Researchers in the US have recognised one of the key functions of
the c-myb gene, which leukaemia cells depend on for proliferation,
is the formation of white blood cells. The discovery is sure to
position the gene as a potential...
Competition in the sweeteners market could move up a gear in the
near future as Japanese scientists harness production capacity for
the taste-altering protein miraculin that makes sour foods taste
sweet,reports Lindsey Partos.
A new report into pharmaceutical R&D has identified an emerging
trend favouring outsourcing of discovery research, clinical trials
and formulation manufacturing, providing pressure relief from
consistent, high-growth financial...
Ireland's pharmaceutical industry saw a return to strong growth in
July, after a lengthy period in which the prevailing wisdom was
that the sector had plateaued.
A molecular 'switch' allowing cancer cells to detach
themselves from the host of other cancer cells and move away to a
different parts of the body has been discovered Researchers believe
this molecular step is a viable target...
Germany's chemical and pharmaceuticals firm Altana is considering
an acquisition valued at up to €500 million to strengthen its
specialty chemicals division, according to chief executive Nikolaus
Schweickart.
Number one natural colours firm Chr Hansen builds on ambitions to
penetrate deeper into this growing market with the launch of a new
range of natural reds that tackle stability for beverage
formulations, reports Lindsey Partos.
Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical of Japan has been granted the first
approval - in the Netherlands - for a product based on its
proprietary OCAS drug delivery technology.
Germany's Girindus is this year's recipient of the Product
Differentiation Award sponsored by consulting firm Frost &
Sullivan for its innovative developments in the commercial
production of oligonucleotides.
Sun Microsystems has been working on a number of initiatives
designed to help manufacturers improve supply chain efficiency and
achieve RFID compliance in time.
This week has seen several companies unveil significant capital
investments in new production and research units, and once again
production facilities for biological drugs - currently said to be
suffering from undercapacity - feature...
IBM has announced a $250 million (€203m) investment programme in
radiofrequency identification (RFID) and will boost the number of
employees working in this area by 1,000.
Australian nanotechnology company pSivida, which earlier this year
revealed it has designs on the drug delivery market, has created a
wholly owned spin-off diagnostics company, AION Diagnostics.
Bonar Plastics has developed a new container for hazardous liquids
that reduces the risk of spillages, is easy and safe for operators
to clean, and can be monitored using wireless technologies.
Sulfa drugs, the primary therapy for treating anthrax, are losing
the battle in its effectiveness in treating this bacterium, of
which antibiotic-resistant strains are emerging. Now,
computer-generated images which show bacterium...
The US subsidiary of Germany's Dr Hielscher has introduced a new
ultrasound device for the formation of aerosols that could have a
role in sample processing and quality control.
Dutch biotech firm Qiagen has announced the acquisition of key
assets of Molecular Staging (MSI), which includes the Whole Genome
Amplification (WGA) technology, designed to eliminate limitations
created by scarce quantities of DNA...
Emisphere Technologies of the US has entered into a licensing deal
with Swiss drug major Novartis to develop an oral formulation of
recombinant growth hormone, currently administered by injection.
A new report into pharmaceutical R&D worldwide identifies a
changing trend in increasing R&D focus of drugs for breast
cancer treatment compared with those for prostate cancer. This may
account for prostate cancer becoming...
The recent surge in HIV research shows no sign of terminating as
researchers reported the successful targeting of an HIV protein
that has eluded existing therapies. The technique used for
identifying the synthetic molecules may also...
Austrian company Inte:Ligand, which specializes in the development
of new drugs by computer simulation has launched a new software
package for modern drug design, which will provide pharma companies
with a tool to speed up the entire...
A new generation of 'smart antibiotics', which uses a virus that
adapts to recognize and attack bacteria, could become the latest
approach to tackling the growing public health problem of
antibiotic-resistant pathogens such...
Antibody technology company MorphoSys has formed a marketing
collaboration with Genefrontier, with a view to accessing the
Japanese life science market. This agreement will aim to establish
MorphoSys' HuCAL technology in the...
Denmark's DakoCytomation has started shipping a new flow cytometry
instrument for use in the analysis of cells in disease research
that is smaller than any other product in the class, and is claimed
to be the fastest system on...
Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center, using GE
Healthcare's CodeLink microarrays, have identified key changes in
gene expression that provide an improved understanding of the
malfunction and death of the...
Scientists in the US have developed Textpresso, a new text-mining
system for scientific literature which implements a unique search
engine using 33 catagories of terms for which a database of
articles and individual sentences can...
Key changes discovered in gene expression that provide an improved
understanding of neurones controlling movement and coordination and
their malfunction and death in Parkinson's Disease has lead to the
possibility of a drug therapy...
Labelling giant Avery Dennison has formed a new business unit to
manufacture and sell low-cost radiofrequency identification (RFID)
inlays and tags, putting its weight behind a technology that to
date has mostly been pushed forward...
In contrast to conventional wisdom, stirring a mix of granular
ingredients faster or longer in the manufacturing of
pharmaceuticals is not the key to getting a smooth blend.
Drug giant Pfizer is planning to buy UK-based drug delivery company
Meridica in a move that it says will bolster its activities in
allergy and respiratory medicine.
Researchers at Staffordshire University in the UK have come up with
a new robotic arm that is fully mobile, has accuracy that rivals
industrial fixed robot arms and could cost significantly less.
Curvaceous Software will showcase its recently launched process
analytical technology (PAT) package at next week's World Pharma IT
congress in London, UK.
Switzerland's Serono, Europe's largest biotechnology company, has
said it will close its InterPharm manufacturing plant in Ness
Ziona, Israel, by the end of year.
German biotechnological company SIRS-Lab, has introduced the
Lab-Arraytor 60-inflammation, a biochip that comprises a total of
780 inflammation-defined genes, specifically to understand the
molecular framework of acute inflammatory...
A drug delivery device worn like a wristwatch and programmed to
administer doses automatically has been developed by Chrono
Therapeutics and researchers at the University of Basel in
Switzerland.
French drug delivery specialist Novagali has raised €14 million in
a second round of fundraising and says the cash will allow it to
support its development programmes, based on a proprietary emulsion
technology, for up to three years.
Australia's Boron Molecular has set up a US agent, Boron Molecular
that aims to promote and increase the sale and distribution of the
company's range of organoboron compounds throughout the US market.
The results of an ongoing study could revolutionise Alzheimer's
disease treatment as a new technique, which uses a gene therapy
agent to deliver a drug containing nerve growth factor (NGF), to
the brain area affected by Alzheimer's...
Polymer Laboratories has launched a range of capillary and micro
chromatography columns for small scale chromatography which use
chemically stable polymeric particles to suit demanding high
sensitivity separations in drug discovery...
An experimental drug that block signals promoting uncontrolled
growth of blood cells, characteristic of Myeloproliferative Disease
(MPD) reported improvement in a sufferer's symptoms raising the
possibility of an effective cancer...
Inyx has acquired a Swiss-developed drug delivery technology that
should make it possible to develop inhaled drug therapies with two
or more active compounds, even if they are incompatible or
unstable.
Constant innovation in the field of microfluidics and uTAS has
enabled lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technologies to successfully enter the
mainstream commercial market especially impacting on
high-throughput screening of drug candidates, point...
Representatives of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries
presented strong opposition to the concept of biogenerics at a
recent meeting convened by the US Food and Drug Administration. As
expected, their argument centred...
Solvay subsidiary Peptisyntha is boosting its capacity to make
peptides at its facilities in California, US, in anticipation of
increasing numbers of drugs in this class coming through to market.
Kyowa Hakko Kogyo has developed a new process for manufacturing
amino acid dimers - also known as di-peptides - that could increase
their use as components in infusions and enteral nutrition
products.
Freeman Technology is gearing up to launch the first in a new range
of accessories for its FT4 powder rheometer that are designed to
bring it into the age of industrial automation.
Drug major Roche has licensed a technology developed by Glycart
Biotechnology that makes antibody-based drugs more effective by
making them resemble natural human antibodies more closely.
Medarex has announced a global collaboration agreement with Pfizer
that will provide for the discovery and development of up to 50
antibody products over ten years including the creation of fully
human antibody products in a variety...
