Abraxis BioScience will be separating the company into two
independent public companies following accelerated growth, the
US-based firm announced this week.
A UK firm has introduced a new piece of kit for pharma firms to
test how the contents of their hard gel capsules can affect the
strength and stability of the outer shell.
AstraZeneca is planning to gradually withdraw from making its own
active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and will use China as the
pinnacle of its new outsourcing plans.
Microbiology expert Oxoid has released a new active air quality
monitoring device to help pharmaceutical companies prove that their
clean areas are microbe free.
Australia is soon to boast the largest monoclonal antibody
production facility in the Southern Hemisphere, which will go some
way in alleviating the increasing demand for the biologic agents.
The European Commission (EC) has given a €2.75m grant to a
consortium of companies, led by Amaxa, to develop the first ultra
high-throughput (UHT) devices for transfecting cells.
British contract manufacturing organisation (CMO) NextPharma
Technologies has announced a €30m fundraising round and the
acquisition of Bioserv, another CMO based in the US.
The hook-up between German and French firms Sartorius and Stedim to
create a combined biotech business is now complete, with the deal
finalised and the new company ready to roll.
Thar Instruments has bought Berger SFC from Mettler Toledo to
expand its SFC capabilities and achieve 'critical mass' in a market
that is growing as pharma looks for greener separation options.
Sanofi-Aventis' hotly touted anti-obesity blockbuster drug has
become weighted down in safety concerns as the French company
withdraws its New Drug Application (NDA) in the US and awaits a
safety review in the EU.
One of the most significant deals to take place in the vaccine
industry in the last ten years was signed late last night between
vaccine heavyweight Novartis and biotech firm Intercell.
AstraZeneca has sold a manufacturing plant in France to a contract
manufacturer who will continue to supply the drug giant with its
products under a new outsourcing contract.
The finishing touches are being added to the new Bradman Lake
Group's packaging machinery facility in Norwich, Norfolk, as the
company continues on its global expansion plan.
Bespak, one of the two contract manufacturers of Pfizer's inhaled
insulin Exubera, has announced it will cut a "significant" number
of jobs as sales of the once-touted blockbuster are falling short
of expectations.
Waters has combined its award winning Synapt MS with a MALDI
ionisation source to broaden the number of applications the
instrument can be used in - including MALDI imaging.
Cook Pharmica, Cytovance, BioStorage Technologies, PRA
International, Draxis Pharma, and MDS Pharma Services have all had
people on the move in the world of pharmaceutical outsourcing.
Researchers have developed a new 'supermacroporous cryogel'
bioreactor for the long term continuous production of monoclonal
antibodies (mAbs) that outperforms T-flask batch cultivators.
Procter & Gamble (P&G) has announced its intention to
outsource the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) R&D and
manufacturing work undertaken at one of its US factories, with
resultant closure of the site and job losses.
A new living cell-based skin graft technology is being hailed by
its inventors as a 'clinical breakthrough in regenerative medicine'
following early-stage trial results, published yesterday.
Research into new tools that will remove the need to use animals in
medical research has received a £240,000 (€356,000) boost at the
University of Nottingham.
Microtest Laboratories and Texcel Medical have teamed up to offer
biopharma firms services to help them overcome the hurdles of
developing "combination products" - a fast-growing market.
China's resolve to clean up corruption in its pharma industry has
intensified as the former assistant to the
already-condemned-to-death former drug chief has now been charged.
In the latest episode of the Viracept contamination case, the drug
is now at risk of losing its marketing authorisation across Europe
while the dangers posed by the chemical contaminant are established
and manufacturer Roche rectifies...
US-microfluidics expert Fluidigm has launched a new dynamic array
for its BioMark instrument that increases the efficiency of PCR
(polymerase chain reaction) genotyping while reducing the amount of
costly equipment and reagents needed.
Thermo Fisher Scientific has opened a new RNAi Discovery and
Therapeutics Services Laboratory to help pharmaceutical companies
in their quest for new drugs.
At a time when single-use manufacturing equipment is riding on a
surge of popularity, in-PharmaTechnologist.com talks to Vijay Singh
of GE Healthcare's newly acquired Wave Biotech unit about the
impact disposables will have on...
The contract manufacturing business that Cardinal Health sold
earlier this year has just been launched as an independent
operating company rebranded as Catalent Pharma Solutions.
Patheon is teaming up with formulation development services firm
Senopsys to offer pharma companies combined services to test and
improve drug flavour.
With the world's largest medical study rolling out across the UK,
LabTechnologist.com explores the problems of biobanking with Dutch
biosample storage experts, Micronic.
Roche Diagnostics has strengthened its position in the genomics
field with the acquisition of DNA microarray expert NimbleGen in a
deal worth $272.5m (€203m).
Dutch ingredients firm DSM has announced plans to carve out its
anti-infectives business and boost its presence in Asian markets
following a review of the active ingredient unit.
US firm Aptuit has announced it will invest $100m (€75m) in
India-based Laurus Labs to form a new joint venture - just a few
months after splurging a similar amount to expand its capabilities.
LabTechnologist.com brings you a round up of some of the latest
product releases with new offerings from Agilent, Applied
Biosystems, ESA Biosciences, Illumina, Mettler-Toledo and Syrris.
Just over a week after Roche was forced to initiate a Europe-wide
recall of HIV drug Viracept (nelfinavir), in-PharmaTechnologist.com
considers the contamination case and the pharmaceutical processes
blamed for the incident.
LabTechnologist.com brings you an exclusive interview with Chris
van Ingen - the president of Agilent's Life Science and Chemical
Analysis (LSCA) division.
Lonza is building a new plant in its home country to become the
only contract manufacturer with large-scale capacity for making
highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
After dismal second quarter results Patheon is stepping up its
resolve for 'damage control' and indicated that further cutbacks at
its problematic Puerto Rico plant are imminent.
Taiwan looks to benefit from a new alliance with Canada-based
ProMetic BioTherapeutics, which will provide a proprietary
manufacturing process to extract plasma proteins for drugs.
BioFocus DPI has released a new informatics system that can combine
chemical and biological data from various sources to optimise
protein kinase inhibitor candidate selection.
Applikon Biotechnology has launched a new bioreactor controller,
the i-ControlXL, that has been designed to work with reactors of
any size, from any supplier.
Genzyme is expanding its manufacturing capabilities of
thymoglobulin in France as it moves to meet the growing demand and
future potential of the rabbit serum derivative.
IDBS look to speed up laboratory research by enabling more
efficient knowledge transfer with its latest electronic lab
notebook (ELN) suite, E-WorkBook 7.0.
Roche has initiated a recall of its HIV drug Viracept (nelfinavir)
right down to the patient level after finding evidence of dangerous
contaminants in the tablets.
