A $1bn fraud scandal has rocked Indian IT outsourcing company Satyam, which provides services to leading pharmaceutical companies, and resulted in three of its executives spending the weekend in jail.
Finnish drugmaker Orion is to follow through on plans to cut its R&D workforce and shed 205 employees to sure up operations as generic pressure mounts on its leading Parkinson’s disease drugs.
Positive noises from an FDA panel on GTC Biotherapeutics’ recombinant antithrombin ATryn may further the use of transgenic animals for drug production but should the manufacturing process rather than the drug’s safety be our prime concern?
Drug raw materials maker Akron Biotechnology has selected Austin Chemical Company to help expand its client-base in the global biotech, pharmaceutical, and diagnostic industries.
The FDA has established its first permanent presence in Latin America by opening an office in Costa Rica as part of “Beyond Our Borders Initiative”, which has also seen the agency set up three sites in China.
India’s health authorities may invest RPS5bn ($102m) to re-open three state run vaccine manufacturing firms in a bid to combat current shortages, according to reports in the country’s media.
Halo Pharmaceuticals hopes that its acquisition of Abbott Laboratories’ 200,000 sq ft formulation, manufacturing and warehousing facility in Whippany, New Jersey will help it blossom into a CMO and development organisation.
Merck & Co’s thirst for outsourcing continues, with United Parcel Services (UPS) taking over two of its distribution centres and providing services from for the pharma company from the sites.
As 2008 drew to a close and people the world over welcomed the New Year, few would have noticed the passing of Europe’s paracetamol industry as Rhodia closed the doors of the region’s last manufacturing facility in Roussillon, southern France.
DHL Global Forwarding has opened a Life Science Competency Center in Carolina, Puerto Rico, which will offer shipping services tailored to the needs of the island’s biotech and pharmaceutical companies.
This year’s M&A activity is underway with Endo’s agreement to acquire Indevus for an initial $370m as it looks to expand beyond the competitive pain market and gain drug delivery technologies.
Blue Reference has formed a Quality by Design Product Development Consortium (QbD PDC) to provide a forum for the improvement of its process analytics software.
Perceptive Informatics has gained the right to use EQ-5D, which will allow the company to offer clinical study sponsors the option to collect health-related quality of life outcomes using a telephone.
Implementation of an abbreviated approval pathway for follow-on biologics could result in savings of almost $10bn over a decade, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
The European Association of Pharmaceutical Full-line Wholesalers (GIRP) says it has concerns about the anti-counterfeiting proposals contained in the European Commission's recently-released 'pharmaceutical package.'
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is stopping making corporate political contributions as part of its transparency drive but employees can still donate through the Political Action Committee (PAC).
The completion of trial batches of Siga Technologies’ smallpox treatment ST-246 could not have been better timed following as it does the recomendation that the Obama government raise the threat of bio-terror up its list of concerns.
The European Union’s coordinated clamp down on counterfeit drugs has resulted in hauls far exceeding expectations, with 34m pills seized in two months.
To accompany the map detailing job losses, which can be viewed here, we have picked out the details and trends from the data, uncovering the state of US pharmaceutical employment in 2008.
Biotech bodies from around the globe have been calling on their respective governments to provide stimulus packages to compensate for the current difficulties in obtaining credit.
The US HHS says that healthcare workers and emergency service personnel should be given antivirals before this year’s flu season or any pandemic kick in and also calls for the private sector to take more of a role in stockpiling.
The global financial difficulties are starting to hit home in the outsourcing sector, with supply chain services company Syscan filing for bankruptcy after being unable to secure a loan.
Irish drugmaker Elan, which recently dropped plans to sell its Elan Drug Technologies operation, has announced job cuts and the closure of offices in a bid to save cash.
The race to be the next FDA Commissioner is becoming increasingly competitive, with candidates jostling for position and interested parties attempting to influence proceedings.
Serene has officially opened its offshore development centre in India, which will provide IT outsourcing services to support and complement its existing capabilities in the US.
The MHRA has renewed its approval of Almac’s facility in North Carolina, bringing an end to a busy and successful four months of inspections at the clinical services group’s facilities.
The sales growth of generic drugs slowed considerably in 2008, dipping below the customary double digits to 3.6 per cent, according to a report by IMS Health.
GlaxoSmithKline has gone into partnership with Indian contract manufacturing and development services company Kemwell to set up an R&D facility aimed at developing new oral healthcare products.
Thermo Fisher Scientific has opened a clinical services facility in India, which will provide biopharma services to companies operating clinical trials.
Haemacure is calling for the International Court of Arbitration in Paris, France to force CSL Behring to make a $1.5m milestone payment that it believes is now due under a 2002 settlement related to firms’ disputed Hemaseel project.
KV Pharmaceuticals’ long-serving CEO Marc Hermelin has either been sacked or has retired, depending on which party’s version of events one believes, and is being replaced by David Vliet CEO of the company’s Ethex division on an interim basis.
A UK judge has warned against the European Commission making rash changes following its report into big pharma blocking generics, arguing that it could damage development of new drugs.
Life sciences firm DSM has landed the contract to manufacture supplies of NicOx’ much vaunted anti-inflammatory agent naproxcinod and looks good for the long term deal.
Icelandic generics firm Actavis plans to use Malta as a distribution hub for the supply of drugs to the emerging African pharmaceutical market, according to reports in the Maltese press.
A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) claiming there is no evidence that brandname cardiovascular drugs are superior to their generic counterparts, despite claims to the contrary.
Qatar and Egypt are to set up a new drug manufacturing plant at a facility in Qatar, according to BusinessIntelligence. The new facility will begin by producing soluble drugs for the emerging Qatari and Egyptian drug markets.
UK drug giant GSK is to shed 200 jobs at its manufacturing plant in Barnard Castle, County Durham to cut costs ahead of generic competition for products made at the facility, which include the anti-emetic Zofran (ondansentron).
inVentive Health has been contracted to provide marketing and branding services for fellow US based generic injectables developer GeneraMedix, specifically focusing on the latter’s epoprostenol hypertension treatment.