Catalyst specialist Reaxa has launched the latest flight of
additions to its range of metal scavenging products for pharma
process applications which can be used in both batch and continuous
processing.
MedImmune has embarked on an expansion of its biologics
manufacturing facility in Frederick, Maryland, to ramp up its cell
culture production capacity, as several of its monoclonal
antibodies (MAbs) approach commercialisation.
Cardinal Health has been given the green light from the US Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) to start manufacturing the first
commercial drug at its new sterile facility in North Carolina.
Zeiss has introduced its system to visualise the processes that
occur at the cell membrane by delivering technology that delivers
three unique features previously unseen on similar machines.
Nabi Biopharmaceuticals has obtained the exclusive rights to use a
plasma protein purification technology from ProMetic Life Sciences
in the large-scale development and manufacture of its hyperimmune
products, cutting production costs...
Akubio launches its pioneering acoustic detection technology for
analysis of biomolecular interactions, which has been optimised for
protein-protein interaction analysis that forms a crucial part of
drug development.
Diabetes experts have warned that urgent action needs to be taken
to drastically improve the management of diabetes to prevent a
potentially devastating and costly global burden.
A warning letter from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
censuring Actavis for failing to file periodic safety reports at
its solid oral dose manufacturing facility in New Jersey and not
reporting adverse drug events has forced...
Outsourcing has become so paramount in a pharmaceutical's
infrastructure and drug discovery strategy that it can no longer be
considered an option, according to a Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS)
senior scientist.
Researchers have identified a diagnostic marker that they think
could prove useful in gauging the effectiveness of anti-angiogenic
drugs marking the first time that biomarkers have been defined for
this drug class.
New workflow technology can go a long way in ensuring security and
traceability of data transfer prior to print in the pharmaceutical
industry, avoiding errors that can potentially lead to
life-threatening misinformation.
Kemwell has sealed the deal on the purchase of Pfizer's Swedish
manufacturing plant and at the same time secured a long-term
contract manufacturing agreement with the drug giant.
Roche has boosted annual manufacturing capacity for Tamiflu
(oseltamivir phosphate) to 80m treatment courses, as demand for the
flu drug shows no sign of abating.
The European Union (EU) has been criticised for being more
favourable to big biotech companies, at the expense of smaller
firms, according to consultants within the industry.
A new technology promises to speed up the categorisation of
proteins, reducing the time consuming and laborious process whilst
aiding in the detection and treatment of disease.
Pfizer's manufacturing reforms have claimed more casualties in two
North American plants as the world's largest drugmaker battles to
realign production capacity with future product mix, new
technologies and cost effectiveness.
Europe's fine chemical suppliers cannot beat their Asian
competitors in their own game and must seek an advantage through
restructuring, innovation and specialisation in niche markets, a
new report by Frost & Sullivan advises.
Chinese researchers may have solved the problem of vaccine shortage
in the event of an avian influenza pandemic after a clinical trial
showed that their formulation containing the whole H5N1 virus
instead of virus particles resulted...
Contract Research Organisations (CRO) involved in clinical trial
services may benefit from a new technique that allows researchers
to statistically analyse results of clinical trials.
Successful technology transfer and effective management can help
avoid disappointment with contract manufacturing arrangements,
which often fail to live up to pharmaceutical company expectations.
A small spin-out company formed by the University of Colorado has
been awarded a $850,000 (€670,000) grant from the US government to
develop a dry powder inhalable version of Nabi's investigational
injectable vaccine for nicotine...
India's Essel Propack, the largest speciality packaging company in
the world, is acquiring Packaging India Private Limited (PIPL) from
the CavinKare Group, keen to capture more of the country's booming
pharmaceutical packaging...
Wyeth has entered into a global agreement that allows it to use
Intracell's synthetic adjuvant IC31 in the formulation of five of
its investigational vaccines, aiming to simply mix it with antigens
without the need for conjugation.
European parliamentarians have come up with a long list of measures
that the EU needs to take to combat counterfeit drugs, yet track
and trace technologies were noticeably absent from their calls for
action.
Drug testing services provider Xceleron has set up new facilities
in the US after regulations recently introduced by the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) are setting this industry sector ablaze.
Silicon-based micro-machined devices for the controlled delivery of
oral therapeutics, developed by Tejal Desai from the University of
California, have won first prize at the 2006 Eurand Award
Programme, impressing with their ability...
A good selection process, with a realistic set of selection
criteria is essential when looking for the right contract
manufacturing partner, according to a new Datamonitor report.
Biotechnology firm Codexis says it has reached an important
development milestone in its effort to design a biocatalytic
process to produce a key intermediate for a Schering-Plough drug,
reducing manufacturing costs and environmental...
Ocean Optics introduces its new spectrometer, which combines
low-cost with a small footprint that is designed for the budget
conscious teaching and research labs.
Researchers think that they have developed an effective tactic,
which aims to stop the spread of bacterial infections that have
become resistant to antibiotic treatment paving the way for future
therapies.
A draft guidance has been published by the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) to help the industry wade through the
potential minefield of conducting clinical research on patients
without informed consent, in cases of emergencies.
Drug development company Amphora Discovery has announced it is to
split the company into two stand-alone business units - a
pharmaceutical development firm in California and a contract
research organisation in Durham.
Britain's manufacturers of tailor-made non-licensed medicines are
working on establishing a unique supply agreement with major drug
firms that could serve as a model worldwide for the production of
drugs that meet the specialised...
The majority of pharmaceutical manufacturers who have adopted the
lean manufacturing model are not satisfied with their results
according to a new survey, raising questions about the efficacy of
a system popular in the automotive...
According to the CEO and Chairman of pharmaceutical giant Eli
Lilly, the biomedical breakthroughs that are occurring within the
industry are transforming medicine and promise to ease the
challenges facing an aging population.
Offshoring contract manufacturing is not the only option for large
pharma firms looking to drive productivity and efficiency gains in
drug manufacturing, warns a new report from independent market
analyst Datamonitor.
New research show that the outsourcing trend is set to drive the
analytical laboratory market over the next seven years, however
small labs are in danger of drowning in the process.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has formed a partnership with ChemoCentryx
worth $1.5bn (€1.2bn) which will provide the company with access to
selected targets from one of the broadest pipelines of
chemokine-based therapeutics in the biotech...
Workers at a Rhodia specialty chemicals plant in South Carolina are
sighing with relief after a fire that broke out in the passing of
tropical storm Ernesto was put out before igniting ethanol and
pentane in a general processing unit.
The world's most prescribed product for chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD) could soon be formulated with a new
propellant-free device following an observational study on a soft
mist inhaler (SMI) that Boehringer Ingelheim...
As the bio-outsourcing market hits boom time, the number of
contract biomanufacturing organisations (CBMOs) that specialise in
the production of biopharma products, is rapidly expanding.
Compounds in cranberry juice may provide a viable alternative to
antibiotics that treat urinary tract infections (UTI's) especially
for combating E. coli bacteria that have become resistant to
conventional treatment.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed details of a
'super strain' of tuberculosis, which is not only resistant to
first choice treatment drugs, but also three or more of the six
classes of second-line drugs.
Danish biopharmaceutical firm Bavarian Nordic has received approval
from Denmark's government to begin large-scale commercial
production of smallpox vaccine based on its Modified Vaccinia
Ankara (MVA) virus strain which demonstrates...
A new drug class for the treatment of cancer has been hailed as a
breakthrough by researchers in Denmark, who believe that patients
with advanced breast cancer could stand to gain the most benefit
from this new treatment.
A survey has revealed that the pharmaceutical and biotech industry
are currently dominating the outsourcing scene in Europe,
accounting for a quarter of all sub-contracting activity within the
EU.
Capgemini has received a new five year outsourcing contract to
provide IT services to ensure the smooth sailing of pharmaceutical
company Astellas US, newly-formed after a recent merger.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a major player in vaccine manufacturing, is
set to inaugurate a €100m vaccine production plant on Friday in a
Hungarian city 30Km northeast of Budapest.
