Emerging biopharmaceutical company, Align Pharmaceuticals, has
enlisted sales and marketing services provider, PDI, to provide a
40-person sales force for its three newly acquired oncology
products.
Scienion introduces its ultra low-level liquid handling system,
which allows the aspiration and dispensing of single cells or low
amount of cells for cell-based assays in the drug development
field.
Swiss pharma giants, Roche, has announced a collaboration with
Amira Pharmaceuticals, which is to focus on inflammatory disease
targets, in a deal that could build on Roche's strong position in
the inflammatory market, having...
Scientists have taken a major step forward in the diagnosis and
treatment of HIV as it was revealed that the virus' 3D structure
had been constructed. This achievement will prove instrumental in
the development of more effective...
Biovitrum and Syntonix have entered into agreement to jointly
develop and commercialise a genetically engineered product to treat
haemophilia, a rare hereditary disorder, which the life expectancy
of haemophilia patients is about...
Taiwanese generic and contract manufacturer ScinoPharm has seen its
sales almost double for the last three years, from $5 m in 2002 to
$31m in 2005, fuelled by its booming active pharmaceutical
ingredient (API) business.
Esco Micro is the first company outside of Japan to have a Class II
biosafety cabinet certified to the Japanese standard for
microbiological testing requirements, which are the most stringent
in the world.
According to a new report, technical advances in the R&D
environment have promoted the uptake of biochips in clinical
research applications. However, the report identified the high
prices as a prime area of concern.
An innovative point-of-care test has proved four times more
effective than the conventional laboratory test in detecting the
disease, which is encouraging for sufferers of the fifth most
common cancer in the US.
Global demand for pharmaceutical packaging is tipped to increase
6.3 per cent each year to create a $30 bn (€24.4 bn) market in
2009, pushed by emerging pharma industries, tighter government
standards on packaging and the burgeoning...
A new report has claimed that the benefits pharma crop producers
enjoy have been greatly exaggerated suggesting that any claims
regarding high farmer compensation and booming pharma-crop acreage
are likely overblown.
With the first non-injectable insulin to the world market predicted
to earn $1.5 bn (€1.2 bn) a year, inhaled pulmonary delivery is
winning the race, looking certain to trigger a bitter grapple
between the big insulin players.
Drug companies are leaning more heavily on contract research
organisations (CROs) to save costs in getting new drugs to market.
And it is paying off, with added benefits. Companies who rely on
CROs are also completing clinical trials...
Thermo have introduced, what it claims is the next generation of
high content screening (HCS), launching a compact system that has a
small footprint, which frees up valuable lab floor space. The
product additionally offers turnkey...
ImmuPharma, a drug discovery and development company, are to seek
admission to the Alternative Investments Market (AIM), in a move
that will give the group the resources necessary to finance initial
clinical trials on ImmuPharma's...
Genomics company, VASTox, has announced encouraging preclinical
results in its drug discovery programme, which aims to find the
next generation of treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD),
a disease of which there is no known...
Pharmaceutical company, Phosphagenics, has announced the
commencement of animal studies on its anti-cancer compound, which
claims to destroy diseased cells while not affecting normal ones by
primarily acting as a signalling molecule...
Covalent Group has signed a new contract worth $2.3 m (€1.9 m) to
conduct a global Phase 2 clinical trial of a new antithrombotic
agent in the US, Europe, and South America.
Oxford Immunotec makes available an in vitro diagnostic that
measures T-cells specific to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)
antigens diagnosing both latent and active TB infection in
immunocompromised humans - a significant problem...
German chemicals major Merck has joined the race to bring
affordable radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to the
market, investing €1 m to establish a research lab at the Technical
University of Darmstadt dedicated to...
Injectable insulin is under threat. The imminent arrival of
non-injectable insulin could finally topple the big insulin players
off their comfortable perch, in the $7 bn industry that has seen
little real competition until now.
Oxford Biomedica and Viragen have announced a breakthrough in
transgenic research in which scientists have successfully achieved
expression of significant quantities of a human protein in hens
that is a key component of the human...
US researchers have managed to create tiny chemical cages that
enclose drugs within a capsule that can be manufactured to deliver
drugs to organs or tissues without causing harm elsewhere.
International Isotopes has announced the renewal of an existing
contract manufacturing agreement, which aims to continue the
production of nuclear medicine calibration and reference standards.
UK medical technology producers, Bespak reported healthy sales and
profit figures the first half period, identifying three areas of
prosperity, which could spell future growth within established
markets and opportunities worldwide.
Bruker Optics have reached an agreement with the Chinese State Food
and Drug Administration (SFDA), which sees Bruker technology
integrated into regional Food and Drug Administration offices
aiding the fight against illegal counterfeit...
UK's Biotrace has signed a deal giving US company Pall Corporation
exclusive global marketing and distribution rights to its range of
microbiological air monitoring products for the pharma industry in
order to broaden the geographic...
Following the ongoing success of its flagship DataLase range, UK
company DataLase (formerly Sherwood Technology) is on track to open
a new manufacturing facility in the US in Atlanta this quarter, in
order to ramp up its US sales...
Drug companies are to trial a unique form of brand protection by
incorporating a laser marking system on glass vials, which is hoped
to act as a deterrent to counterfeiters as engraving is impossible
to remove and difficult to copy.
New labelling laws by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
will make medicines safer. The layout of prescription drug package
inserts have been updated for the first time in 25 years, requiring
drug makers to provide doctors...
DataLabs has launched the first software to combine paper data
entry (PDE) and electronic data capture (EDC) in the one program to
accelerate the clinical trials process.
Asia and India are continuing to attract a wave of foreign
outsourcing contracts in the pharma industry, as companies are
lured by productivity-and cost savings. However, these countries
are not yet reaching their potential, as fears...
Beckman Coulter makes available a new workstation that automates
microarray sample preparation for gene expression studies that
offered at a lower cost than other options on the market. The
workstation is an evolution of the higher...
Scientists have found an unusual lung-cancer tumour-suppressor
gene, which was shown to restore the inactivated gene slowing the
growth of tumour cells. Its importance in cancers of the lung and
head and neck may make it a viable...
Varian introduces two new micro extraction solid phase extraction
(SPE) formats for bioanalytical research that aims to deliver
improved performance and a more streamlined sample preparation
process enabling vacuum-free SPE processing...
MerLion Pharmaceuticals has formed a collaboration with Novartis
Institute for Tropical Diseases, which is to focus on identifying
compounds for the treatment of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne viral
infection that is prevalent in...
Enanta Pharmaceuticals has announced the initiation of Phase 2
studies investigating a first in class antibiotic candidate that
treats community-acquired respiratory tract infections, which has
become the sixth most common cause of...
The break up of global fine and specialty chemicals company Avecia
continued as Fujifilm said it would take over Avecia Inkjet
formally next month. The €220 million fee to acquire the company's
Inkjet and Electrophotography...
Stable Micro Systems has developed a new test for measuring the
resilience of thin, film-like products that are used in
pharmaceutical products including plasters, bandages, polymer film,
micropore tape, synthetic skin and latex,...
The FDA has cut red tape and modernised its guidance on
experimental clinical studies to help improve and accelerate the
R&D process of new compounds and ultimately get new drugs to
market faster.
Filtration specialists, Pall, and Biotrace have signed an agreement
to market microbiological air monitoring technology to the
pharmaceutical industry. The deal focuses on microbiological
monitoring of manufacturing processes, which...
Lonza has boosted its capacity to produce peptides through liquid
phase technology with the €120 million acquisition of UCB's
Bioproducts manufacturing division.
Acolyte Biomedica introduces a new platform for its MRSA test,
which promises to set the benchmark for laboratory-based screening
of the bacterium by confirming negatives in five hours and
positives within 24 hours.
Large Scale Biology Corporation (LSBC) along with its subsidiaries
Bioprocessing and Predictive Diagnostics, has now filed for Chapter
11 bankruptcy protection after going bust last month.
Porter Novelli, one of the world's leading public relations
agencies, has acquired Californian life sciences agency, Atkins +
Associates, in a move to establish a new business unit that will
serve as the first corporate and marketing...
Phase IV clinical trials are becoming key activities for
cardiovascular marketing teams who are increasingly using them to
rejuvenate ageing medications and improve marketing campaigns.
Boehringer Ingelheim has extended its joint drug discovery
collaboration with Evotec initiated in September 2004, which
targeted therapeutics acting on G-Protein Coupled Receptors
(GPCRs). The extension will include targets from different...
Lipoxen has announced that its move to list the company on the
Alternative Investments Market (AIM) has raised £3.78 million (€5.5
million) in a fundraising effort that will allow them to proceed
with preclinical trials to treat disorders...
Having inked two new deals with large Indian contract research
organisations (CROs), US generics major Taro Pharmaceutical
Industries is beginning to shift some of its product R&D to
India in a bid to enhance its competitive position...
Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics
have extended their research collaboration initiated in May 2000,
in which CFFT will provide an additional $22 million to further
develop Vertex's therapies that...
