Level and flow measurement product providers, Krohne, were out in
force at Interphex 2006, showcasing a raft of products for the
manufacturing industry. Its presence within the pharma and chemical
industry has been boosted recently...
Scientists have discovered the existence of a HIV accessory protein
that disables host immunity via receptor-protein intermediary in a
discovery that points to possible novel ways to fight AIDS, immune
disorders and sepsis.
New legislation on the good manufacturing practice (GMP) of
pharmaceutical excipients in Europe, which could complicate the
quality control of imports of excipients to the EU and make it
unattractive for some vendors to remain in...
Researchers have discovered a series of enzyme inhibitors that
appear to block the replication of the SARS virus - a finding that
could help speed up the research and development of drugs used to
treat the killer virus.
Ranbaxy has announced the purchase of Senetek's Autoinjector rights
and assets for its proprietary disposable autoinjector for
self-administration of parenteral drugs, adding to Ranbaxy's
growing presence in the growing...
Despite hurdles such as manufacturing overcapacity, limited drug
approvals and intense competition from Asian companies, a new
report from market research analysts Frost & Sullivan predicts
revenues in the North American fine...
LGC Promochem has launched its 2006 edition of its free
pharmaceutical reference substances and impurities catalogue,
providing researchers and analysts in the pharmaceutical R&D
and manufacturing generic industry with a central...
Responding to surging demand for its flu drug Tamiflu, Roche has
announced it is expanding its external contractors to fifteen in
nine different countries, as its needs for intermediates and
finished product increase.
Unlike with active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), there are no
clear governmental good manufacturing practice (GMP) guidelines for
excipients in the US, Europe or China. Now the International
Pharmaceutical Excipients Council...
British gene therapy firm Oxford Biomedica has licensed its VSV-G
viral envelope technology for gene delivery to American biotech
company VIRxSYS which hopes it can use it to successfully produce
its promising anti-HIV/AIDS product...
The US Congress has asked the country's National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to conduct research on the
connection between vaccines containing mercury and neurological
disorders, further battering public...
Millipore are to showcase a range of filtration, chromatography,
process monitoring and water purification solutions that are a part
of Millipore's response to an increase in lab investments from
pharma companies, and the emergence...
A consortium of British private companies and a university facility
has been awarded $2.6m (€2.13m) by the UK's Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI) to produce a slow release vaccine which will
eliminate the need for booster...
Bayer Healthcare has selected Genedata's Bioinformatic platform for
its target research and biomarker activities in which the deal will
involve the mechanistic analysis of cardiovascular and cancer
biomarker genes.
Researchers in the US think they have identified a compound that
interferes with the pathogenic effects of Huntington's disease that
could lead to the development of a new treatment for the disease as
well as making an impact...
Chemical manufacturing giant BASF is building an alkylethanolamine
(AEOA) plant at its US site in Louisiana, as increasing American
demand pushes the company to increase worldwide production
capacities for these important intermediates...
A newly discovered process that explains how the body's nervous
system relays information, may depend on how "wet" the "kiss" is
when one neuron fires a packet of neurotransmitter across a synapse
to a receptive...
Transdermal science specialist Sontra has introduced an upgrade to
its ultrasonic skin permeation system, making the application of
anaesthesia even more comfortable and less painful for the patient.
Swiss outsourcing company Lonza has granted biotechnology firm
Genentech a non-exclusive, worldwide license to their Glutamine
Synthetase (GS) Gene Expression System which offers better yields,
speed and stability in cell protein...
A new family of objectives from Olympus specifically for Total
Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy (TIRFM) can selectively
visualise processes and structures of the cell membrane, minimising
photo-damage and allowing cells...
Drug delivery company Chrono Therapeutics has unveiled a
wristwatch-like device for the non-invasive automatic
administration of drugs based on the amount and time instructed,
thus improving patience compliance.
British company Q Chip has upped the stakes in the drug delivery
market with its new tailor-made bioencapsulation technology,
claiming to improve drug effectiveness, reduce side effects and
increase patient acceptance.
Drug developer Biosante has been awarded a $250,000 (€210,000)
subcontract from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln (UNL), to
develop recombinant Factor IX (FIX) formulations for delivery via
alternative routes of administration,...
Dutch instrumentation specialist PANalytical has added new options
to its X'Pert PRO MPD X-ray diffractometer, providing a total
solution for high throughput diffraction and analysing almost any
material.
Increased sales and price hikes helped BASF achieve record earnings
in 2005, despite substantially higher raw material prices, Europe's
subdued economy and hurricanes in the US.
A consortium of researchers has detailed the activity of a novel
drug compound that kills multiple HIV strains via a unique
mechanism of action. The discovery brings with it hope in using
this compound in both topical and systemic...
Chemical company BASF has developed a process for the production of
new chiral intermediates for the pharmaceutical industry on a
commercial scale, further raising the product efficiency of drugs
and reducing undesirable effects.
Warwick Effect Polymers (WEP) have chosen R&D outsourcing
specialist Avantium to jointly develop their polyethylene glycol
PolyPEG technology for biopharmaceutical compounds, enhancing their
bioavailability and pharmacokinetics.
A new easy-to-use laser microdissection system from Olympus is set
to shake up the isolation technology market by reducing sample
handling and contamination when isolating cells for downstream
analysis and making the process routine.
US pharmaceuticals and skin care specialist SkinMedica has
developed a timed release delivery system for the active
ingredients of an acne treatment that is said to up efficacy and
lower the chances of skin irritation.
Dermisonics have come up with the first working model of an
antiseptic delivery system, which the company hope to provide the
US army with a battlefield version, reducing the severity of
infection providing a much needed tool for...
UK scientists think that diabetes patients could be able to receive
insulin via a nasal spray using yeast, which would open up the way
for a spray to be developed to replace injections.
Specialty pharmaceutical firm Shire has filed for approval to
European Regulatory Agencies of SPD476, an ulcerative colitis drug
which uses Cosmo's cutting-edge MMX multi matrix system, promising
to give the company the upper...
Nanotechnology company Nanotrope has been awarded a $600,000
(€500,000) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 2 grant
from NASA for its research in nanoscale droplet technology, which,
apart from the agency's deep space...
Dow AgroSciences has received the world's first regulatory approval
for a plant-made vaccine for animals, which not only represents a
new category of plant-made vaccines but also paves the way for
human vaccines made in a bio-contained...
Affymetrix and Iconix have formed a collaboration to develop new
solutions for assessing the toxicological and pharmacological
properties of drugs and drug candidates.
Agilent's breakthrough HPLC-Chip technology forms the basis of its
new reusable microfluidic chips, designed to compliment the
company's high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) chip/mass
spectrometry (MS) modules.
Biocrystal has upped the stakes in the cell culture market with
Opticell, a product it claims brakes away from traditional cell
culture concepts and promises to reduce costs through increased
efficiency.
Supplier of small-scale pharmaceutical equipment Isopak has
launched what it claims is the smallest vacuum mixer with cooling
and heating facilities in Europe for mixing dry powder, cream,
ointments, paste and lotions in batches between...
Bayer CropScience will use Cresset BioMolecular Discovery's
molecular field technology to identify novel early-stage active
compounds to develop into new agrochemicals for the crop science
industry.
On your marks, get set go! The FDA has fired the starting gun and
Pfizer is finally off and running after the long-awaited approval
of Exubera - the world's first non-injectable insulin - expected to
hit the US market by mid-year...
Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a
small handheld device that makes finding veins easier and quicker,
saving time and money.
Pharmion and MethylGene has announced the formation of an
international licensing agreement potentially worth $272 million
(€224 million) for new class of compounds that inhibits gene
expression providing a tumour and haematological...
Drug delivery company, MedPharm, will carry out a licensed
evaluation for a variety of products in the dermatology market with
its MedSpray technology, which promises greater benefits for the
same cost as semisolid preparations.
After raising £2.1 m (€1.7) in venture capital in December,
Oxford-based Caretek Medical has now also secured the support of a
major global pharma company to help Caretek run a feasibility study
on its innovative needle-free drug...
Scientists have devised a way of using live' bacteria in yoghurt to
deliver therapeutics that can prevent HIV infection, potentially
opening up a new avenue for probiotic dairy to play a more
prominent role in drug delivery.
The US advanced drug delivery market will grow more than 18 per
cent and exceed $76 bn (€62 bn) by 2014, spurred on by new
technologies emerging from the biotech and biopharmaceutical
pipelines, according to a new report by Kalorama...
Taiwanese generic and contract manufacturer ScinoPharm has seen its
sales almost double for the last three years, from $5 m in 2002 to
$31m in 2005, fuelled by its booming active pharmaceutical
ingredient (API) business.
Genomics company, VASTox, has announced encouraging preclinical
results in its drug discovery programme, which aims to find the
next generation of treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD),
a disease of which there is no known...
Pharmaceutical company, Phosphagenics, has announced the
commencement of animal studies on its anti-cancer compound, which
claims to destroy diseased cells while not affecting normal ones by
primarily acting as a signalling molecule...
