UK firm Futura Medical is in the running for a second license
contract for one of its drug delivery platforms after pharma
heavyweight GlaxoSmithKline came to the table to discuss terms.
A new market-oriented approach to product development, more
favourable licensing arrangements, strategic acquisitions and a
fresh crop of proprietary drug-delivery technologies helped UK
company BioProgress to deliver an adjusted...
Positive results from trials of Cell Genesys's latest immunotherapy
treatment, GVAX, show that the therapy induces a broad immune
response in prostate cancer sufferers that is patient specific.
Reports of a €200m expansion at Sanofi Pasteur's production plant
in Rouen, France, have come hot on the heels of news that the US
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the company's
vaccine to protect humans against...
A combination of new drugs, new patient needs and new technologies
is likely to fuel steady growth in the transdermal/transmucosal
drug delivery market during the years to 2010.
Drug delivery specialist SCOLR Pharma plans to file a US New Drug
Application (NDA) in the latter half of 2008 for a 12-hour tablet
formulation of the painkiller ibuprofen.
Pro-Pharmaceuticals is preparing to submit a New Drug Application
(NDA) for its lead product candidate, Davanat, as a functional
excipient that promises to hike the efficacy and cut the side
effects of cancer drugs.
Canadian contract manufacturer Patheon has announced its plans to
restructure its Ontario network of drug manufacturing facilities in
order to improve its profitability.
UK firm SkyePharma last week announced that the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) has accepted a filing for the extended release
formulation of partner GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) drug Requip
(ropinirole).
US firm Skinvisible last week announced that its polymer-based
delivery system has been licensed to pain relief company DRJ for
use in a new topical analgesic product.
A new study has shown that certain human bone marrow stem cells can differentiate into sperm stem cells - potentially leading to a revolution in fertility therapy.
US firm Vical has announced study results revealing a flu vaccine
reinforced with the firm's Vaxfectin adjuvant results in an
antibody response 60 times higher than the vaccine alone, and
allowed a 10-fold reduction in vaccine...
Shares in US biotech ImClone Systems fell on Tuesday after a
highly-anticipated trial of its cancer drug Erbitux (cetuximab) in
pancreatic cancer failed to live up to expectations.
Major biopharma Gilead Sciences has announced plans to invest in a
new €60m plant in west Dublin, Ireland, to expand manufacturing
capacity and meet future growth targets.
An experimental flu vaccine produced in insect cells could be a
potential money-saver for pharma firms, and has proved just as
effective as vaccines produced using conventional egg-based
techniques.
US company DOR BioPharma plans to start clinical trials in the next
few months with what could be the first oral formulation of the
widely used prostate cancer treatment leuprolide.
Pharmatek has moved to a new larger lab and manufacturing facility
while Pace Analytical Life Sciences recently acquired lab testing
firm P3 Scientific.
Drug delivery technology firm Apogee has signed an exclusive
licence to get its hands on a microneedle-based drug delivery
technology that it hopes will significantly enhance the company's
PyraDerm intradermal drug delivery system.
Pfizer has homed in pSivida's controlled release drug delivery
technology, signing a research and licensing deal worth $165m
(€123.5m) and focusing keenly on the company's Medidur technology
for new ophthalmic applications.
Canadian-based consulting and contract manufacturing company
PharmEng International has built on an existing sourcing
arrangement with Bengbu Bayi Pharmaceuticals to secure exclusive
distribution rights to the Chinese company's...
A thin-film delivery system that looks like a postage stamp and
dissolves rapidly on the tongue could give new momentum to Adams
Respiratory Therapeutics' portfolio of prescription and
over-the-counter medicines (OTC) for the...
Outsourcing is key for pharma companies and medical device
manufacturers keen to develop and produce "combination products" -
medical devices embedded with a pharma component - according to an
industry player.
Major chemical manufacturer Dow has struck a deal with long-term
partner Colorcon forming an alliance to offer a unified package for
the development and production of drug ingredients and products.
French chemicals company Rhodia has decided to shut down a local
production site for its Rhodia Organics business, citing
competitive pressures in the market for pharmaceutical and
agrochemical intermediates.
Novartis and Bayer Schering Pharma have come to an agreement
regarding the production of multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Betaseron
(interferon beta-1b), with Novartis planning to bring out its own
version in 2009 and Bayer paying around...
Active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) specialist ScinoPharm has
been assigned a drug master file (DMF) number for its anti-cancer
ingredient docetaxel, the first such designation for the API in the
US.
Kyowa Hakko Europe is to increase prices across its range of
L-amino acids by ten per cent as of April 1, in an effort to stave
off margin deterioration and ensure long-term availability of the
ingredients.
Discovery Laboratories has announced that a shareholder lawsuit
filed against the company was dismissed by a Pennsylvania court,
marking the end of its two-year manufacturing nightmare.
A novel method of delivering a hydrophobic (water-insoluble) drug,
in which the compound effectively acts as its own carrier, has
shown comparable efficacy both in vitro and in
vivo to the same drug formulated in a conventional delivery...
Researchers have created a new strain of wheat with an inbuilt
resistance to devastating scab blight which infects wheat heads -
reducing crop yields as well as market value and quality.
With a new drug on the market and its Massachusetts plant at
capacity, British drug maker Shire is actively looking to buy more
biomanufacturing space in the US.
Drugs containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine could soon be
reclassified as prescription-only the UK, in proposals drawn up
last week by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory
Agency (MHRA).
The second generation of a new class of HIV drugs have entered
clinical trials and could prove more difficult for HIV to develop
resistance to, according to developers Panacos.
Pharmaceutical manufacturer Zentiva has signed a deal acquiring 75
per cent of Turkish Eczacibasi's generic pharmaceuticals business
for €460m, making it the third largest generics company in the
country.
A new rapidly dissolving oral strip for ondansetron, the active
ingredient in GSK's anti-emetic drug Zofran, has been developed in
a Swiss-German collaboration.
