The results of a UK pilot study of radiofrequency identification
(RFID) and bar coding in pharmacies has shown clear evidence that
the system can improve patient safety, reports Phil Taylor.
Commercial League, the largest and fastest-growing pharmaceutical
group in the Balkans, has opened a new primary and secondary
packaging plant in Bulgaria to serve the domestic and, potentially,
export markets.
Scientists at US biotechnology company Genentech have developed a
rapid testing method for mycoplasma contamination in Chinese
hamster ovary cells, one of the most common mammalian cell lines
used in biological drug production.
US company Biotrove says its mass spectrometry-based
high-throughput screening (HTS) system, RapidFire Lead Discovery,
has been used to screen more than a million individual samples over
the last 12 months.
A group of US researchers claim to have identified a fundamental
mechanism that may facilitate the design of safer and more
efficacious topical drug delivery systems, reports Phil
Taylor.
R&D productivity is currently in a period of decline, with the
number of new medicines being introduced to the market declining in
the face of increasing R&D budgets. However, the emergence of
genomics-derived drugs is expected...
Roche has started the roll-out its colorectal cancer treatment
Avastin (bevacizumab) - the first drug to reach the market that
works by inhibiting blood vessel formation in tumours - in Europe.
Efforts by Pakistan to build a pharmaceutical sector to rival that
of neighbouring India are being undermined by regulatory
interference, according to representatives of the domestic drug
industry.
German cancer drug company GPC Biotech has agreed to buy the
material assets of Munich-based kinase specialist Axxima
Pharmaceuticals in a cash-neutral transaction for €13.7m.
GE Healthcare has launched two new products designed to meet
growing industry needs for the purification of monoclonal
antibodies, one of the fastest growing drug classes in the drug
industry.
Thermo Electron has revamped its Array Automation software for
Raman spectrometers, in a move which it says enables pharmaceutical
companies to reduce the polymorph and crystal analysis workload in
drug discovery laboratories.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is planning to lend around €40
million to Germany's Impfstoffwerk Dessau-Tornau - a developer and
contract manufacturer of pharmaceutical and veterinary medicines -
to help it build a new research...
GE Healthcare has launched a range of prepacked columns designed to
meet the growing need for pure proteins to use in functional and
structural genomics and proteomics research.
Yesterday's headline suggesting that up to 1 in 7 drugs in the
global marketplace provided a timely reminder of the problem as the
second Global Forum on Pharmaceutical Anticounterfeiting gets
underway in Paris, France, today.
German firm Finzelberg is the first plant extracts producer to gain
GMP certification under new European rules for active agents in
pharmaceuticals, it said this week.
A new £6 million (€9m) biocentre is set to revolutionise the way
future medicines are produced making them safer and more effective.
The centre, based in the UK, will not only help pharmaceutical
companies to develop better drugs,...
The UK's Environment Agency has reminded all industrial operators
who want to continue to burn waste after the end of this month that
they must apply for a new permit before 31 March.
Teva Hungary, a subsidiary of number two generic company Teva
Pharmaceuticals, is to build a $100 million (€75m) factory for the
production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in
Sajobabony, Hungary.
Pharmaceutical companies and governments are not doing enough to
combat the problem of drug counterfeiting, which is developing into
an international health crisis, claim researchers.
A study has suggested the hypoxia inducible gene RTP801 may serve
an important mechanistic role in the development of experimental
chordial neovascularisation (CNV), the principal cause of
Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD).
Genaissance Pharmaceuticals has been granted a patent for a unique
method of testing individuals for genetic predisposition to reduced
metabolism of drugs. The ability to metabolise certain drugs linked
to genetic variant is present...
French company Valois has developed a new dose counter that should
improve the safety of inhalers used to delivery drugs to asthmatics
and people with chronic bronchitis.
A mathematical algorithm that predicts the effects a compound will
have on a cell's molecular components, will prove significant to
drug developers, who can design compounds that will act on desired
targets, eliciting therapeutic...
The International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) has
published a new guide detailing standardized methods for the
containment of powdered materials in the pharmaceutical
manufacturing environment.
Biologists have shown for the first time how histatin, the
naturally occurring antifungal agent in saliva, kills the oral
pathogen Candida albicans, a yeast responsible for most
HIV-related oral infections.
Two top drugstores in the US state of Florida are seeking an
exemption from legislation requiring a strict paper-based pedigree
for drugs throughout the supply chain, on the grounds that it is
too expensive to comply.
Boehringer Ingelheim's latest clinical study investigating
pramipexole on Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) reveals a marked
improvement over dopamine, which is the current preferred treatment
for the millions that suffer from this...
A scanning electron microscope with the world's highest resolution
has been launched, which claims previously unobtainable resolutions
of 0.4nm at 30kV and 1.6nm at 1kV. The product is aimed at
researchers in the pharmaceutical...
The first genetic disease that affects the central nervous system
has been successfully treated in an animal model, which if
successfully applied to humans, could treat an entire class of
diseases called lysosomal storage disorders....
Italy's Recordati has reported flat turnover but a rise in
operating income in 2004, while its pharmaceutical chemicals
business managed to return to profit, reports Phil Taylor.
German chemicals giant BASF reported strong earnings increases
across the board yesterday, helped by pricing increases. The
companies activities in pharmaceuticals, part of its chemicals and
fine chemicals units, also did well, report...
Johnson & Johnson is planning to acquire TransForm
Pharmaceuticals, a privately held company that specialises in the
discovery of improved formulations and novel crystalline forms of
drug molecules, in a cash-for-stock deal valued...
The growth in the global pharmaceutical continued to slow in 2004,
with a 7 per cent hike to $550 billion, as the sector felt the
effects of increased pricing pressure and the expanding market for
lower-cost generic drugs, reports...
Biopharmaceutical company deCODE genetics, announced the initiation
of trials for a first-in-class compound used to treat
atherosclerosis for which there is currently no effective drug
treatment. The disease strikes almost 20 per...
A recent report into salaries within the pharmaceutical industry
reveals that the Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) is paid amongst the
lowest for all executives when compared to salaries paid to chief
executive officers (CEOs).
BioAlliance Pharma, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the
field of drug resistance may have discovered a novel way to
overcome growing HIV resistance. They have developed a new family
of integrase binding inhibitors, which...
A second market research report has found evidence that production
capacity in the market for contract manufacturing of
biopharmaceuticals is now in excess, in contrast to the hitherto
prevailing wisdom that the sector has been suffering...
Drug therapies for sufferers of diabetes may become a thing of the
past as UK doctors performed a groundbreaking cell transplant
technique on a patient making him the first person to be "cured" of
the illness.
Schneider Electric has teamed up with automated handling company
PES Technology to develop a bespoke packaging line for a hazardous
and time-critical pharmaceuticals process.
Sales of amino acids used in synthesis applications will reach
nearly $1 billion in 2009 and represent the fastest-growing
category in the $7 billion amino acids market.
Biomedical engineers and chemists have collaborated on a novel
method that predicts how drugs work in cells. The tool will allow
drug developers to design compounds that will act on a desired gene
and protein targets, eliciting therapeutic...
The Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) in
Singapore has developed a method to cultivate cells
cost-efficiently in a 3-dimensional configuration that mimics the
cell environment in our body, paving the way improved...
Swiss drugmaker Novartis has started construction of a $180 million
tabletting facility in Singapore, providing further evidence of the
emergence of the island state as a pharmaceutical hub.
Pharmaceutical companies will be able to reduce their polymorph and
crystal analysis workload in their drug discovery laboratories
after Thermo Electron upgraded its array automation software for
Raman spectrometers.
The world's largest drug company, Pfizer, is to make use of a gene
expression system developed at Dowpharma for the production of one
of its therapeutic proteins.
Xceleron has announced the long-awaited results of the CREAM trial
into human microdosing in drug development, which demonstrates that
microdosing provides a valuable insight into the human
pharmacokinetics (PK) of new drug candidates.
UK company SkyePharma has shrugged off the news that production of
a GlaxoSmithKline drug based on its drug delivery technology, the
antidepressant Paxil CR (paroxetine), had been halted by the US
Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
