The Portuguese Minister for Science and Higher Education, Pedro
Lynce, confirmed his government's commitment to investing in
science with the announcement today that the ministry is
considering opening 20 new Ciência Viva (Science...
The Eurobarometer 2002 survey on 'Europeans and biotechnology'
reveals that despite the impression that Europeans are sceptical
about this technology, the majority are optimistic that
biotechnololgy will improve our way...
There has been 'unprecedented development' in terms of the
Community's research policy in the last year claims the European
Commission's 2002 annual report on technological research and
development (RTD) in 2001.
A collaboration between Cenix BioScience of Germany and the USA's
Ambion has been formed to co-develop and market the first
commercially-available, human genome-wide library of small
interfering RNA sequences. RNA interference...
Pharmaceutical researchers used to begin their evaluation of drug
leads by looking at affinity and potency, but a
genomics/informatics-based research culture is now growing which is
starting to impinge on this classical mode, says...
Venture capital investments in biotechnology and medical device
companies combined to total $4.7 billion (€4.4bn) in 2002, or 22
per cent of all investing, representing the highest proportion in
seven years, according to the MoneyTree...
The prospect of using chicken eggs as commercial 'biofactories' for
the production of protein-based drugs has moved a step closer with
the announcement of a study showing that transgenic cockerels can
pass on an introduced...
A new approach to identifying patterns in gene expression analysis
has been shown to be more effective than the most popular method in
a joint Penn State and University at Buffalo study, write US
scientists this week.
Scientists in the US report this week that they have developed a
new technology that increases the amount of vitamin C in plants,
including grains, by increasing the amount of the enzyme that is
responsible for recycling vitamin C.
US outsourcing company Cardinal Health is to provide alternative
drug formulation development and delivery capabilities for the
biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, the company announced
this week.
The UK Medicines Control Agency has published a new guidance on
best practice in drug labelling and packaging which is part of a
broader Department of Health programme aimed at achieving a 40 per
cent cut in medication errors by 2005....
Roche Vitamins is to start production of pure epigallocatechin
gallate (EGCG), the active compound in green tea, at a new
production plant in Shanghai. Annual output is expected to be more
than 40 tons.
An Edinburgh-based marine biotech business has been given a £50,000
(€73 000) boost in its bid to scour tidal areas such as rock pools
to find and develop new drugs and antibiotics, including a new
compound found to be active against...
In the second news of the day on a European life science company,
DSM announced this week that from now on it will supply
technologies and services for the initial development phases of new
medicines - supplementing its existing service...
Japanese company Kaken Pharmaceutical and US Elitra Pharmaceuticals
said yesterday that they are to collaborate on a multi-year
research project for the discovery and development of novel
anti-fungal drugs.
Danish company Novozymes announced yesterday that the US Department
of Energy (DOE) has approved the third year of funding for
Novozymes' three-year subcontract to develop more cost-efficient
enzymes for ethanol production.
Isis Innovation, the wholly-owned technology transfer company of
Oxford University, reports this week that researchers at the
university's Inorganic Chemistry laboratory have found that they
can intercalate a range of pharmaceutically...
France needs to invest more in the emerging 'revolutionary' science
of nanotechnologies if it is to remain competitive in this
promising field, a French parliamentary committee has recommended.
Large Scale Biology Corporation (LSBC) has started a research
collaboration with Novozymes Biotech to apply LSBC's gene shuffling
and molecular evolution technologies to genes of interest to
Novozymes Biotech.
The chemical cousin of vitamin A is thought to restore production
of a key protein, which has been damaged by cigarettes in the lungs
of former smokers, and protects the cells against lung cancer,
according to new findings published...
Danish vegetable oils and fats company Aarhus Oliefabrik announced
yesterday that together with Astion, it will increase the
development portfolio of BSP Pharma principally using oil from the
African shea nut.
Growing and steady interest in herbal supplements, particularly in
the US, is spurring demand for plant-derived chemicals. According
to a new report figures show that in the US growth is expected to
rise by 6.8 per cent annually in...
The structure of a key energy-releasing enzyme found in all animals
is designed to minimise free radical production, an international
team of researchers report in this week's Science.
Canadian drug development company Ecopia BioSciences on Monday
announced that it had filed patent applications for the first two
novel compounds using its proprietary drug discovery platform -
suggesting investments by the company...
