Fine chemicals maker Bachem has reported higher sales in the first
half of the year, but profits were slightly weaker as unfavourable
exchange rates took their toll.
Israeli generics and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API)
company Teva Pharmaceutical Industries announced yet another
acquisition earlier today, this time for Pfizer's Italian generic
pharmaceutical marketing company Dorom.
Sigma-Aldrich and Caliper Life Sciences have teamed up to develop
and co-market a series of automated systems for a wide variety of
applications in genomics, proteomics, and drug discovery.
Scientists in the UK and Germany have discovered that drugs that
inhibit enzymes known as metalloproteinases have the hallmarks of a
new treatment for the common skin diseases psoriasis.
UK-based BioProgress, the manufacturer of 'dissolve in the mouth'
films, has bought two soluble film casting lines allowing it to
boost its production capacity to meet growing demand for the novel
delivery format.
The race to develop an inhaled formulation of insulin - and provide
the first alternative to injections for the millions of people
worldwide who suffer from diabetes - is getting closer.
Pipetting technology company CyBio has posted half year sales of
€4.5m, down slightly on the €4.6m in 2003. This muted sales
performance is attributed to the differing development of business
in CyBio's sales regions.
Netherlands-based Qiagen achieved organic growth of 32 per cent for
the second quarter of 2004, but profits fell by a fifth as the cost
of restructuring took its toll.
Imaging Systems Company, Richardson Technologies, are to showcase
its Real Time Microscope (RTM), a radical imaging system capable of
providing real time, full colour images, providing improved sample
detail, essential for pharmaceutical...
Elchrom Scientific introduces a novel purification technology
enabling a greater yield of ultra pure siRNA synthetic
oligonucleotides at a faster turn around rate, rapidly increasing
siRNA oligonucleotides (oligos) quantity required...
The first ever application to start clinical trials of a
therapeutic based on small interfering RNA (siRNA) - for the wet
form of the eye disease age-related macular degeneration - has been
filed by Acuity Pharmaceuticals.
Researchers at Newcastle's Centre for Life have been given the
go-ahead to create stem cells from unfertilised human eggs, thought
to be the first time that such a license has been granted in
Europe.
BioDelivery Sciences International has entered into a definitive
agreement to acquire all of the capital stock of fellow drug
delivery firm Arius Pharmaceuticals.
Fisher Scientific has completed its €3bn merger with Apogent
Technologies, continuing an acquisitive period which has seen it
become one of the top companies in the market for research tools.
Mettler Toledo, the world's largest manufacturer of weighing
instruments, has reported a healthy 8 per cent hike in sales for
the first half of 2004, helped by favourable currency factors.
In spite of pressures from rising oil prices in the last few
months, German specialty chemicals group H&R Wasag is
maintaining its growth forecasts for the year on the back of price
increases.
German biotech company Evotec OAI boosted its second quarter
revenues by 18 per cent to €17 million, despite the difficult
operating environment for companies supplying drug discovery
technologies, continuing its recovery from a weak...
Absolute Vision of the UK has unveiled a new hand-held code reader
that can be used for conventional barcodes, the new reduced space
symbology (RSS) code and two-dimensional data matrix markings.
In the wake of the divestment of its Dynamit Nobel chemicals
businesses, mg technologies of Germany has reported a modest
increase in sales for the first half of the year, helped by a good
performance from its GEA subsidiary.
The European Commission has started a discussion on its strategy
for developing Europe's nanotechnology industry, and is seeking
comments on its proposals put forward in June.
Life sciences software company Optive Research has launched its
latest software for in silico drug discovery, making it
faster and easier for chemists to 'invent' new compounds for
lead discovery.
US biotechnology company Cephalon says that the US Federal Trade
Commission has approved its $385 million acquisition of CIMA Labs,
nearly a year after it outbid aaiPharma for the drug delivery
specialist.
Genes, which are linked to either resistance or sensitivity to four
major cancer drugs used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
(ALL) has led to the suggestion that these genes determine
treatment outcome and may represent future...
Solvay Chemicals has said that it will increase off-list prices for
all grades of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in North America from 15
September in the face of escalating demand.
Calling the next six months 'a critical period', the US Food and
Drug Administration's Acting Commissioner Lester Crawford has
unveiled a lengthy list of agency priorities, including continued
work on Good Manufacturing...
Cobra Biomanufacturing has received approval from the UK regulatory
authorities for its new clinical trial manufacturing facilities in
Oxford as well as its established unit in Keele.
Scientists may be fighting a losing battle to develop alternative
treatments to drug resistant pathogens, as research reveals the
evolution of drug resistance in bacteria is a trait that is
favoured through the process of natural...
Building on a stronger start to the year, Germany's third largest
chemicals group reports continued growth into the second quarter
with an increase in demand pushing up sales and earnings.
The market for oligonucleotides is set to more than double in the
next few years, promising rewards for those companies that can meet
the demand for custom ingredients and manufacturing services.
New treatment strategies for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) based on a
specific combination of genes that directly give protection against
HCV without the necessity for additional treatment for a virus that
affects 170 million people...
US company STERIS has achieved a significant breakthrough in
aseptic processing with the development of a method for
inactivating prions, the tiny, protein particles that cause
diseases such as CJD disease in humans.
Pharmaceutical companies seeking to design more effective
chemotherapy drugs will be encouraged by the latest discovery that
has isolated the independent mechanisms of action of two anticancer
drugs. This revelation provides drug...
Drug discovery company PerkinElmer and biotechnology company
Vivascience has announced the formation of a joint partnership and
distribution agreement in biomarker screening and discovery.
Aurora Discovery has introduced a low volume-handling instrument
that enables highly automated miniaturization of research assays
for life science laboratories specialising in drug research and
development.
Japan-based engineering firm Teikoku Piston Ring has developed a
hologram identification label that brings anti-counterfeiting
packaging to new levels.
A report into the protein biochip industry identifies a major trend
emerging in protein production, either driven by gene approaches or
research purposes for therapeutic drug production. The report cites
growth in the US market to...
Shares in drug delivery company Nektar Therapeutics fell through
the floor yesterday after it was suggested that regulators in
Europe were not prepared to approve an inhaled insulin product for
diabetes based on its technology.
Sensitech of the US has made another foray into the European market
for cold chain monitoring technologies with the acquisition of
Netherlands-based Temperature Data Systems.
Germany'sLion Bioscience has reported a slight financial
improvement from a year ago, trimming losses in the first quarter.
53 per cent of the Lion's Q1 revenues, or €2.1 million were
generated from Bayer projects.
Borculo Domo Ingredients has forged an alliance with Univar USA to
act as the exclusive distributor for all of BDI's pharmaceutical
lactose products in the US, the world's largest pharmaceutical
market.
US pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) is to pay $150
million (€122 million) to settle an investigation in which
regulators claimed the company gave investors an inaccurate
representation of its financial performance by...
Two UK packaging machinery engineers, Autowrappers and Europack,
have been bought by Bradman Lake to create a packaging company that
can supply a full range of machinery and compete with the big
players in the pharmaceutical and food...
Applied Imaging has announced the release of Ariol 2.0, the latest
generation of its Ariol imaging analysis system, providing a suite
of advanced image analysis technologies for cancer testing and drug
discovery.
The German chemicals giant BASF has announced a successful second
quarter, though the company's nutrition and agricultural products
division turned in a poor performance with minimal sales growth and
reduced earnings from the...
Research into obesity treatment and its related disorders took
another step forward after two studies isolated drug targets that
could prove effective for the millions who suffer from
obesity-related problems.
Chemical giant BASF has increased the prices for its plastic
material Styrolux by €200 per metric ton in Europe as of 1 August,
blaming the rising cost of raw materials.
A drug delivery technology developed by SCOLR Pharma has been
adapted to deliver multiple drugs in a nod towards a growing trend
in the pharmaceutical industry to develop combination products in a
single tablet.
SurfE2ROne, a new detection technology for drug discovery and
development, has been launched by its makers IonGate Biosciences
who believe that in using this technology drugs can be developed
faster and more efficiently.
Emerging nanomedicine technologies could find an increasing place
in various areas and applications of the healthcare sector
including drug discovery and development, drug delivery and
providing targeted therapy, according to a new...
