMorgan healthcare
conference held last week, despite a slowdown in R&D spending
over the past year.
A multi-million dollar US manufacturing contract for Acambis hinges
on whether or not the firm can satisfy the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) that its investigational smallpox vaccine
should be approved.
US-based Blue Mountain has launched an integrated, comprehensive
software package to help life sciences companies manage their
assets, cutting out the need for individual software.
A new player has entered the pharma formulation development
services arena, offering technologies used in the food industry to
improve drug palatability.
Two companies have gone a step further to capture a bigger chunk of
the budding eClinical market by offering a new integrated solution
for pharma companies who continue to move away from paper toward
electronic reporting in clinical...
A new study condemns the high prevalence of ghost writing in
pharmaceutical company-sponsored clinical trials and calls for the
controversial practice to be culled in order to improve
transparency.
Drug giants Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have been awarded
contracts with the US government to develop adjuvant technology for
pandemic influenza, to potentially increase the number of doses to
be distributed among US citizens.
Researchers in Belgium have succeeded in using plant seeds to
produce high yields of proteins that bear a strong resemblance to
human antibodies, thus bringing the possibility of using plant
systems as an inexpensive alternative to...
Novo Nordisk has decided to stop developing small-molecule drugs
and instead concentrate on protein-based therapies, capitalising on
the strong growth in this sector of the pharmaceutical industry.
The rapidly growing market for oral drug delivery is forecast to
increase 48 per cent to reach a $52.1 billion in revenues by 2010,
with an annual growth rate of 10 per cent, according to a new study
by Kalorama Information.
BG Medicine will integrate Applied Biosystems' state of the art
technology into its systems biology platforms to enhance its
biomarker discovery and monitoring programs.
A federal court judge has imposed a temporary injunction against
the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the organisation's
drug 'pedigree' requirements, on the basis that the regulations
leave sections of the...
A new Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is being created by Indian firm
JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals for the contract manufacturing
of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), intermediates and
finished drug formulations.
The current board of directors of Helix BioPharma is being
challenged as the battle between management and one of the
company's major shareholders continues.
Quintiles has teamed up with practices group Onmark to create a
national clinical trial network comprised of Onmark members - a
move that could help the CRO cope with increasing patient
recruitment issues in the US.
ReNeuron remains confident that its new stem cell therapy for
stroke will be approved to start clinical trials, despite a request
for further information from the industry regulator.
More and more drug makers are turning to reformulation to prolong
the lifecycle of their top sellers and protect precious revenue
from generic copies, as well as supplement dwindling pipelines.
The world's largest glass container manufacturer is considering
hiving off its plastics packaging business as it reviews strategic
options for the division.
In response to mounting media speculation of another major
restructuring drive, sparked off by an article in the Wall Street
Journal (WSJ), Pfizer has called a meeting to discuss its strategic
direction, with CEO Jeffrey B. Kindler...
The US Food and Drug Administration has accepted two Celsis drug
master files (DMFs) that could increase the adoption of its rapid
microbiological detection technology among pharmaceutical
manufacturers.
Tocris, a leading supplier of chemicals, peptides and antibodies to
the major pharmaceutical companies, universities and research
institutes has completed a $40m (€30.8m) management buy out (MBO)
from its founders.
China is now an industry buzzword when it comes to outsourcing and
yet another report adds to the list of research recently published
that give evidence of the increasing popularity of the country as a
location to conduct drug clinical...
Researchers in Scotland have successfully bred five generations of
transgenic hens producing therapeutic proteins in the whites of
their eggs. This latest news takes the field a step closer to
establishing transgenic flocks that could...
Russian researchers have developed a new way of sourcing a widely
used cardiovascular drug using an ecologically friendly and
water-based extraction method, which could yield three-fold cost
savings over conventional approaches.
A number of small to medium sized firms are unaware of how to use
their resources effectively to comply with hazardous waste
regulations, opening up an opportunity for online advice to address
problems facing these companies.
A new clinical research tool is now available, offering
investigators the ability to integrate clinical data from a number
of different sources across the clinical development spectrum.
Singapore is planning to double the number of clinical trials it
runs over the next five year, particularly in early phase research,
as it looks to hold its ground amidst industry explosion in the
Asia Pacific.
The power of sound waves could aid the pharmaceutical industry in
carrying out routine quality control of solid dosage forms,
according to the company behind the technology.
The booming pharmaceutical contract research market sees a new
player enter the arena as analytical lab Eno River Labs separates
into two independent divisions to create a new business that will
provide analytical and formulation...
MDS has announced it will help its customers confirm or repeat
analyses done at its contract research facilities in Quebec, after
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urged some drug makers to
retest products because of concerns...
GrapeCity has joined Microsoft's BioIT Alliance, a collaboration
between the pharmaceutical and computer industries aimed at helping
make the vision of personalised medicine a reality.
A new radio frequency identification (RFID) chip has been developed
by Pliant and IBM that can not only track drug products through the
supply chain but also identify when a product has been tampered
with.
Giant drug manufacturer Eli Lilly last week announced a reshuffle
in its global manufacturing operations to reflect the company's
focus on its current product portfolio and drug pipeline.
UK-based company ProMinent Fluid Controls has launched an on-line
sensor targeting the regulation of peracetic acid, a key
disinfectant used in the pharmaceutical industry.
Canadian firm SemBioSys Genetics last week announced that its
proprietary plant-produced insulin has been shown to be
indistinguishable from human insulin, opening up a whole new
potential source of the hormone.
Recent trial results have indicated a link between low
LDL-cholesterol levels and Parkinson's disease, especially if the
low levels are naturally occurring.
PerkinElmer (PE) has continued its growth in the advanced cellular
sciences sector, with the completed acquisitions of Euroscreen
Products and Evotec Technologies.
The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has
called for a public consultation into the use of animal eggs to
create cloned hybrid or chimeric human embryos for laboratory-based
disease research.
Researchers have published an 'atlas' showing how proteins can
change shape and interact with other molecules, which could prove
an invaluable tool to drug developers.
In a deal worth up to $1.35bn (€1bn) AstraZeneca (AZ) have agreed
to co-develop and commercialise two of Bristol-Myers Squibb's (BMS)
late stage diabetes compounds.
The second in a series of periodic roundups of drugs that have
moved from preclinical research into clinical testing via the
announcement of a Phase I trial or an application for a trial to
industry regulators.
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has started the first human clinical trials
to evaluate a new antiviral drug against respiratory synytial virus
(RSV) - the major cause of pneumonia and bronchiolitis in children.
The nature of patient compliance as the weak link in controlling
clinical trials is set to drive the growing interest of drug
developers and in particular contract research organisations (CROs)
for new technologies that improve compliance,...