Rexam, which makes pharmaceutical packaging and is also the world's
largest manufacturer of aluminium cans, has sacked chief executive
Stefan Angwald after just five months on the job.
Spanish pharmaceutical company Lacer has unveiled a new investment
programme at a plant in Barcelona that will dramatically increase
its production capacity.
Children around the world at risk of malaria took a step closer to
having a protective vaccine with the reporting of encouraging new
data on a candidate developed by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals.
Hueck Folien, one of the largest European foil converters in the
flexible packaging sector, has introduced an aluminium lidding foil
which is sealable against Aclar, a widely used material in blister
films.
Research into the causes of muscle wasting in diseases such as
cancer and diabetes have thrown up a new potential drug target,
according to US researchers, who report their findings in Cell (15
October issue).
The first system to automate gel casting to user-defined gradients
during 2D electrophoresis has been launched worldwide by NextGen
Sciences, which believe this technology will increase
reproducability and enhance the resolution of...
ESA has introduced what it claims is the first true universal
detector for use with high performance liquid chromatography
(HPLC), a based on a technology called CAD (charged aserosol
detector).
Integra Biosciences has updated the traditional design of the
Bunsen burner by coming up with a new version, which incorporates a
unique triple safety system and a self-igniting system that does
away with lighters or matches.
Serologicals has completed its acquisition of Upstate Group,
acquiring the privately held company for $205 million (€166m) in
cash ($102.5m) and stock.
Asthma research company Synairgen, has announced plans to seek a
listing on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) to raise
funds for the research and development of chronic bronchitis (COPD)
and asthma.
Australia's Benitec, a specialist in gene silencing technologies
based on RNA interference (RNAi), has broadened its patent estate
by licensing a technology from Stanford University in the US that
could overcome the problems...
Leading instrument company Beckman Coulter has launched new
software for its Cytomics FC 500 MPL flow cytometer which it
enables users to automate instrument set-up and data acquisition,
which could help the process of identifying...
UK-based Avecia has been awarded a $50.7 million (€41m) contract by
the US government for the development of a recombinant plague
vaccine. The contract provides funds for pilot lot manufacture,
release, testing and initial human clinical...
The older generation is leading the consumption of nutritional
supplements in the US and the aging baby boomers are the population
to invest in, according to a new report, that also shows the
supplement industry is now firmly in the...
In-Pharmatechnologist's periodic round up of personnel moves in the
pharmaceutical sector includes a crop of new chief executives and
senior managers across the pharmachem, drug delivery and
biomanufacturing sectors.
Novel approaches to administering drugs took a step forward after
Aradigm announced positive trial results in its Intraject
needle-free delivery system, which paves the way for a viable
alternative to the standard needle injection.
Researchers in the US have reported the initial development of a
biodegradable polymeric nanofibre-based antibiotic delivery system,
which promotes the healing process even in hard-to-treat wounds.
Chiral Quest parent VioQuest Pharmaceuticals has been awarded a US
patent covering the use of novel catalysts to increase the
efficiency of chiral amine and amino acid synthesis.
Giving patients control of analgesic medications through the use of
controllable pumps improves pain relief, but raises the risk of
harm more than 3.5 times, according to the US Pharmacopeia's Centre
for the Advancement of Patient...
Fuji Photo Film has entered the worldwide nucleic acid extraction
marketplace with a product which it claims can deliver DNA whole
blood samples in as little as six minutes.
Danish company Niro has forged closer links with US firm
International Specialty Products to develop technologies aimed at
enhancing the bioavailability of active pharmaceutical ingredients
(APIs).
Ending months of speculation, the flavours and texturants units at
Degussa, Germany's third largest chemicals group, are up for sale
as the firm looks at selling the food ingredients arm or finding a
partner for its business.
Italian pharmaceuticals company Zambon has linked up with France's
ObeTherapy Biotechnology in a project to screen low-molecular
weight drugs against a novel target in the treatment of metabolic
disorders such as dyslipidaemia,...
Pharmaceutical company Mayne Pharma has entered into a unique
relationship with Birmingham's Aston University to create a
cleanroom for aseptic production that could improve the delivery of
drugs to the UK National Health Service...
Retailers should let suppliers meet upcoming RFID mandate deadlines
at a gradual pace to avoid creating a tag shortage or costing them
a fortune, says a prominent think-tank.
The UK suspension preventing Chiron's export of Fluvirin took
another twist yesterday after the biotech company became the
subject of a US federal investigation over its reporting of the
problems with the flu vaccine.
Laborium Biopharma and the Biotechnology Research Institute of the
National Research Council (BRI-NRC) have entered into an alliance,
further boosting the biomanufacturing sector of Montreal in Quebec,
Canada.
AstraZeneca has suffered another disappointment in its late-stage
pipeline, with the news that the filing for approval of Galida
(tesaglitazar), its new drug for diabetes, will be delayed by the
need to carry out more studies.
Medical diagnostics company Fujirebio is to combine its microarray
platform with Carna Biosciences to create a series of new products
for kinase studies.
Software manufacturers The Wercs has announced the launch of an
automated approval process module to streamline formal chemical
requests and approvals for manufacturers using and storing
chemicals.
A report that focuses on Alzheimer's Disease and the crop of new
drugs to treat it, cites neuroprotection as a potential treatment
that may become more effective than the host of symptomatic
treatments currently available.
Finland's Kemira has completed the divestment of its fine chemicals
business, which now operates as KemFine under the control of the
division's former management team.
Sigpack Systems has introduced a new packaging line that it claims
can achieve a 50 per cent performance increase, using reduced
material costs and a return on investment in just six months.
Danish pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk has launched a new product
in its Norditropin range of human growth hormone (hGH) that
simplifies the delivery of the drug to children with growing
difficulties.
A new study has shown that near-infrared sprectroscopy (NIR) can be
used to check the active pharmaceutical ingredient content of
tablets - even if they are present in very low quantities -
supporting its use in process analytical...
GEA, a subsidiary of mg technologies, today announced that it has
acquired the business of Messo-Chemietechnik, which specialises in
crystallisation technologies for the biotechnology, pharmachem and
food industries.
Stellar Biotechnologies has been awarded $3 million (€2 million)
for the development of production methods, quality standards, and
facilities for its Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin (KLH), a key component
of its anti-cancer vaccine.
Germany's febit has filed for insolvency, just nine months after
launching its first product, the geniom one DNA analysis
instrument, into the life science sector.
Sherwood Technology has launched a new additive for solvent-based
coatings that could be used to provide a narking technology for
transparent packaging material, such as blisters used for
pharmaceuticals.
Japanese pharmaceutical company, Takeda, has entered into
collaboration with Bionumerik Pharmaceuticals, with the intention
of marketing Bionumerik's Tavocept (dimensa), a chemoprotective
drug that relieves the neurotherapy commonly...
A report cites an emerging trend within the pharmaceutical industry
that focuses on the human proteome and in turn, gene expression.
The findings are certain to play a future in the discovery of
protein-based biomarkers and hence...
Efforts to improve the efficacy of cancer therapy by blocking
cellular mechanisms that underlie resistance to cytotoxic drugs
have promised much but delivered little to date. Now, a team of
researchers in the US believe they have...
Despite the protestations of suppliers, the cost of passive tags
used for radiofrequency identification (RFID) will not fall as low
as 5 cents per unit, and is more likely to be at the 16 cent level,
according to a recently published...
Engineering firm AK Pharmaceuticals is to open a new Engineering
Centre of Excellence in Ireland, in a move that reaffirms the
healthy position of the Irish pharmaceutical industry. The move is
set to create 220 new jobs over the...
Nanotechnology company pSivida has announced the results of the
BrachySil trial, which has confirmed expectations that the compound
(32P-BioSilicon) is safe and effective at tumour progression and
raises possibilities of an effective...
Genomics specialist MWG Biotech has decided to pull out of
microarrays and laboratory automation and focus on its core areas
of making nucleic acids and oligonucleotides and DNA sequencing.
Tool supplier, EMD Biosciences has released the first comprehensive
guide to inhibitors for signal transduction and drug discovery
research that will enable researchers to pinpoint specific enzymes
as a possible target for drug therapy.
Applied Biosystems has been victorious in a patent dispute case,
brought in the US by Promega, that strove to overturn the company's
patents on technology used in gene amplification using polymerase
chain reaction (PCR).
According to a latest report, the growth of the biotechnology
company will continue to outpace that of pharmaceutical companies,
with the seven largest biotechnology companies growing at rates
faster than the pharmaceutical industry's...
UK optical recognition company Absolute Vision - a pioneer in the
use of two-dimensional data matrix codes used in laboratories - has
set up a new brand which signals a decision to ramp up its in-house
marketing efforts.
