Vioxx. Bextra. Zyprexa, Seroxat. At no period of time have so many
high-profile drugs come under the spotlight as drug companies face
legal action over drug safety. It's make or break time for the
pharmaceutical industry as drug...
Researchers in the US have discovered a way of generating stem
cells that could avoid the use of human embryos, potentially
bypassing one of the major obstacles to the development of
therapies based on this technology.
According to a new report, the bioinformatics market is set to
surge ahead, boosted by data proliferation and the need for
improved drug research productivity. Along with the solid support
of national governments, the European bioinformatics...
Japanese pharmaceutical company Shionogi has said it plans to sell
its capsule subsidiary Shionogi Qualicaps to private investment
group the Carlyle Group in order to focus on its drug development
activities.
India's Bilcare Ltd, a research-based pharmaceutical packaging
solutions company, has acquired ProClinical of the US in a deal the
company says takes it 'closer to achieving its vision of becoming
the world leader in the...
Pharmaceutical outsourcing firm Quintiles Transnational Corp is
selling three of its business units, covering preclinical services,
pharmaceutical sciences and clinical trial supplies, to newly
formed company Aptuit.
The first pharmacogenetic laboratory test for use as a companion
diagnostic to a specific drug therapy has been approved by the FDA.
The test represents a new area of pharmacogenomics in which
molecular diagnostic and drug pairings...
Scientists in the UK, who have developed revolutionary miniaturised
tools for chemical and biological analysis, have won an injection
of growth capital to produce them commercially.
US company Ampacet has developed molecular tracers that allow
manufacturers to monitor flexible and rigid cosmetics plastic
packaging - at any stage in the supply chain - to help resolve
security, counterfeiting, quality, liability...
Researchers have achieved the first ever gene therapy success for
muscular dystrophy using a new systemic approach, which
demonstrated that the scientific challenges that have cast doubt on
gene therapy ever being feasible for children...
The news that the widow of a man who died after taking Vioxx was
awarded $253.4 million has opened up the possibility of US lawsuits
filed by patients worldwide, who were prescribed the drug that was
linked to an increase in heart...
Sandoz, the generics subsidiary of Swiss pharmaceutical company
Novartis, is rumoured to be planning an acquisition in India in a
move that would give it back the top slot in the sector.
Packaging company Crown Holdings is planning to sell its plastic
closures business for approximately $750 million to European
private equity firm PAI partners.
The importance of high-throughput screening and human microdosing
during clinical trial processes has highlighted an emerging trend
in drug R&D that uses smaller and smaller test volumes, helped
by sophisticated automation technologies...
US drug researchers have synthesised a new class of carbenes -
molecules that have unusual carbon atoms - that is expected to have
wide applications in the pharmaceutical industry, ultimately
resulting in a reduction in the price...
Laboratory researchers in Singapore have created the first battery
that generates electricity from urine. This new battery could solve
the problem of finding a power source as small and as cheap to
fabricate as the disposable healthcare...
Sample management provider, REMP, announced the introduction of its
REMP Small Size Store (SSS), a fully automated sample storage and
retrieval system that incorporates 'cherry picking,' enabling
reliable retrieval of samples...
Packaging company Alcan has said it plans to close its Cayey
pharmaceutical glass vial operation, based in Puerto Rico, in order
to streamline its North American vial manufacturing network.
Gentel Biosurfaces have signed a supply and marketing license
agreement with Kreatech Biotechnology to regarding the sales of ULS
reagents for protein labelling and use on single capture antibody
chips.
Portuguese contract manufacturer Hovione has expanded the range of
services it can offer its pharmaceutical customers with the
addition of a new suite of spray drying (lyophilisation) systems in
Europe and the US.
Troubled generic drug manufacturer Able Laboratories has conceded
defeat in its bid to get products back onto the market and elected
to sell off the assets of the business.
Who's making what for whom? In-PharmaTechnologist provides its
periodic round-up of new deals and developments in the
pharmaceutical contract manufacturing sector.
Germany's Bruker AXS is to acquire privately held French company
Socabim, a company focused on advanced X-ray materials research and
analysis software.
Biovitrum and Santhera have announced the signing of an exclusive
license and collaboration agreement, which aims to develop DPP-IV
inhibitors for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and other metabolic
diseases.
French chemicals company Rhodia has effectively written off the
value of its troubled Rhodia Pharma Solutions division in its
second quarter accounts, giving it a book value of zero.
US researchers have made a bold claim by announcing that after
successful laboratory experiments, growth, repair and return of
nerve cell function has been achieved. If substantiated, the
discovery is set to open up a plethora of...
CyDex has won the first regulatory approval in Japan for a
pharmaceutical product using its Captisol drug delivery technology
designed to improve the delivery of insoluble and unstable active
pharmaceutical ingredients.
Nektar Therapeutics is planning to buy fellow drug delivery
specialist Aerogen for $32 million (€26m), boosting its position in
respiratory technologies.
Micro-particle specialists, rap.ID, are set to expand its new
laboratory premises to meet the demands of contamination-free
particle identification. The move is in response to the increase in
demand for qualified particle counts and...
Kreatech Biotechnology launches a series of nucleic acid labelling
kits for in situ hybridisation and filter hybridisation
applications. These kits offer the researcher the possibility to
non enzymatically label their target nucleic...
Tripos introduces its LeadDiscovery program to accelerate the drug
discovery process. The new program offers a method to develop novel
preclinical compounds for customers in the pharmaceutical and
biotechnology industry.
German biotech company, Orthogen, has presented a study that has
shown the emergence of autologous bioengineered proteins as a
viable alternative to the cox-II inhibitor class. The class of drug
was blighted with severe side effects,...
LION bioscience made a big step towards profitability, as ongoing
restructuring plans appear to be reaping rewards. The decision to
sell off its troublesome bioinformatics unit appears wise as the
company reached a near break-even...
Expression Analysis introduces a new technique that is set to
improve the performance of the Affymetrix Genechip. The technique,
which eliminates the effect caused by potentially invariant probes
within a probe set, will provide cost...
German specialty chemicals group, H&R Wasag, increased its
sales and earnings in the first half of the year, helped by its
in-house refinery operations that allow it to anticipate and react
early to changing oil prices.
Santhera Pharmaceuticals and the Takeda Pharmaceutical Company have
established a collaboration to develop and market the first
treatment for Friedreich's Ataxia - a genetic condition that
impacts quality of life substantially...
Researchers have discovered a new tumour defence system that
interferes with the cells that are trying to kill them. These
results raise the possibility of new drug targets for cancer such
as those that may transport free fatty acids...
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has become the second Indian
drugmaker in a matter of days to announce the purchase of a
manufacturing facility in Eastern Europe that will serve as a
springboard for expansion into the broader European...
Diosynth Biotechnology, the contract manufacturing subsidiary of
Dutch chemicals and pharmaceuticals group Akzo Nobel, has won a new
contract to manufacture a cardiovascular imaging agent due to start
Phase III testing in 2006.
Viatris, a German pharmaceutical company specialising in inhaled
medicines and other specialty drugs, has accepted a €750 million
takeover offer from Swedish drugs group Meda.
Cambrex has launched a new system for stripping out bacterial
endotoxin from protein production systems that it claims is
associated with less product waste than current procedures.
Scientists have discovered the genetic pathway responsible for
breast cancer growth, which details how the female hormone
oestrogen causes growth of breast cancer cells. In practical terms,
efforts can now be focused on developing...
US paperboard and plastic packaging company Chesapeake is to
acquire Impaxx Pharmaceutical Packaging Group, which does business
as Arlington Press, for $65 million (€52.5m).
A grant totalling more than $32 million to advance the development
of innovative sequencing lab technologies to reduce the cost of DNA
sequencing and expand the use of genomics in biomedical research
has been awarded by The National...
Peakdale Molecular launches its latest G-Protein Coupled Receptor
(GPCR) library, specifically designed to synthesise and
characterise for screening against aminergic GPCR targets.
According to a new report, the advancement of ADME/Tox technologies
will give rise to considerable time and cost savings as early
screening and increasingly innovative solutions continue to
underline the importance of this technology...
