CRO NexMed says new data from preclinical trials show that its NexACT delivery technology can act as a sustained release “depot” for drugs like insulin and taxol.
Outsourcing to Asia is changing “from a tactical to a strategic imperative” as a result of the region gaining the capabilities needed to perform work high up the biopharma value chain, according to Quintiles.
Australia-based CRO TetraQ is doubling throughput of trial samples, resulting in a 30 per cent time saving for clients, by installing a Spark Symbiosis system at its site in Brisbane.
DNA sequencing specialist Genewiz has added gene synthesis to its service portfolio, providing researchers with a time- and cost-saving alternative to techniques such as molecular cloning and protein engineering.
Japan-based CRO Mitsubishi Chemical Medience (MCM) has purchased a range of Provantis preclinical software modules from Instem to manage study processes and collect data.
WuXi PharmaTech posted an operating profit of $52m (€38m) in 2009 and is optimistic about 2010, when it will make investments in laboratory services and large-scale manufacturing to drive growth in coming years.
Asterand has gained GLP accreditation at its UK lab, enabling it to support regulatory submissions and furthering its goal of becoming a fully integrated human tissue service provider.
WuXi PharmaTech is collaborating with J&J Pharmaceutical R&D, providing the pharma with toxicology services and receiving training to establish GLP at its facility in Suzhou, China.
Eli Lilly, Merck & Co and Pfizer are combining resources to form the Asian Cancer Research Group (ACRG), a non-profit company which aims to accelerate research into lung and gastric cancers in Asia.
Global contract research organisation (CRO) Quintiles hopes its anatomical pathology offering will attract the growing number of drugmakers developing cancer drugs for China.
The capabilities of the MDS Pharma Services' sites Ricerca is set to acquire "perfectly dovetail" with its existing capacity, according to a company vice president.
MDS has agreed to sell its Pharma Services division, with a CRO and private investors lined up to buy different sites, but approximately 275 employees will lose their jobs during the transition.
CRO NexMed has received a $2.7m (€2.0m) cash boost, which improves its financial situation and provides funds to develop its NexACT technology for oral and transdermal delivery.
US contract research organisation (CRO) PPD reported a “higher than anticipated” number of cancellations in Q4, bringing to a close 12 months that saw operating income fall 46 per cent to $192m.
Falling preclinical demand may have dominated Charles River Laboratories’ (CRL) performance in 2009, but stagnant sales from its research models business also failed to impress.
TTP LabTech has launched a contract screening service to assist various aspects of clients’ drug development programmes, from target identification through to preclinical toxicology.
Belgium-based Galapagos NV has acquired Argenta Discovery for €16.5m ($23.1m), creating a drug discovery service company with 390 employees and estimated revenues of €70m.
Arizona moved a step closer to excluding federally regulated research facilities from animal cruelty laws yesterday after the Senate National Resources, Infrastructure and Public Debt Committee voted in favour of such a move.
MDS believes its early stage business is likely to sell for less than previously expected because of the continued deterioration of market conditions and its declining customer base.
US CRO PPD has sold its biomarker discovery sciences unit to Caprion Proteomics, bucking the trend that has seen many of its sector rivals invest in this part of the contract research market.
US CRO Charles River Laboratories (CRL) will halt operations at its preclinical services (PCS) facility in Massachusetts until demand for early-stage drug development recovers.
WuXi AppTec is partnering with Qiagen to develop biomarkers, assay panels and personalised healthcare diagnostics and will use these, and existing technologies, to further clients’ projects.
The Nucleotide Research Complex, the largest such facility in the Middle East, is now operational and ready to house companies’ research and development, analytical, diagnostic and equipment training activities.
US CRO and discovery technology supplier XenoTech has launched CryostaX, which it claims is the largest single-freeze pool of human hepatocytes available to drug developers.
US software firm Instem will establish an office in Shanghai, China, to provide customer support, client management, development and sales support to its Chinese pharmaceutical and life sciences R&D clients.
US drug discovery group Deltagen has acquired Benten BioServices, a contract services organisation that offers a suite of regulatory-compliant manufacturing and testing services to support biopharmaceutical development and commercialisation.
GE Healthcare says its new range of sample collection cards reduce sample volumes needed for drug metabolism across pharmacokinetics (DMPK) in all stages of drug development process.
Preclinical drug testing specialist Absorption Systems has branched out and opened a new surgical lab designed to help pharmaceutical firms assess the safety of biomaterials and medical devices.
US CRO Life Science Research has become a private company with the completion of its acquisition by Lion Holdings, an investment vehicle owner by CEO Andrew Baker.
Sistemic is targeting the US by setting up an office in Boston, Mass, from which it will promote its services that use miRNA to identify and understand a compound’s activity in a simpler way than genomics or proteomics.
Lonza has bolstered its protein design capabilities by acquiring Algonomics, a CRO with technologies which predict immunogenicity to improve development of protein therapeutics and vaccines.
The availability of preclinical capacity and uncertainty created by mergers and healthcare reform have led to pharma exerting pricing pressure on Charles River, decreasing its sales by 13.1 per cent, and it expects the situation to worsen in Q4.
MDS’ Central Labs has been rebranded as Clearstone Central Laboratories following its acquisition by Czura Thornton, which is looking to expand the business and that of Chiltern, a CRO also owned by the investment company, into new geographies, according...
Environmental laboratory Alpha Analytical has expanded into the life sciences sector by acquiring CRO Boston Analytical and is now targeting the Massachusetts, US biotech sector, its president told Outsourcing-Pharma.
