According to a senior figure in the outsourcing industry, high
content screening (HCS) is set to overtake current methods as the
preferred technique of generating hits with the greatest interest
coming from the oncology sector.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
The rapidly growing market for drug discovery outsourcing services
will increase 15 per cent to reach $7bn (€5.5bn) by 2009, fuelled
by the advancing Asian market, according to a new study by Kalorama
Information, publishing division...
Dalton Pharma Services has introduced a range of new medicinal
chemistry services that are available to companies involved in drug
discovery that wish to utilise additional scientific and managerial
expertise as well as specialised...
Researchers have developed a new technique that they claim will
vastly speed up the search for new cancer drugs and antibiotics
that has proved problematic and time expensive in the drug's
development cycle.
Chemokine Therapeutics has announced it has received a patent
relating to chemokine analogs for the treatment of human disease,
which includes autoimmune diseases, cancer, cardiovascular disease,
and inflammatory disorders such as...
Tripos has launched new software that allows scientists to access
and analyse chemical and biological data from a single integrated
desktop discovery environment
Caliper Life Sciences has launched its latest addition to the
company's suite of in vivo imaging systems promising
advanced fluorescent detection capability for accelerating the drug
discovery and development process reducing...
The Pharsight Corporation has announced it has entered into the
biggest single project workplan in the company's history utilising
its drug-disease modelling, meta-data analysis and model
visualisation services.
Researchers believe that the discovery of enzymes that play a key
role in building membranes of disease-causing bacteria has ended a
25-year mystery and paves the way for new drug development against
certain types of bacteria.
Drug giant Eli Lilly has joined forces with Suven Life Sciences in
a deal that will focus on pre-clinical research of molecules in the
therapeutic area of central nervous system (CNS) disorders.
PerkinElmer has released its line of gas chromatography products,
which claims to deliver the fastest injection-to-injection time in
conventional gas chromatography, reducing cycle time and increasing
sample throughput.
A new report has suggested the US demand for enzymes for
pharmaceutical and biocatalyst sectors will trigger market growth
of 6.9 per cent per year reaching $2.2bn (€1.7bn) in 2010.
Scientists believe they have discovered a novel way in treating
people suffering from anthrax poisoning, which could overcome the
problem of antibiotic resistance that is becoming increasingly
common in southern and Eastern Europe...
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
has awarded Nastech Pharmaceuticals a development grant for RNAi
therapeutics to prevent and treat influenza.
UK drug discovery company, Peakdale Molecular, has introduced its
collection of drug-like molecules targeted towards specific
receptor families achieving drug selectivity to modulate
therapeutically relevant signalling pathways.
Researchers have identified a protein that is thought to defend the
intestinal against microbial invaders offering new insights into
how the intestine fends off pathogens and potentially leading to
new inflammatory bowel disease medications.
Evotec and CHDI have formed a strategic partnership, which aims to
research and develop treatments for Huntington Disease (HD), a
genetic disorder that causes programmed degeneration of brain cells
and loss of intellectual faculties.
Charles River Laboratories becomes the ninth contract research
organisation (CRO) to open up a new pathology facility within the
Chicago Technology Park (CTP), reinforcing the emerging outsourcing
trend in pharmaceutical discovery...
Researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of a new drug for
treating infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria
representing the first drug of its kind to be FDA approved in two
decades.
US scientists think they have come up with a novel test that
indicates how a patient with early-stage lung cancer will respond
to chemotherapy, giving the opportunity to tailor treatment to the
individual.
Bionas has launched a product for in vitro profiling the
metabolic activity of cells to understand cellular function that
could prove highly useful in drug discovery and development.
Argos Therapeutics has announced that dosing has been initiated in
a Phase I/II clinical trial to test the activity and safety of
AGS-003, a personalised immunotherapy for advanced kidney cancer
(metastatic renal cell carcinoma).
Alantos Pharmaceuticals has initiated a Phase I trial for its lead
compound for diabetes, a disease that commands a global market
estimated at $11bn (€8.6bn) and is expected to grow by more than 50
per cent by the end of the decade.
Researchers believe they have discovered how the HIV virus avoids
the human body's natural defences paving the way for a HIV-specific
cell drug treatment that vastly improves on the drugs that are
currently available.
Ariad Pharmaceuticals has been issued with a patent that covers the
novel use of mTOR inhibitors that are designed for the treatment of
cancers including soft-tissue and bone sarcomas; prostate, breast,
pancreatic, brain, lung and...
Varian makes available its new HPLC columns that are designed for
use in the pharmaceutical industry, particularly in pre-clinical
development, increasing productivity by enabling more products to
be purified in less time.
Biogen has revealed details of a potential new pathway in
rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that could provide unique insights into
the disease process and eventually a new approach to developing RA
therapies.
Covance, the world's largest provider of drug-development services,
is bracing itself for the onslaught of protests by animal rights
activists who are demonstrating against the building of a $100m
(€78.6) laboratory in the US.
Millipore launch its version of a tangential flow filtration (TFF)
device for the filtration of monoclonal antibodies and other
therapeutic proteins that form an integral part of the drug
discovery process and development cycle.
Guava Technologies aim to simplify antibody screening with its new
range of quantitative bead-based kits designed to quantify either
mouse or human IgG antibody (Immunoglobulin G) during hybridoma
screening.
AM Pharma has been awarded a US and EU patent for its antimicrobial
peptide to be used in the development of a novel class of drugs
with high efficacy against a broad spectrum of bacterial, fungal
and viral infections.
Researchers have theorised that a peptide found in primates could
halt the HIV-1 virus from infecting blood cells. The discovery
could form the crux of an effective drug therapy, which may
overcome resistance exhibited by current...