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...
UK-based Lonza Biologics has extended its agreement with Chromos
Molecular Systems for non-exclusive access to the Canadian firm's
ACE System, technology that speeds up the time researchers need to
isolate cell lines.
A US partnership is hoping that rights to a new gene delivery
system will help it to develop avian transgenic technology as an
efficient and cost-effective biomanufacturing platform for the
production of human therapeutic protein...
Drug companies are waking up to the notion that the environment a
researcher works in - whether in drug discovery or the quality
control lab - is a crucial factor in determining their productivity
and creativity. And they have started...
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...
Beckman Coulter, the leading manufacturer of instrument systems and
automated laboratory processes, has launched two new laboratory
automation workstations which promise to set new standards in
accuracy and precision of assays.
Biotrove has reported promising data from a study of its Living
Chip microfluidic technology used to generate genotyping data from
human genomic samples. Their high-density array chip promises to
hike the throughout rate for this...
Compared to the total research products market, which has been in
the doldrums of late, the DNA microarray market continues to
experience robust growth world wide, according to new market
research from Frost & Sullivan.
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 Japanese regulatory authority has approved the JRS Pharma's
ProSolv excipient - designed to make it easier and cheaper to make
high-quality tablets - for use in pharmaceutical formulations.
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...
The European Commission has announced a collaborative tuberculosis
research initiative, underpinned by €32 million in funding for two
overlapping research projects aimed at developing an improved
vaccine for the disease. The news...
The pharmaceutical industry looks set to be one of the key areas of
contention for the two US Presidential candidates as they square
off ahead of the election in November.
An application that will enable direct measurement of nucleic acids
without the need for amplification has been developed by US
Genomics. The application will also allow researchers to perform
validation and characterization of specific...
Germany's Munich Biotech has reported encouraging data on a new
cancer treatment that takes a tried and tested drug and improves
its safety and efficacy, according to preliminary trial results.
Benitec, the Australian biotechnology firm, has launched patent
infringement suits in a US district court against Nucleonics,
Ambion, and Genscript, alleging that the three companies are
infringing a US patent concerning gene silencing...
A simple urine sample could soon be used to predict the complex
toxic effects of new drugs potentially making clinical trials
safer, more effective, and saving the industry millions of euros.
Germany's Evotec Neurosciences, a subsidiary of Evotec OAI, has
licensed rights to a patent portfolio developed by Roche that
covers a promising - but elusive - drug target for central nervous
system (CNS) disorders, reports...
The enlargement of the European Union to include 10 new countries
has raised fears about the impact this could have on issues such as
parallel imports and intellectual property protection, but it could
reinvigorate the industry in...
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.
Researchers in the US have developed a drug delivery technology
that could improve the treatment of cancer, avoid side effects and
even report back on the success of treatment.
Access Pharmaceuticals has signed an agreement with an unnamed US
partner for a drug delivery system based on nanoparticle aggregates
that can be used to formulate proteins that are degraded by
solvents.
Debiopharm of Switzerland has won approval for a three-month depot
formulation of Pamorelin (triptorelin pamoate), a drug to treat
prostate cancer, based on its proprietary polymer-based drug
delivery technology.
Switzerland's Novartis has confirmed that it is interested in
joining with Aventis, but will not proceed with a formal bid unless
the French government draws back from its hostile stance on a
link-up, reports Phil Taylor.
US-based biotechnology company Human Genome Sciences is planning to
set up the first protein manufacturing facility in India in
collaboration with local companies.
The opening up of the European market for thermal cyclers earlier
this month has been followed swiftly by the launch of a new product
in the category from Germany's MWG Biotech, reports Phil
Taylor.
Researchers in France and the US have used a technique known as
click chemistry to discover potent new inhibitors of
acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme that serves as a drug target in
Alzheimer's disease, writes Phil Taylor.
Researchers in the US have developed a way of self-assembling
liposomes - lipid particles used to carry a drug payload - that are
smaller and more uniform in size than can be achieved using current
methods.
Proposals to introduce a 'scientific visa' to facilitate movement
of third country researchers to and within the EU have been adopted
by the European Commission, writes Wai Lang Chu.
New filtration products for biopharmaceutical development and
production were unveiled at last week's Interphex 2004 exhibition
in New York by two of the main players in the sector - Pall and
Millipore.
Researchers in Austria have deciphered the first steps involved in
the attachment of sugar groups to proteins - a process known as
glycoslation - which could open the door to making a broad range of
human proteins in bacteria, writes...
The pharmaceutical industry in the UK could face a recruitment
crisis if more is not done to encourage students to opt for science
and engineering courses, according to the Association of the
British Pharmaceutical Industry, writes...
The UK government has promised to protect the large funding
increases for science announced in the country's last Spending
Review and pledged more investment under a new 10-year strategy for
science.
A new machine from Ultrasonic Scientific promises to revolutionise
the analysis of chemical reactions by requiring only a tiny amount
of sample, an important consideration when testing expensive
biologic compounds.
A new means of purifying air based on a simple electronic device
could mount a significant challenge to established players such as
ultraviolet light and HEPA filters, according to analysts.
A brand new chemical genomics facility, one of the first academic
small molecule screening facilities in Europe, has been opened by
the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the German
Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) in Heidelberg,...
Fisher Scientific and Apogent Technologies are to merge in a $3.7
billion (€3.01bn) deal that will double Fisher's footprint in the
high-growth life sciences equipment market, reports Phil
Taylor.
Compared with European and US chemical companies, most domestic
Chinese chemical enterprises have remained technologically
challenged with productivity lagging behind international levels.
The US Food and Drug Administration is to develop a blueprint for
speeding up the approval of new medical products to counteract the
slowdown in R&D productivity in the pharmaceutical industry,
writes Phil Taylor.
A new treatment approach could one day make it possible to reverse
the paralysis that can occur after spinal cord injuries, which
occur in around 11,000 people in Europe every year.
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.
As the Interphex 2004 exhibition in New York, US, comes to a close,
In-Pharmatechnologist.com takes a look at the crop of new
products rolled out in the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector.
Microfluidics has launched the first research-scale versions of its
patented High-Pressure Multiple Stream Mixer Reactor (MMR), claimed
to create uniform particles smaller than anything achieved using
current technologies.
Belgium's UCB has been granted approval in the US for the first
chewable formulation of an antihistamine designed to make it easier
to treat children for hayfever.
A team of scientists in the US have identified a molecular target
in which could herald the formation of the first pharmacological
therapy for treating amphetamine addiction, which is estimated to
affect around 9 million Americans,...
A new activity-based proteomics screening technique has allowed
scientists to identify active targets and simultaneously screen for
their inhibitors. The screening technique has already revealed that
orlistat, an anti-obesity drug,...
Researchers in the Netherlands say that a steroid drug formulated
in a lipid droplet and coated with a polymer seems to be more
effective in treating rheumatoid arthritis than the steroid on its
own.
