Cerestar Food & Pharma Specialties Europe has launched an
excipient that it claims allows tablets to be produced using lower
compression force, which should result in reduced wear and tear on
tabletting machinery and operational...
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals has licensed a new technology that could
enhance the delivery of drugs to tumours, improving the treatment
of solid cancers while also reducing side effects.
Cyclacel researchers and collaborators have solved the 3-D atomic
structure of human Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen (PCNA), a
protein involved in cancer. The discovery should prove crucial in
designing and developing drugs that...
Researchers have presented findings, which go some way in
understanding a communication pathway inside of cells that
contributes to development of brain and prostate cancers. The
discovery may present drug makers with a significant...
Boehringer Ingelheim Austria has been selected to win a Technology
Leadership award by Frost & Sullivan for its activities in the
contract manufacture of biotherapeutic proteins, and particularly
plasmid DNA.
Degussa has agreed to sell its nucleic acid unit Proligo to
Sigma-Aldrich for an undisclosed purchase price, on the grounds
that it does not have the resources in-house to grow Proligo from
its current sixth place ranking in the sector.
A new report reveals that large pharmaceutical companies are
investing in less money and people in nanotech than other
industries, despite pressure to replace fading blockbuster drugs.
Researchers in the US have identified several promising drug
compounds, which when combined, show the potential to treat
Huntingdon's and other neurodegenerative diseases.
UK company Biocompatibles has teamed up with a microfluidics
specialist Q Chip to develop a system to improve the manufacture of
microspheres used in drug delivery and medical devices.
US scientists have demonstrated that by knocking out two key
signals in liver cells causes diabetes. These findings pave the way
for drug strategies to boost these two different signals and treat
the different metabolic components...
A silicon-based drug delivery system, developed by Australian
nanotechnology company pSivida, has passed an important
proof-of-concept hurdle in a clinical trial involving patients with
inoperable liver cancer.
As the cost of commercialising drugs continues to spiral, results
from a trial evaluating the concept of human microdosing is set to
offer great potential in drug development. The pharmaceutical
industry is placing importance in finding...
The German government is the latest in Europe to start a programme
to support companies and academics working in the emerging field of
'bionanotechnology'.
'Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I will move
the world', said the mathematician Archimedes in 230 BC. In 2005, a
new company bearing his name does not quite match his global
ambitions, but intends to...
West Pharmaceutical Services has completed the sale of its drug
delivery operations to Archimedes Pharma, a newly formed UK company
backed by private equity house Warburg Pincus.
A contract manufacturer of pharmaceutical ingredients could provide
supplement makers with new supplies of the antioxidant coenzymeQ10,
currently selling for record prices owing to tight supply,
reports Dominique Patton.
The European approval of a new high-potency vaccine for hepatitis B
virus (HBV) marks the debut on the marketplace of a new adjuvant
ingredient that can significantly improve the effectiveness of
immunisations, reports Phil Taylor.
US drug delivery company Alkermes has entered a new stage in its
development as it gears up to file for marketing approval of its
own product, rather than applying its technologies to drugs sold by
customers.
India begins its first ever human clinical trial of an
investigational vaccine candidate designed to treat HIV/AIDS, which
now has a worldwide infection rate of 14,000 every day.
Researchers have identified a promising new drug target in their
fight against resilient Staphylococcus bacteria that can be
transmitted to patients in hospitals via contaminated medical
implants.
US drugmaker Perrigo has started selling a new nicotine gum to help
smokers quit the habit in the US, challenging the dominance there
of Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline's Nicorette product.
Hungary's Richter Gedeon reported rises in both overall sales and
profits in 2004, although its active pharmaceutical ingredient
(API) business remained under pressure in the US.
Hana Biosciences announced today the clinical trial initiation of
PT-523 to evaluate this compound as a single agent in relapsed
non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Lung cancer continues to carry
the poorest prognosis of cancer,...
Chemicals giant BASF has invested €2 million in a small German
encapsulation business that claims to have developed a novel
process that allows for efficient ingredient delivery.
Speedel Experimenta has announced the completion of its human
micro-dosing studies into renin inhibitors that are set to provide
an effective means of treating hypertension and for protecting end
organs such as the heart and kidneys.
The pharmaceutical excipients industry urgently needs a system of
European master files, already used by the active pharmaceutical
ingredient sector (API), to stimulate innovation in the sector and
bring Europe's regulatory stance...
US firm Bolder BioTechnology has been awarded a patent for a new
technology that allows therapeutic proteins to be modified
chemically to improve its activity in the body.
GPC Biotech announced the initiation of a Phase I trial with its
anticancer monoclonal antibody, 1D09C3, which has already proved
effective in the treatment of lymphoid tumours including
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
The pharmaceutical industry is under pressure from downwards price
pressure, a lack of innovation, and the escalating costs of new
product development, and this is having a knock-on effect for
excipients suppliers. Phil Taylor reports.
NOBEX has been granted two new US patents on its polyethylene
glycol (PEG)-based technologies to improve the delivery of drugs
that currently need to be injected.
Health ingredients firm Acatris has developed a directly
compressible version of its SoyLife brand soy isoflavone
ingredient, designed to remove some of the hurdles for companies
looking to offer isoflavone capsules or tablets.
A new type of antidepressant drug with a novel mechanism of action,
which acts on a new target, has entered Phase I clinical trials.
The drug could represent a new generation of psycho-active
compounds that are devoid of the problems...
A unique three-way-deal between Dendritic Nanotechnologies (DNT),
The Dow Chemical Company and Starpharma Holdings, will provide DNT
and Starpharma with access to dendrimers and nanotechnology for
drug delivery.
Neich Medical has acquired Orbus Medical Technologies in which
Orbus is leading Neich's research and development efforts for drug
eluting stents and other advanced technologies.
Bayer is to collaborate with Nektar on the development of an
inhaled formulation of Cipro (ciprofloxacin) for treating the
common genetic disorder cystic fibrosis.
Swiss chemicals and contract manufacturing concern Lonza reported a
decline in sales but net profit up by more than half in 2004,
although earnings came in at the low end of analysts' forecasts.
Scientists have targeted the alkaloids of the quinolines chemical
family, which have proved effective against visceral leishmaniasis
treating this severe form of the disease with its antiparasitic
properties.
Dow Chemical has signed over its entire portfolio of intellectual
property and technology in the area of dendrimers - branched
polymers with applications in targetted drug delivery - to US firm
Dendritic NanoTechnologies and Starpharma...
Researchers in the US have shown that nanoparticles can be used to
deliver genetic material into cells safely and effectively,
potentially overcoming the primary obstacle to the development of
gene therapy.
US researchers have developed a faster, more efficient way to
produce a wide variety of nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems,
using DNA molecules to bind the particles together.
Allos Theraputics have initiated a phase 1 study of its
investigational drug PDX (pralatrexate) that has so far proved
effective against non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This
treatment has the potential to surpass Methotrexate...
Three chemicals companies - Akzo Nobel, the Hoechst unit of
Sanofi-Aventis and Total subsidiary Arkema - have been fined €217
million by the European Commission for operating a cartel in the
market for monochloroacetic acid (MCAA).
A new study has revealed the pathway in the learning impairment
caused by liver disease may lead to a drug treatment that would
restore learning ability and provide a viable alternative to
Sildenafil, commonly known as Viagra.
Excipient company JRS Pharma, part of the Germany's J Rettenmaier
& Sohne Group, has introduced a new gelling agent to stabilise
suspensions and emulsions, writes Phil Taylor.
UK company The Medical House has entered into a deal with Swiss
biotechnology firm Serono for a needle-free injector system for the
delivery of human growth hormone.
Croda Healthcare's medical grade lanolin ingredient - used in a
number of dermatological brands including the top-selling emollient
product in the UK - has outperformed the industry standard
emollient, petrolatum, in clinical...
Medical device company Boston Scientific has launched a new
cardiovascular stent designed to deliver the drug paclitaxel in 18
countries around the world, stealing a march on arch-rival Johnson
& Johnson.
Fine chemicals company Rohner is to work together with
Switzerland's Solvias on the provision of development and
manufacturing services for complex active pharmaceutical
ingredients (APIs).
Researchers have shed new light on the activation of a protein key
to the development of cancers, particularly breast and prostate
cancer, the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the United States.