A group of research directors of leading pharmaceutical companies
met this week to agree a framework for working together on research
in a bid to make the European industry more competitive.
Applied Biosystems has won a legal battle in Germany that could see
certain thermal cycler products from Bio-Rad and MJ Research being
driven off the market.
After months of trying to find a partner for its pharmaceutical
division, Danish packaging company Superfos has abandoned the plan
and will retain the business, reports Phil Taylor.
NovAseptic has upgraded its NovaSeptum range of disposable samplers
to reduce the level of endotoxins to a level that falls well within
strict new guidelines set down by the European Pharmacopoeia.
Reforms that demand the public disclosure of industry payments to
The National Institute of Health (NIH) employees are to be
introduced to crackdown on the violation of existing rules that
create a conflict of interest between the...
Merck KGaA subsidiary EMD Biosciences has formed a partnership with
The Automation Partnership that will see EMD's products included on
the new Piccolo system for recombinant protein production.
Tekcel, a sample management company for life science research, has
acquired assets of Biophile that includes its ultra low temperature
(minus 80 degrees C) sample management systems designed for
research applications in the drug discovery...
Sigma-Aldrich has boosted its capacity to supply pharmaceutical
ingredients with the purchase of Tetrionics, a company with a
strong position in the high growth area of high potency and
cytotoxic compounds.
Unigene, which specialises in developing oral versions of
injectable drugs, has received a $4 million (€3.3m) milestone
payment from pharmaceutical major GlaxoSmithKline for starting
clinical trials of an osteoporosis drug.
Tekni-Plex has launched a new range of thermoformable films for
blister packaging that is thin, offers high moisture barrier
properties and can do away with the need to use
environmentally-unsound polyvinylchloride (PVC).
The first clinical trial of a peptide that mimics the cellular
adhesion molecule NCAM is due to take place in the UK in the third
quarter of this year, bringing a potential new treatment for
Alzheimer's disease a step closer,...
PamGene International is to combine its microarray platform with
Jerini Peptide Technologies' (JPT) peptide libraries to create a
series of new products for kinase studies.
Prices for flat rolled steel products in Europe have now in most
cases reached their highest level in the last two decades,
according to UK steel market analyst MEPS. This is likely to impact
the packaging industry.
Colder Products, a provider of connectors to the processing and
packaging industries, has launched a new non-spill connection to
meet smaller size requirements in the chemical and other
industries.
UK company Aerotrim has developed a new line of insulated jackets
for pallets that are currently being trialled by pharmaceutical
companies and other industries, including food manufacturers and
the military.
UK biotechnology company Xenova has been given regulatory approval
for a manufacturing facility for clinical trial materials for its
own use, as well as for its clients.
A remote controlled camera system that provides continuous
monitoring of a key processing machine has achieved a hike in
operating efficacy at active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and
fine chemicals company Macfarlan Smith.
A new treatment for cancer that destroys tumours by heating them
from the inside has shown promise in animal studies conducted at
Rice University in the US, writes Phil Taylor.
Rudolf Hanko, formerly head of the fine chemicals business unit at
Bayer, has joined Degussa as head of the company's exclusive
synthesis business line, part of Degussa's Exclusive Synthesis
& Catalysts business unit.
In the UK, the House of Commons Health Committee is to undertake a
broad-ranging inquiry into the influence of the pharmaceutical
industry on health policy, to look for conflicts between the need
for new drugs and commercial interests,...
Affymetrix has extended the range of custom microarrays it offers
to customers with the launch of the NimbleExpress Array Programme,
which caters for users that require fewer units.
Micap, a UK company specialising in using yeast cells to
encapsulate drugs, has entered into a collaboration with leading
medicated chewing gum company Fertin that should extend the range
of active ingredients that can be delivered...
Germany's MWG Biotech has launched its own line of small
interfering RNA (siRNA) reagents, siMAX, encroaching into territory
dominated by the likes of Qiagen, Dharmacon, Ambion, Proligo and
Invitrogen.
A new drug delivery company, Merrion Pharmaceuticals, has been set
up to commercialise various technologies originally developed at
Ireland's Elan, which sold off many of its assets after growing too
quickly throughout the 1990s.
NovAseptic has launched what it claims is the first high shear
mixer that uses a magnet-driven mechanism, designed to make it
easier to clean and reduce the risk of contamination.
A proposal requiring drug companies to register clinical trials in
a public database to be considered for later publication -
regardless of results - is being considered by top medical
journals, writes Wai Lang Chu.
Researchers at Harvard have discovered why cholesterol-lowering
drugs do not have identical effects on patients. These medicines on
average cut heart attacks by a third and with sales of $26 billion
dollars and used by 20 million...
Irish start-up Celtic Catalysts believes it can tackle two of the
major obstacles holding back the use of catalysts to make chiral
drugs - the strong patent positions of existing players and
difficulties in scale-up - with its platform...
Drug discovery instrumentation and software developer Axon
Instruments announced today the release of its Axoporator 800A
single-cell electroporator, the first commercially available
instrument of its kind, writes Wai Lang Chu.
The European Union parallel trade in pharmaceuticals is offering
few benefits to cash-strapped national healthcare systems and may
raise the risk of medication errors and entry of counterfeit
medicines into the supply chain, according...
Ireland's Elan has signed its first major contract manufacturing
and supply agreement in a development that reinforces its
credentials as a player in the outsourcing sector.
In Norway, the Supreme Court has concluded that the packaging
designused by the local subsidiary of parallel importer Paranova
does notinfringe Merck & Co's trademarks.
The European Union has awarded funding worth €2.2 million to the
group of academic institutes behind the 3DGENOME research
programme, which is exploring how the genome functions in health
and disease.
A conference on the hot topic of RNA interference will be held in
London, UK in October, with the keynote address delivered by
leading RNAi researcher Craig Mello.
Hovione of Portugal has teamed up with drug delivery company CyDex
to develop improved formulations of drugs that have lost or will
soon lose patent protection.
Companies developing new drugs for the global market must deal with
the rising costs of the R&D process - and outsourcing may well
be the best route, according to Dr Faiz Kermani, a specialist in
outsourcing and research development.
Vectura, a UK biotechnology company which is developing an inhaled
alternative to orally acting impotence drugs such as Pfizer's
Viagra (sildenafil), has announced plans to float on the London
stock market.
Scientists in the UK are tipped to be given approval this week to
create cloned human embryos to harvest stem cells to treat diabetes
patients and with the possibility of treating other diseases such
as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
Swiss active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) company Siegfried
believes it has found a shortcut on the path to market for generic
drugs in the European Union, allowing it to launch drugs
immediately after their patents expire.
Neotame, a recently introduced high intensity sweetener developed
by US company NutraSweet, has been approved by the health
authorities in India for use in pharmaceutical preparations.
UK company Laminar Medica has launched a new shipping container for
pharmaceuticals that according to tests does not deviate from the
set temperature range, even after 450 intercontinental
transportations.
India's Jubilant Organosys has bought two companies in Belgium as
part of a drive to improve its presence in the European market for
generic drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
Membrane separation systems dominate the European market for
industrial process water treatment equipment, and the technology
looks set to consolidate and spread to Eastern Europe.
Malvern Instruments of the UK has launched a new system that is
intended as an entry level product for companies needing to size
particles in dry powders, suspensions and emulsions.
A coalition of biopharmaceutical companies and regulatory agencies
has agreed on an electronic data standard that should make it
easier to file product approval dossiers to regulators
electronically, bringing drugs to market more...
The development of an in silico model of the non-obese
diabetic (NOD) mouse, the primary animal model used by researchers
to study type 1 diabetes, is set to enhance understanding of the
disease and radically advance pharmaceutical...
Qiagen and Protedyne have teamed up to develop an ultra
high-throughput sample preparation system for Protedyne's BioCube
systems used for nucleic acid purification,writes Wai Lang
Chu.
Despite a dip in the fortunes of the biotechnology industry,
bioinformatics firm BlueGnome has achieved profit in less than
three years since its formation. The firm's fortunes are in
contrast to similar start up firms within...
