UK-headquartered ESA Biosciences has unveiled a new system for the identification of low levels organic impurities during the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API).
With fears of a global recession riding on the back of the credit crisis, many laboratory suppliers have managed to weather the storm and still achieve double digit sales growth in the second quarter of 2008.
Lonza of Switzerland is reaping the benefit of a shift away from bulk chemicals and towards custom manufacturing of high-value pharmaceuticals with a 13 per cent hike in sales in the first half of the year.
Plastic packaging specialist China Bottles (CB) says that nearly two thirds of the $3.3m worth of contracts it signed in June were with pharmaceutical companies based outside its home territory.
Supply and manufacturing contracts signed during fiscal 2008 helped India's Hikal achieve first quarter sales of Rs 920m ($21.5m), up 63 per cent on the year-earlier comparable period.
A man has been sentenced in the US to four years imprisonment for trafficking 38,000 counterfeit Viagra (sildenafil citrate) tablets with a wholesale value of $400,000.
Bio-Rad has launched a new web-based search tool to give researchers easier access to its validated siLentMer gene silencing product line, which offers up to twice the silencing longevity.
Nanopoint has launched the 'world's most advanced' on-microscope cell containment device that offers complete environmental control for time-lapse cell imaging applications.
Thermo Fisher Scientific has integrated Genedata's Expressionist software with its high resolution mass spectrometry (MS) offering to enable high-throughput metabolomics data processing.
Scientists have completed the most comprehensive mammalian transcriptome analysis to date and believe the results should further our understanding of disease pathways.
Caliper Life Sciences has launched two new microfluidic-based electrophoresis instruments designed to address the separation needs of proteomic and genomic researchers.
Ranbaxy has claimed that a pharmaceutical company is making a
concerted effort to depress the company's share price by initiating
the accusations that the generics manufacturer falsified data to
achieve compliance.
The new AccuSpray spray gun can reduce the amount of magnesium
stearate that pharmaceutical firms require during drug manufacture,
according to developer Oystar Manesty.
Agilent has continued its summer spending spree with the
acquisition of US-based Particle Sizing Systems that will further
bolster the firm's Materials Science Services Unit (MSSU).
New Mexico-headquartered drugmaker CytoDyn has begun the good
manufacturing practice (GMP) standard production of the
developmental candidate anti-HIV monoclonal antibody Cytolin
(lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1).
A deal to sell Pfizer's active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing (API) plant in County Cork, Ireland, has fallen through according to a statement by the US drug giant, placing over 180 production jobs under threat.
MDS Analytical Technologies has followed its acquisition of
Molecular Devices last year by snapping up high content screening
(HCS) experts Blueshift for $15m (€9.45m).
Contract research and production specialist Patheon is to promote
BSP Pharmaceuticals' cytotoxic development and manufacturing
services as part of a marketing agreement that the two firms have
signed.
Agilent Technologies has continued its push into the materials
science market with the acquisition of nanoindentation instrument
manufacturer Nano Instruments.
Industrial separation specialist Upfront Chromatography believes
that its new range of disposable absorption chromatography units
will help monoclonal antibody (MAb) makers significantly reduce
production costs.
Sigma-Aldrich has introduced a new high-throughput (HT) plasmid DNA
purification kit for transfection applications in pharmaceutical
and biotechnology research.
US researchers have developed a more sensitive method of detecting
whether athletes have taken drugs to artificially boost
testosterone which increases physical performance.
Outsourcing-Pharma.com presents its latest round-up of news in the
contract development and manufacturing sector, with updates from
Rentschler Biotechnologie, Eden Biodesign, Emcure Pharmaceuticals
and new start-up Appian Labs.
Visiongain's third annual conference on Pharmaceutical
Anti-counterfeiting Strategies kicks off next week, covering many
aspects of the problem from technological deterrents, regulatory
developments in the EU and US and the implications...
A recent study conducted by Eli Lilly's research laboratories
division suggests that quantitative ion mobility spectrometry
(qIMS) can offer drugmakers a rapid on-site means of verifying the
cleanliness of manufacturing equipment.
Slovenian drugmaker Krka has paid just under $1.6m (€1m) for 7.5
per cent stakes in two Chinese drug and chemicals firms, namely
Zhejiang Menovo Pharmaceuticals and Anhui Menovo Pharmaceuticals.
European pharmaceutical manufacturers stepped up calls for a
blanket ban on repackaging of pharmaceuticals last week, suggesting
that this would be the single most effective way to seal the supply
chain for counterfeiting drugs.
US technology specialist Honeywell International says that new
features of its POMSnet manufacturing execution system (MES) can
help pharmaceutical firms reduce production errors.
Outsourcing-Pharma.com presents a round-up of recent contracts
signed in the manufacturing arena, featuring new deals for Angel
Biotechnology, PharmEng and Akela Pharma.
DSM and the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) have
criticised the European Commission's proposals for tackling
counterfeit active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
A US senator has asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a
probe into outsourcing of production for pharmaceuticals, as well
as ways to make drugmakers accountable for products which fail to
meet quality standards.
Beckman Coulter and Orchid Cellmark have filed a lawsuit against
Sequenom in another patent infringement case that alleges Sequenom
is guilty of violating patents belonging to Orchid and licensed to
Beckman.
GE Healthcare has announced its intention to invest $20m in radical
new technology, which will allow laboratory research results to be
transmitted and shared amongst doctors worldwide setting to define
a new age in patient care.
In the latest biotechnology courtroom battle, Oxford Gene
Technology (OGT) reported that it has filed suit against BioArray
Solutions for deliberately infringing three of its patents that
relates to technology capable of detailed...
Patheon gave an update on its restructuring plans in Puerto Rico
yesterday, saying that its plant in Manati will be updated to
provide contract manufacturing of high-potency drugs and controlled
substances.
Introgen Therapeutics says advances in its biologics manufacturing
and storage technologies have allowed it to broaden the scope of
its contract manufacturing operations and set up a new unit called
Introgen Technical Services (ITS).
Japanese glass and chemical company Central Glass has found a swift
route into the contract manufacturing market for active
pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in Europe via the purchase of
Girindus' facility in Halle-Kuensebeck.
The pharmaceutical industry could save millions by adopting new
crystal monitoring technology, according to research published in
Crystal Growth and Design.
Sartorius Stedim Biotech has teamed up with Wuxi AppTec to help
companies remove some of the strain of carrying out viral clearance
testing, which for large biopharmaceutical companies can carry a
price tag of up to $1m a year.