The challenging environment for companies supplying chemicals into
the pharmaceutical sector, with a relentless increase in
competition, has prompted German company Merck KGaA to start a new
service aimed at reducing the workload...
Quadrant Engineering Plastics Products (EPP) has launched a range
of standard colours for extruded acetal stockshapes in response to
increasing market demand for products that enable and enhance
colour identity.
At the Conference on Pharmaceutical Ingredients (CPhI) opened its
doors yesterday, In-PharmaTechnologist.com spoke with Nick Hyde,
global business director at leading contract manufacturer
Dowpharma, to hear his views on the state...
Manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) can
reduce the risk of exposure to highly toxic active ingredients
using a new process system developed by Collette, part of Niro
Pharma Systems.
A new weighing system developed by BOC Edwards Pharmaceutical
systems can be used in a pharmaceutical filling line but does not
come into contact with the weighed materials.
The first thermal cycler to start at under £1000 (€1400) is set to
start a price war for this product, which has proved invaluable for
amplification of nucleic acids.
Niro Pharma Systems recently launched a new laboratory fluid bed -
the STREA-1 - for the processing of fine powders, pellets,
granules, crystals, tablets and organic solvents. The system,
developed by Aeromatic-Fielder, is designed...
The predicted deficit in manufacturing capacity for biologic drugs
that has been tipped to impede the development of the market has
not materialised, with capacity exceeding demand, according to new
market research.
Germany's Christ Water Technology has developed a ready-to-connect
water filtration plant that is specifically designed for use in the
pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetics industries.
Japan's Ajinomoto has developed a revolutionary enzymatic method to
manufacture peptides that could dramatically cut the cost of
producing this growing class of therapeutic agents.
Overcapacity remains the main issue affecting the European market
for active pharmaceutical ingredients, with lack of capability
differentiation and competition from low-cost manufacturers also
holding back growth in the sector.
The European Commission has launched an €11.4 million project to
identify ways of improving the production of biologic drugs and
cutting the cost of treatment.
Wyatt Technology, a specialist in macromolecular characterisation
instrumentation and software, has completed the acquisition of
Proterion Corp, a US firm making dynamic light scattering
instruments.
After a successful trial period, Syrris has supplied one of its
recently-launched AFRICA microreactor systems to Professor Steven
Ley at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge,
UK. His group will use the system...
Parexel and Sartorius have been awarded a contract to supply,
validate and help operate a biologic manufacturing facility in
South Korea, said to be the first of its kind in the country.
Freeman Technology has launched the first in its range of 'plug and
play' accessories that will automate powder flow testing on the
company's FT4 Powder Rheometer, after adding in a shear test
function earlier this...
A team of researchers in the US has developed a new way of using
laser spectroscopy to detect the energy level of atoms in a gas,
which could have applications in the analysis and synthesis of
chemicals.
Mocon has introduced a new system that automates the classic
methylene blue dye test (MDT) for assessing the integrity of
blister packs, as well as providing comprehensive documentation for
auditing.
Lonza has commissioned a new current Good Manufacturing
Practice-compliant facility for the production of microbially
derived biopharmaceuticals at its largest worldwide production
centre in Visp, Switzerland.
Canada's SemBioSys Genetics has been granted a US patent on a
vaccine production system that uses genetically modified seeds as
biological factories of vaccine antigens.
Millipore has launched a new pump designed to improve sterility
testing of materials in aseptic manufacturing. The Steritest
Equinox pump is a liquid transfer pump for sterility testing in
laminar flow hoods.
A laboratory test that is able to detect methicillin resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) a day earlier then traditional
antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) gives fresh impetus to
treatment and infection control efforts that...
BioProgress, which makes cellulose based XGEL films for coating
tablets and capsules, has signed an agreement with a contract
manufacturing organisation to accelerate the installation of its
own film manufacturing capacity.
Nitto Denko and antisense specialist Isis Pharmaceuticals have
jointly developed a new solid support for the manufacture of
oligonucleotides that promises to reduce the high manufacturing
costs for this type of drug.
Setting aside the acrimony of a patent dispute, UK separations
company Whatman is to buy German rival Schleicher & Schuell for
€50.2 million, allowing it to narrow the gap between itself and the
main players Pall and Millipore.
The development of antimicrobial therapies and vaccines to treat
biological terrorism threats such as anthrax and smallpox has been
made easier by an automated colony counting system, which the
company claim, significantly improves...
The major laboratory supply companies in the US have a mixed bag of
results in the third quarter of 2004, with exceptional items eating
into profits as a consequence of M&A activity and
restructuring, reports Phil Taylor.
Emerson Process Management has formed an alliance with GE
Healthcare aimed at providing faster, simpler and more
cost-efficient solutions for protein purification - the most
critical operation in manufacturing of biotech medicines.
Qiagen has launched the world's first automated sample preparation
system for viral nucleic acids to aid molecular diagnostics that
conforms to a European Union Directive on in vitro diagnostic
medical devices.
Bruker Daltonics, has launched a new MALDI-TOF and TOF mass
spectrometer that offers improved sensitivity, resolution and mass
accuracy of TOF/TOF systems for expression proteomics, quantitative
proteomics and biomarker discovery.
German contract development and manufacturing company Girindus has
installed a microwave system at its plant in the US, reflecting a
growing trend in the sector to use microwaves to improve reaction
yields.
Mettler Toledo introduce a set of weighing modules which precision
and speed make it ideal for a variety of industrial applications,
including the chemical and pharmaceutical industry.
Loma Systems unveil a new entry-level X-ray inspection unit suited
for smaller products at a price that allows packagers to enter the
market, with the technology available at a 50 per cent price
reduction over traditional X-ray units.
Researchers in the UK have developed a tabletop DNA test laboratory
that can cut the diagnosis of disease and infection from hours to
30 minutes. This new test laboratory will soon begin trials in UK
hospitals.
Cambrex has signed an exclusive license agreement that allows
access to two novel, quantitative assay technologies for the
detection of contaminants such as pathogens in drugs.
In-Pharmatechnologist.com recently reported on the opening of a new
biomanufacturing facility and laboratory by France's Lemnagene, a
new company specialising in the production of recombinant proteins
in duckweed. But why is...
US target discovery company Psychiatric Genomics has shed new light
on the mechanisms behind schizophrenia, pointing to a possible new
cellular target that does not rely on modulating the levels of
neurotransmitters in the brain.
Cambrex has made a second deal to increase its presence in the
microbiological testing, this time acquiring France's Genolife for
approximately $6 million (€4.75m) in cash.
Biopharmaceutical company, Insmed, are to commence clinical
development of a small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor, which
has demonstrated anti-tumour activity in preclinical studies of
breast, lung, pancreatic and prostate tumours.
Belgium-based GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals has licensed a new
production technology for its vaccines business that should do away
with the need to use preservatives in the manufacturing process.
The contract manufacturing market for biologicals will more than
double over the next six years, but production costs are higher
than necessary because 'downstream' processing is being ignored.
A Cambrex subsidiary has formed an alliance with Epoch Biosciences
to apply a technology usually applied in genomic analysis to
microbiological quality control for manufacturing processes.
Cost reductions associated with advances in large-scale
biopharmaceutical manufacturing will play a role in reducing
healthcare costs, according to a new publication.
The first system to automate gel casting to user-defined gradients
during 2D electrophoresis has been launched worldwide by NextGen
Sciences, which believe this technology will increase
reproducability and enhance the resolution of...
ESA has introduced what it claims is the first true universal
detector for use with high performance liquid chromatography
(HPLC), a based on a technology called CAD (charged aserosol
detector).
Integra Biosciences has updated the traditional design of the
Bunsen burner by coming up with a new version, which incorporates a
unique triple safety system and a self-igniting system that does
away with lighters or matches.
Chiral Quest parent VioQuest Pharmaceuticals has been awarded a US
patent covering the use of novel catalysts to increase the
efficiency of chiral amine and amino acid synthesis.
Danish company Niro has forged closer links with US firm
International Specialty Products to develop technologies aimed at
enhancing the bioavailability of active pharmaceutical ingredients
(APIs).