The bad press surrounding the pharmaceutical industry continues
with claims that Merck & Co executives were concerned about
infant exposure to mercury in vaccines several years before the US
Food and Drug Administration made the...
According to a recent survey, leading pharmaceutical firms claim
that despite the decline in R&D productivity, scientists are
working harder and completing more projects.
The pharmaceuticals sector has been highlighted by the UK
government's Cabinet Office as one of its priority projects in a
review of business regulation.
Pharmaceutical distribution and technology company Cardinal Health
reported a slide in profits in the second quarter of the year, as
an internal investigation into the company's accounting practices
claimed additional executive...
A UK company is finding that the pharmaceutical industry is a
lucrative new market for its under vehicle bomb detector, now that
terrorist attacks are no longer confined to political and military
targets.
Finnish chemicals company Kemira is planning to buy Verdugt BV of
the Netherlands in a move that will triple its sales of organic
acids at a stroke and make it the number one company in the sector.
Akzo Nobel has reported a sharp rise in profits for 2004, but
warned that 2005 would be tough and that further divestments in its
chemicals portfolio are planned.
The European monoclonal antibody therapeutics market is set to grow
at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34.1 per cent to $11.4
billion (€8.7 billion) by 2011. The growth is fuelled by the need
for safe and effective treatment...
Pharmaceutical industry groups today welcomed new government
legislation, which ensures animal extremists who are found guilty
of 'economic damage' to research laboratories will face
imprisonment of five years.
The long-standing relationship between biotechnology company
Genencor and Danish ingredients firm Danisco is to be cemented via
the merger of the two companies.
The UK government has given the national biotechnology industry
trade group £3 million (€4.3m) in funding to support the
development of bioprocessing, continuing a string of projects aimed
at boosting the UK biotech sector.
Merck KGaA is planning to sell its electronic chemicals business to
BASF for €270 million, freeing it up to focus on its
pharmaceutical, chemical and liquid crystal businesses.
Construction of the UK National Biomanufacturing Centre, an
ambitious project aimed at helping biotechnology start-ups get
their product ideas into clinical trials, is progressing on
schedule and should be ready to start production...
Pharming of the Netherlands, which is pioneering the use of
transgenic animals for the production of biologics, has raised €7
million in new funding and will use the proceeds to advance its
portfolio of clinical drug candidates.
The global market for spectroscopic equipment used in process
monitoring is tipped to grow by 30 per cent between now and 2009,
helped by an increasing focus on process analytical technologies
(PAT) to streamline the drug manufacturing...
The European Parliament embarked on a new round of deliberations
over the controversial REACH legislation last week, amid intense
lobbying by groups representing the chemicals industry, animal
rights activists and environmentalists.
Increasing numbers of suppliers are being forced to stop providing
their services to companies and organisations engaged in animal
research, according to the Association of the British
Pharmaceutical Industry.
Figures released by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical
Industry (ABPI) has revealed that the level of intimidation posed
by animal extremists reaches as far as the suppliers who do
business with companies involved with...
Growth in Asian and South American markets boost sales for Danish
firm Chr Hansen, counterbalancing a fall in revenue in North
America for the first quarter of the year.
Australia's CSL, the world's largest manufacturer of blood plasma
products, has agreed to sell its JRH Biosciences division to
Sigma-Aldrich for $370 million (€283m) in cash. JRH makes cell
culture and sera products used...
New Year, new job. Busy times for personnel in the pharmaceutical
technology sector, with a series of new appointments.
In-PharmaTechnologist.com provides a round-up.
Wacker-Chemie is to acquire German biotechnology company ProThera,
based in Jena, to boost its presence in the biologics manufacturing
sector. ProThera will now operate as Wacker Biotech.
Despite burgeoning demand for biopharmaceutical drugs, little
progress is being made toward the improving efficiency and reducing
costs in conventional biomanufacturing processes using microbial or
mammalian fermentation systems.
US chemicals company Aceto has broken cover and is now racing to
develop a leading player in the market for generic versions of
biologic drugs, even though the regulatory route to approval of
these products is far from established.
The marriage between US chemicals group Dynamic Synthesis and
French separations specialist Novasep has been completed, creating
what the new company claims is a unique company to serve the life
sciences industry.
Peptide drugs look like they may finally fulfil their promise,
after years of what has largely been disappointment, if figures
released in a new market research report prove accurate.
The market for low-cost generic drugs looks set to be buoyant for
the foreseeable future, both in Europe as a whole and in France,
according to Hubert Olivier, president of the French subsidiary of
the leading German generics group...
New treatment guidelines have concluded that there are no
significant differences between the aerosol therapy devices used
for respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD), as long as they are...
In response to accusations of a cover up over negative data and
placing patient safety at risk, pharmaceutical companies worldwide
have agreed to reveal the results of clinical trial drug data.
Technology used to enhance a mammalian cell based protein in
pharmaceutical production as well as the creation of new production
cell lines is the subject of collaboration between Pfizer and
Sangamo BioSciences.
Pharmaceutical companies are set to face stiff competition, as
generic forms of best-selling biologic drugs will capture a
significant market share. The expiration of drug patents, which
expire within the next few years, opens up...
Judith Hackitt, director general of the UK Chemical Industries
Association, highlighted the key issues facing the UK sector at a
the group's recent council meeting in London.
Contract manufacturing company Patheon has completed its $350m
(€259m)acquisition of Puerto Rican rival Mova Pharmaceuticals,
first announced in November.
Pharming, a Dutch company specialising in the production of
proteins from transgenic animals, has acquired an Australian
company to shore up its patent position and technology portfolio in
this area.
In-PharmaTechnologist.com's periodic round-up of developments in
the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector sees Schering-Plough
expanding in Japan and plant news from Germany, Mexico and Vietnam.
The ongoing controversy concerning certain drugs and a link to
heart trouble gained further momentum after the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) issued a warning for the pain reliever
naproxen after researchers found an increased...
At the CPhI meeting this year, many contract manufacturing
organisations (CMOs) trumpeted their new investments in capacity,
despite the prevailing wisdom that the pharmaceutical sector is
over-served at present.
Companies in the European life sciences industry could save
significant sums of money, up to 5 per cent of turnover in some
cases, by considering tax implications in their supply chain
strategy, according to a report from consultants...
US drug delivery company Inyx has signed a definitive agreement to
acquire Aventis Pharmaceuticals Puerto Rico, part of the French
Sanofi-Aventis group.
The safety of cox-2 inhibitors was plunged into further uncertainty
after Pfizer released details of trials that found an increased
risk of heart problems with patients taking its painkiller
Celebrex. The drug is in the same class...
Applera suffered a setback to its European sector after the
European Patent Office revoked its patent covering real-time PCR
thermal cycler technology.
Busy times for personnel in the pharmaceutical technology sector,
with a series of new appointments at the senior level in
ingredients, separation and drug delivery companies.
With the advent of ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi) offering a
radical approach to drug discovery, the emphasis is now placed on
finding the most efficient means to deliver or transfect RNAi into
mammalian target genes,writes...
European contract manufacturers of active pharmaceutical
ingredients (APIs) are operating under a system of regulatory
double standards that is destroying their ability to compete in the
marketplace.
At the Conference on Pharmaceutical Ingredients (CPhI) opened its
doors yesterday, In-PharmaTechnologist.com spoke with Nick Hyde,
global business director at leading contract manufacturer
Dowpharma, to hear his views on the state...
In-Pharmatechnologist's periodic round up of personnel moves in the
industry includes a crop of new chief executives and senior
managers across the pharmachem, drug development and manufacturing
sectors.
German drugmaker Bayer last week put an end to speculation that it
is planning swingeing job cuts by conforming that it is planning to
axe 560 positions in Germany and the US as part of restructuring
its global pharmaceutical R&D...
A new anti-infectives company, spun out of the Sanofi-Aventis
group, has received €40 million in financing from an international
group of leading life science investors led by Atlas Venture and
including Sofinnova, 3i, Abingworth...