Isotechnika has received an additional US patent for its lead
immunosuppressive drug, which is the first patent to be issued in
this patent family in the US. The lead compound has demonstrated
encouraging results in recent Phase II...
SR Pharma has recruited Genzyme, BioSpring and OctoPlus to
formulate and manufacture its lead RNAi therapeutic product Atu027
to good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards, as its liposomal
drug delivry system moves forward.
Technology firm Symyx has acquired Autodose, a maker of precision
powder-dispensing equipment, as it seeks to develop the next
generation of high-throughput benchtop automation systems.
Inspection and certification group SGS has officially launched a
laboratory in Shanghai dedicated to quality control testing of
pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals and medical devices, as China's
appetite for contract analytical...
Dynal has announced today the release of a new research tool in its
immunotherapy range that allow researchers to isolate and collect T
cells from immunocompromised patients for ex vivo stimulation and
expansion in a sterile environment.
The PiperJaffray conference gave biopharmaceutical company Speedel
ample opportunity to inform investors of its intentions for 2006
and beyond. The company have just released promising data on a new
first-in-class diabetic treatment.
PRA International has been busy implementing an advanced data
management system as part of a number of new internal measures
aimed at improving operating efficiency and cutting the costs of
clinical trials.
UK biopharma firm Adjuvantix has developed a new technology that it
claims can increase the effectiveness of vaccines as well as drugs
for cancer, inflammatory diseases and infectious diseases such as
tuberculosis and AIDS.
Genevac have developed a Fast Lyophilisation Process that aims to
provide the ultimate solution to the problems encountered by lab
technicians when handling HPLC solvents.
Tate and Lyle has announced the launch of Meritab - a new direct
compressible dextrose - that allows pharma tablet manufacturers to
stop using wet granulation processes, and so offers a cost
effective and simplified production process.
Covalent Group has won several new clinical trial contracts to the
tune of $2.1m (€1.7m) and said it expects the windfall to help it
return to profitability for the second quarter.
In an incident that state and federal environmental regulators are
treating as "serious," Merck released 25 gallons of a
cyanide-containing chemical from its West Point facility in
Pennsylvania to the sewer, killing hundreds...
GS1, the global not-profit organisation, that designs and
implements barcode standards, has announced a global adoption date
of 1 January 2010 for a new bar code with Reduced Space Symbology
(RSS), which can store more data in half...
Cambrex Bio Science has successfully completed its first monoclonal
antibody project in the company's new cell culture bioreactor, as
well as its first small-large molecule conjugation project.
Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has announced that the European
Commission has granted an approval for Baraclude (entecavir) for
the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.
DanioLabs has announced the start of a Phase I proof-of-concept
trial of DL06001 and DL06002 for sialorrhoea (drooling) and
hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating) in Parkinson's disease as the
company aim to meet the need for treating...
Tripos has introduced its answer to rapid in-silico drug screening
with its virtual screening software that uses a fully automatic
flexible molecular docking algorithm to offer speed, accuracy and
usability advantages over current...
The sale of Clariant's Pharmaceutical Fine Chemicals (PFC) to
equity firm Towerbrook for around SFr110m (€70m) has been completed
and the unit, now called Archimica, is determined to dominate the
pharma raw materials market.
Chi-Med has been given the Food and Drug Administraton (FDA) green
light to broaden its oncology drug candidate clinical trials after
it exhibited encouraging results, which the company want to expand
into a much wider patient population...
As America desperately waited for its influenza vaccines, Chiron
had to deal with major quality control issues between July and
October 2005 at its troubled vaccine manufacturing plant in
Liverpool according to a US Food and Drug...
Copapharm Europe, the alliance of specialist packaging companies,
has announced "healthy" sales figures for 2005, as its
one-stop pan-European approach to the supply of pharmaceutical
packaging equipment is becoming more...
ExonHit Therapeutics was present at the PiperJaffray healthcare
conference in London giving investors updates on company activity
over the last year. The company are coming off the back of a patent
application, which covers a number...
A dry powder nasal flu vacccine is being hailed by its developers
at DelSite Biotechnologies as a unique storage solution, providing
delivery advantages over traditional flu vaccines in the event of a
bird flu pandemic.
Frost & Sullivan has awarded biopharmaceutical firm Cytogenix
with its 2006 award for innovation in biotechnology processing for
its cell-free manufacturing method that enables generation of large
quantities of high-purity DNA...
Applied Biosystems (AB) is to acquire Agencourt Personal Genomics
(APG) for approximately $120m (€94m) in cash in which the life
science specialists will gain a novel, high throughput approach
with applications in DNA sequencing,...
As clinical trial activity in the Asia Pacific region continues to
boom, Novotech, the largest Australian owned contract research
organisation (CRO) has presented a checklist to help pharma firms
minimise risk when choosing a partner.
European life sciences received an unexpected boost as the European
Science Foundation launched an initiative to help promote and
coordinate interaction among European life sciences researchers and
funders.
New Brunswick Scientific (NBS) has introduced two new benchtop
incubator shakers, the first in a range of eight new models
replacing the original C-Line. The shakers have been designed to
allow reproducible results all the way down...
A new generation of drugs that target specific areas of the body
has created new challenges for dissolution testing, as many recent
active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are poorly soluble in
traditional media and need novel testing...
As financial pressures continue to plague the pharma industry,
firms should consider taking more advantage of sourcing staff in
cheap labour markets in order to save a buck.
Sanofi pasteur's vaccine manufacturing plant in Pennsylvania, where
half of America's influenza vaccines are made, has been served with
a warning letter by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
asking for measures to...
New guidelines for the import and manufacture of medical devices in
India have now come into effect, aimed at increasing world
confidence in medical devices made in the region.
ChemGenex has teamed up with MolecularMD in a deal that focuses on
a drug resistance mutation seen in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)
patients, which has seen these sufferers no longer respond to
Gleevec, a popular cancer treatment.
Intec Pharma has enlisted two North American dosage form
manufacturers to make "supergenerics" using its new method of oral
drug delivery that can transform existing drugs into more powerful
therapies.
A report on the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) enforcement
record by US Democratic lawmakers has highlighted a plunge in the
number of warning letters the agency has sent to drug manufacturers
since 2000, citing several...
Specialty chemicals firm Degussa has launched a new hydrophobic
silica excipient which is particularly suitable for very
hygroscopic and cohesive powders as it can significantly improve
powder flow.
BioPartners has failed to bring its second biosimilar product into
Europe after the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal
Products (EMEA) issued a negative opinion on its hepatitis C drug,
citing characterisation, manufacturing...
Activotec makes available an entry-level Supercritical Fluid
Extractor (SFE) to suit routine analytical work in smaller
laboratories that might require many features typically found in
more costly SFE equipment.
French purification specialist Novasep has unveiled a new series of
preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) columns
that are ideally suited for the purification of any amount of
product.
Boehringer Ingelheim Roxane (BIRI) has integrated Multisorb's
sorbent packets in its moisture prevention system, reducing costs,
decreasing downtime, and increasing line speed.
A Dutch trial of battery-powered radiofrequency identification
(RFID) tags in standard medication blister packages, sponsored by
Novartis, has demonstrated the benefits the technology can have for
patient compliance but also the prohibitive...
Vertex Pharmaceutcals was one of a number of pharma and biotech
companies to attend the PiperJaffray healthcare conference in
London last week, which gave international companies the
opportunity to provide pipeline updates.
BioPharmaceutical company Protherics, were on hand at the
PiperJaffray conference providing pipeline and company updates to a
audience of investors and analysts. The company are coming off the
back of a successful deal with Astrazeneca...
Determined to slash operational costs, Eli Lilly has decided to
shut down its pill and tablet manufacturing plant in Basingstoke
and boost production in its remaining three dry product sites.
Data management solutions provider Phase Forward used the recent
Drug Information Association (DIA) to unveil a new programme
tailored to help clinical research organizations (CROs) of all
sizes optimise their eClinical profitability.
FFF Enterprises has just been awarded a new contract to distribute
GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK's) flu vaccine in the US, making it the
largest flu vaccine distributor for the second year running.
A new Phase I clinical services company, Roanoke Clinical Research
(RCR), has been formed to relieve pressure in the biopharma
industry as it continues to face bottlenecks in early stage
research and struggles to move forward fast...
After launching its flagship oral insulin spray in Ecuador last
December, Generex is finally gearing up to take on big pharma in
the global non-injectable insulin arena and has picked Cardinal
Health to help meet manufacturing demands.
Software provider, PDS Pathology Data Systems have announced it can
now provide Internet access to its specialised post-mortem
functionality system to users that include University research
departments, CROs, Biotechs and smaller...