BASF and Merck KGaA have joined DSM in reporting encouraging
first-quarter 2004 results, raising hopes further that the European
chemicals sector may be about to move into recovery mode, writes
Phil Taylor.
Manufacturers of custom synthetic oligonucleotides (oligos) could
see competition from new entrants into the sector, according to a
survey which finds that customers are not entirely happy with their
suppliers.
Italy's Recordati has sold off Sophartex, a French subsidiary
specialising in the contract manufacture of finished pharmaceutical
dosage forms, continuing its strategy of divesting businesses
outside its core focus of developing...
DSM has said it expects 'clearly higher' net profit from ordinary
operations in 2004, after reporting an unexpected increase in
first-quarter operating earnings.
DMV International, the industrial ingredients division of the
Netherlands' Campina, is planning to open a dedicated facility in
Germany for the production of excipients for direct compression.
St Louis, USA-based KV Pharmaceutical says that the US District
Court for the District of Minnesota has denied a motion for a
preliminary injunction by two rival drug delivery companies in a
patent dispute centring on its technology...
Switzerland's Lonza, one of the leading contract manufacturers of
active pharmaceutical ingredients, has forged a collaboration with
RNA-TEC of Belgium to provide broad-ranging contract production of
oligonucleotides, a new class...
Switzerland's Novartis has decided to withdraw from any
negotiations with Aventis over a possible merger, after official
discussions with the latter and fellow French-based company
Sanofi-Synthelabo got underway.
French chemicals company Rhodia has announced three new deals which
keep it on track to divest €700 million-worth of businesses by the
end of the year as it aims for a return to profitability in 2006.
The Netherlands-based pharmaceuticals, coatings and chemicals firm
Akzo Nobel has posted a 7 per cent rise in net income to €176
million for the first quarter of 2004, a little more than expected,
but has warned that its pharmaceuticals...
The global market for nanocatalysts will amount to $3.7 billion in
2004 and is expected to reach $5.0 billion in 2009, according to
soon-to-be-released market research.
Germany's MG technologies has agreed to sell the bulk of its
Dynamit Nobel chemicals division, sealing the fate of a company
that has been on the block since last November, writes Phil
Taylor.
Israeli press reports say US generics company IVAX is close to
finalising a merger with local firm Agis, which manufactures
generics and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
The Internet search engine Google has launched a pilot project with
17 universities around the world, including institutes in Italy and
the UK, aimed at improving access to research papers.
Germany's Merck KGaA has completed the $1.65 billion (€1.32bn) sale
of its laboratory distribution business, VWR International, to US
investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
UK fine chemical company Ultrafine is to be acquired by
Sigma-Aldrich of the US in a move aimed at strengthening the
latter's offerings for the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.
The global generics industry is growing at such a rate that it can
now support billion dollar companies, with activities crossing into
active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) production and R&D. This
shift in the sector - from...
France's Sanofi-Synthelabo has announced plans to sell two of its
products to GlaxoSmithKline in a deal which forms part of its
strategy to take over Aventis.
General Electric has completed its €8.1 billion acquisition of UK
healthcare company Amersham, promising to create a new company that
will 'change the face of healthcare,' according to GE chief
executive Jeffrey Immelt.
The US Food and Drug Administration is planning to hold a meeting
in June to re-examine its regulations on electronic records and
signatures, used to generate the audit trail in the food and drug
industries, to examine whether some...
Despite years of promises, there is still not a single product on
the market that has been manufactured in a genetically-engineered
organism. But a soon-to-be released market report maintains that
the floodgates are about to open,...
Daiichi Pharmaceutical is to set up a new manufacturing subsidiary
in a bid to profit from forthcoming Japanese legislation that makes
it easier for firms to produce drugs for third parties.
US biotechnology company Genentech is planning to build a new
large-scale mammalian cell culture manufacturing facility in
California which will be the largest of its kind in the world.
Novo Nordisk has broken ground on a new manufacturing facility in
Kalundborg, Denmark, that will produce liraglutide, a potential new
product for treating type 2 diabetes.
Rhodia Pharma Solutions has completed a new extension to its
production operation in Dudley, outside Newcastle, in the UK to
strengthen its ability to provide custom manufacturing services to
pharmaceutical companies.
Drug companies are waking up to the notion that the environment a
researcher works in - whether in drug discovery or the quality
control lab - is a crucial factor in determining their productivity
and creativity. And they have started...
The European Commission has announced a collaborative tuberculosis
research initiative, underpinned by €32 million in funding for two
overlapping research projects aimed at developing an improved
vaccine for the disease. The news...
The pharmaceutical industry looks set to be one of the key areas of
contention for the two US Presidential candidates as they square
off ahead of the election in November.
The enlargement of the European Union to include 10 new countries
has raised fears about the impact this could have on issues such as
parallel imports and intellectual property protection, but it could
reinvigorate the industry in...
Switzerland's Novartis has confirmed that it is interested in
joining with Aventis, but will not proceed with a formal bid unless
the French government draws back from its hostile stance on a
link-up, reports Phil Taylor.
US-based biotechnology company Human Genome Sciences is planning to
set up the first protein manufacturing facility in India in
collaboration with local companies.
Researchers in France and the US have used a technique known as
click chemistry to discover potent new inhibitors of
acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme that serves as a drug target in
Alzheimer's disease, writes Phil Taylor.
Proposals to introduce a 'scientific visa' to facilitate movement
of third country researchers to and within the EU have been adopted
by the European Commission, writes Wai Lang Chu.
The pharmaceutical industry in the UK could face a recruitment
crisis if more is not done to encourage students to opt for science
and engineering courses, according to the Association of the
British Pharmaceutical Industry, writes...
The UK government has promised to protect the large funding
increases for science announced in the country's last Spending
Review and pledged more investment under a new 10-year strategy for
science.
A new machine from Ultrasonic Scientific promises to revolutionise
the analysis of chemical reactions by requiring only a tiny amount
of sample, an important consideration when testing expensive
biologic compounds.
A brand new chemical genomics facility, one of the first academic
small molecule screening facilities in Europe, has been opened by
the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the German
Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) in Heidelberg,...
Fisher Scientific and Apogent Technologies are to merge in a $3.7
billion (€3.01bn) deal that will double Fisher's footprint in the
high-growth life sciences equipment market, reports Phil
Taylor.
Compared with European and US chemical companies, most domestic
Chinese chemical enterprises have remained technologically
challenged with productivity lagging behind international levels.
The US Food and Drug Administration is to develop a blueprint for
speeding up the approval of new medical products to counteract the
slowdown in R&D productivity in the pharmaceutical industry,
writes Phil Taylor.
Germany chemical and pharmaceutical company Bayer has christened
its chemicals spin-off Lanxess, and says it is on schedule for a
stock market flotation early next year.
German chemicals giant BASF has beaten its own sales and earnings
forecasts for 2003, prompting chairman Jurgen Hambrecht to suggest
that the sector may be due for something of a recovery this year,
writes Phil Taylor.
Switzerland's Novartis has confirmed that it is in discussions with
Aventis which could lead to a counter-offer to fend off the hostile
takeover bid from France's Sanofi-Synthelabo.
The need to conform with new European Commission (EC) regulations
and the increasing demand for improved efficiency in process
industries are encouraging greater adoption of flowmeters.
New active ingredients are the lifeblood of the pharmaceutical
industry, but with the number of new compounds being launched
tailing off almost yearly, companies are turning to inactive
excipients as a source of product innovation,...
Switzerland's Tecan saw its sales last year fall 6 per cent as
turnover growth in its genomics/proteomics division failed to
counterbalance declines in drug discovery and diagnostics.
Biotechnology company Crucell has acquired fellow Netherlands-based
ChromaGenics in a move to get hold of a promising new technology
that could boost yields of proteins and antibodies made in cell
culture, writes Phil Taylor.
Pharmaceutical companies must start exploring ways of extending
patents on their products early in their lifecycle, such as
developing improved formulations of the active ingredient, even
before they are launched onto the market.
