US pharmaceutical company Upsher-Smith Laboratories has been forced
into staffing cuts and a restructuring exercise by delays in the US
Food and Drug Administration's review of its nasal calcitonin
product for osteoporosis.
Scientists believe they may have found a way to prevent heart
failure associated with the genetic disease, Duchenne muscular
dystrophy (DMD). The study is the first to demonstrate a new,
promising approach to repairing the cardiac...
Scientists have taken a major step forward in autoimmune disease
research after the process of T-cell trafficking through the blood
and lymph nodes to fight infection was discovered. Controlling this
process with drugs offers "enormous...
American Pacific Corp has agreed to acquire the assets of Aerojet
Fine Chemicals for $119 million (€98m), in a deal which APC said
would give it access to 'fast-growing pharmaceutical markets'.
Merrion Pharmaceuticals has been granted a US patent for a drug
delivery technology that improves the transport of medicines across
biological membranes.
Infinity Pharmaceuticals announced the initiation of a phase I
clinical trial of the company's lead investigational anticancer
agent for the development of a potential treatment for patients
with multiple myeloma. The compound...
Scientists at Chr Hansen's US research operations have developed a
gum acacia-based film coating, suitable for use in pharmaceuticals,
that combines low cost, long shelf life and low shipping costs.
A new class of antipressant - dubbed the triple reuptake inhibitor
- will in time come to dominate the market for depression
treatments and achieve multibillion dollar revenues, according to
new market research.
UK biotechnology company Ionix Pharmaceuticals is gearing up for
acquisition by Vernalis in a share-based deal valuing Ionix at
around £12.5 million (€18.2m).
Celliance has introduced a new bovine albumin product, manufactured
exclusively from animals originating in Australia, that is aimed at
applications such as pharmaceuticals where there is a need to
ensure the absence of transmissible...
A new gene scanning technology, developed by researchers in the UK,
is set to have a major impact on healthcare in the future with the
potential to lead a very personalised genetic profile relevant to
drug prescribing, leading to...
ViroLogic, announced the signing of a multi-year, $4.8 million (€4
million) service agreement with Schering-Plough Research Institute,
to use ViroLogic's novel HIV resistance testing technology to
support Schering-Plough's...
NMT Medical announced that the company has received approvals to
initiate studies designed to evaluate its new closure technology.
The collagen matrix used in the technology has the potential to
deliver and localise drugs and other...
Balchem has acquired the encapsulation and agglomeration business
of IOI Group - part of Loders Croklaan USA - in a move that extends
its activities in the food and pharmaceutical ingredient sectors.
Israeli drug delivery firm Foamix has been awarded a US patent for
its OilGel technology, a semisolid matrix which turns into a liquid
when rubbed onto the skin and can be used to deliver a broad range
of therapeutic compounds.
Pharming has licensed rights to its protein production technology,
based on the use of transgenic animals, to AgResearch, the largest
government owned research organisation in New Zealand, reports
Phil Taylor.
Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US,
have developed a method of creating what they claim are the world's
smallest manufactured particles for delivering drugs and other
organic materials into the...
French public prosecutors have expanded their criminal
investigations into alleged accounting irregularities by specialty
chemicals maker Rhodia, with a raid on the country's Ministry of
Finance.
The pharmaceutical industry faces an uncertain future in which high
clinical development costs coupled with declining drug discovery
success rates are causing efficiency levels to fall, halting the
flow of new products in the R&D...
Belgian chemicals and pharmaceuticals company Solvay has launched a
bid to acquire at least a 51 per cent stake in German
pharmaceutical and cosmetic ingredients company Girindus,
reports Phil Taylor.
In the US, the New York Senate last week passed that would prohibit
the administration of any vaccine containing more than a trace
amount of mercury to children under the age of three or pregnant
women.
Reaxa, a new catalyst technologies company, has formally commenced
trading following a successful spin-out from UK-headquartered
chemicals company Avecia, reports Phil Taylor.
Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT) has announced positive results
of its human anti-IL13 monoclonal antibody, to be used as a
potential treatment for severe asthma. The Phase I clinical trial
of CAT-354 represents research towards...
BASF, the world's largest chemical company, and Seppic, an offshoot
of Air Liquide Healthcare, have embarked on a strategic cooperation
to jointly develop and market coating systems for film coating of
tablets in the drug industry.
Israeli drug company Intec Pharma has published a results of a
clinical trial showing that its drug delivery platform can extend
the release of an active ingredient in the upper gastrointestinal
tract for more than six hours and double...
Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva has won its first European
approval for generic erythropoietin, a biologic drug used for the
treatment of low red blood cell counts, reports Phil Taylor.
Australian drug delivery company Acrux, which specialises in
administering medicines through the skin, has reported clinical
results of a contraceptive for women in the form of a spray,
reports Phil Taylor.
Indian pharmaceutical company Matrix Laboratories is aiming to buy
a 22 per cent controlling stake in Belgium's Docpharma in what is
the largest overseas acquisition yet in India's drug industry,
reports Phil Taylor.
Researchers have claimed that a fragment of the deadly yellow fever
virus may hold the key to a safer and more effective vaccine,
bringing hope to the 200,000 victims a year. Currently, no drug
treatment is effective against the virus.
UK pharmaceutical company ML Laboratories has acquired Quadrant
Technologies, a company specialising in drug formulation and
stabilisation, for £46.7 million (€70m), boosting its capabilities
in the development of inhaled medicines,...
Scientists have created the nanotechnology equivalent of a Trojan
horse to smuggle a powerful chemotherapeutic drug inside tumour
cells - increasing the drug's cancer-killing activity and reducing
its toxic side effects.
India's Malladi Drugs and Pharmaceuticals has acquired a US company
to boost its presence in the market for pseudoephedrine, an
ingredient used in cough and cold preparations, reports Phil
Taylor.
Australia's Nufarm has sold SEAC, the fine chemicals custom
manufacturing business it acquired in 1988, to recently-formed
Minakem Holdings for €23 million.
An inhaled formulation of insulin developed by MannKind has been
shown to mimic the normal insulin response after a meal and reduce
glucose levels sooner than conventional insulin injections,
reports Phil Taylor.
The founder, chairman and chief executive of French drug delivery
company Flamel Technologies has been lambasted by disgruntled
shareholders who want to bring in a new management team, writes
Phil Taylor.
An inhaled formulation of the widely-used immunosuppressant drug
cyclosporine has been deemed safe by a US Food and Drug
Administration advisory committee, but the jury is still out over
the efficacy of the treatment, reports Phil...
Pharmaceutical company Novartis has started building a pilot plant
at its Stein site near Basel in Switzerland to supply sterile
dosage forms for clinical trials.
An opportunity to develop drugs by targeting a recently discovered,
and potentially vulnerable, intermediate stage of the viral life
cycle, could result in a new pharmaceutical treatment in the fight
against HIV and other similar...
Lanxess is to transform its fine chemicals business out into a
legally-discrete subsidiary as part of a programme to increase its
competitiveness in the market for pharmaceutical and agricultural
chemicals, reports Phil Taylor.
Taiwanese company Panion & BF Biotech has been awarded a US
patent on high-grade ferric citrate that could be used as an active
pharmaceutical ingredient for the treatment of iron deficiency
diseases, renal failure and elevated...
A drug delivery system that promises to improve the treatment of a
range of eye diseases, in development at French pharmaceutical
company Novagali Pharma, has won a Kaye Innovation Award.
Chinese vitamin C manufacturers are preparing their defence to an
anti-trust case filed by two American firms that allege
price-fixing and control of the market since 2001, writes
Dominique Patton.
One of the biggest challenges in catalysed chemical reactions is to
remove and recycle the catalyst once the process is complete. A new
approach, using Teflon, could make recovery simpler and cut down on
the use of solvents, writes...
Researchers have identified the first gene in patients who have
epilepsy, which is associated with a movement disorder. The study
provides the first direct genetic evidence that the co-existence of
these conditions represents a new...
French plant extracts supplier Naturex said today it will buy US
rival Pure World for around $37 million (€30m), or $4.30 per share
in cash, reports Dominique Patton.
The use of DNA as a vaccine has been an exciting but elusive
prospect in drug development for many years, held back by problems
with effectivness and difficulties in production. But this could be
about to change, reports Phil Taylor.
Troubled dosage form company BioProgress has taken its first action
to restructure its finances in the wake of its recent problems with
increasing overheads and slower trading at its US subsidiary.
Novagali Pharma, a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative
drug delivery systems, has started a Phase I clinical trial in
patients with advanced cancer for its oral formulation of the
cancer drug paclitaxel.
Bruker Daltonics introduces a novel protein post translational
modification (PTM) discovery tool that represents the first
commercially available Electron Transfer Dissociation (ETD) module
for PTM discovery and de novo peptide sequencing...