Osteoporosis sufferers are set to benefit from an influx of new
drug treatments which are expected to dominate the market and give
patients an unprecedented choice of treatment options, according to
new market research which suggetss...
Germany's L B Bohle, a specialist in dispensing, granulating and
milling equipment, has introduced a new granulator for
pharmaceutical applications that allows for continuous throughput
of materials.
DSM has said it expects 'clearly higher' net profit from ordinary
operations in 2004, after reporting an unexpected increase in
first-quarter operating earnings.
The impact on the French chemicals industry of implementing the
European Union's REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation
of Chemicals) proposals could be as high €800 million in testing
alone and lead to the loss of...
Profile Therapeutics of the UK has been granted approval from the
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Prodose, its nebuliser
system that can improve the delivery of inhaled drugs.
DMV International, the industrial ingredients division of the
Netherlands' Campina, is planning to open a dedicated facility in
Germany for the production of excipients for direct compression.
A new range of vertical gel units which have been designed for DNA
sequencing and large format vertical gel electrophoresis
applications, have been introduced by UK firm Scie-Plas, a
subsidiary of Biochrom.
St Louis, USA-based KV Pharmaceutical says that the US District
Court for the District of Minnesota has denied a motion for a
preliminary injunction by two rival drug delivery companies in a
patent dispute centring on its technology...
Scottish pharmaceutical company Strakan has started a Phase I trial
of a testosterone product that should overcome the limitations of
delivering the drug by mouth.
Marcus Mall, from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, genetically modified mice to generate the typical symptoms of CF, something which...
There are renewed concerns of another severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS) epidemic after the Chinese Ministry of Health
reported three more cases, including one death. This brings the
current number of people with SARS-like symptoms...
Switzerland's Lonza, one of the leading contract manufacturers of
active pharmaceutical ingredients, has forged a collaboration with
RNA-TEC of Belgium to provide broad-ranging contract production of
oligonucleotides, a new class...
A formulation of the steroid drug budesonide, made using a
solubility technology developed by US company CyDex, has
outperformed one of the leading drugs for asthma on the market in a
preclinical study.
The European Commission has reported on its progress in building up
Europe's competitiveness in the biotechnology and concludes that
while positive steps have been taken, there is still much to be
done, particularly with regard...
Swedish company Cypak has started two trials of its Intelligent
Pharmaceutical Packaging (IPP) technology, which offers an
alternative to radiofrequency identification (RFID) for tracking
the use of medicines.
Researchers in the UK have devised a means of using bacteria as a
means of delivering proteins into tumour cells and killing them,
raising the hope that this could form the basis of a new treatment
for cancer.
Switzerland's Novartis has decided to withdraw from any
negotiations with Aventis over a possible merger, after official
discussions with the latter and fellow French-based company
Sanofi-Synthelabo got underway.
French chemicals company Rhodia has announced three new deals which
keep it on track to divest €700 million-worth of businesses by the
end of the year as it aims for a return to profitability in 2006.
Designers of child-proof packaging must always work against the
paradox that a package which is hard for a child to open can often
also be difficult for the adult patient it is intended to treat. In
fact, up to 90 per cent of adults...
US company Globe Medical Tech has started production of a new type
of safety syringe developed by Maxxon that should cost no more than
a regular, non-safe disposable syringe.
Developer of disposable container systems Stedim has teamed up with
a Californian firm to bring to market an alternative to
conventional media kitchens, designed to reduce the costs of
biomanufacturing.
Novartis Consumer Health has launched two of its OTC flu remedies
in portable dissolvable strips, thought to be the first such
products to use the novel delivery format.
The University of Ulster yesterday opened a new Nanotechnology
Research Institute at its Jordanstown campus in Northern Ireland,
and says it is the only institute of its type in the UK to bring
the discipline under the same roof as...
A new screening approach which can identify a new drug mechanism of
action without the need for an appropriate molecular target has
been used to suppress genetic mutation. The discovery raises new
hopes of identifying potential new...
IntelliChem, a developer of electronic laboratory notebooks (ELN)
for the drug discovery and development industry, has launched a new
ELN platform that can be used right across any pharmaceutical or
biotechnology company.
Ireland's Elan Corp has signed up another heavyweight partner -
Switzerland's Roche - for its NanoCrystals technology, designed to
improve the solubility of drug compounds.
The Netherlands-based pharmaceuticals, coatings and chemicals firm
Akzo Nobel has posted a 7 per cent rise in net income to €176
million for the first quarter of 2004, a little more than expected,
but has warned that its pharmaceuticals...
A booster dose of a growth factor naturally present in the body
appears to be safe and non-toxic for the treatment of pancreatic
cancer, and shows signs of arresting pancreatic cancer cell growth
in patients, according to researchers...
UK-based analysis specialist LGC has signed two agreements with
Poland's Institute of Industrial Organic Chemistry (IPO),
highlighting the company's strategy of establishing partnerships to
develop outside its home market.
UK-based Inpharmatica is to provide a full range of ADME services
to drug discovery company Biotica Technology under a new two-year
agreement signed this week.
Growing knowledge about how to manage the risks of gene therapy
could improve the chances of developing successful treatments, said
experts meeting last week to weigh up the progress made on the
technology to date.
The global market for nanocatalysts will amount to $3.7 billion in
2004 and is expected to reach $5.0 billion in 2009, according to
soon-to-be-released market research.
Illumina has announced today its latest system for performing DNA
analysis using the company's proven SNP genotyping technology was
being shipped worldwide to customers,writes Wai Lang Chu.
Germany's MG technologies has agreed to sell the bulk of its
Dynamit Nobel chemicals division, sealing the fate of a company
that has been on the block since last November, writes Phil
Taylor.
Israeli press reports say US generics company IVAX is close to
finalising a merger with local firm Agis, which manufactures
generics and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
The Internet search engine Google has launched a pilot project with
17 universities around the world, including institutes in Italy and
the UK, aimed at improving access to research papers.
US water-soluble films company MonoSol has bought the UK division
of Aquafilm, giving it access to substantial manufacturing
capabilities in Europe and its range of edible films, report
Phil Taylor and Dominique Patton.
UK contract research company, Peakdale Molecular has invested in
two large-scale glass reaction systems from Radleys to upgrade the
capabilities of its kilo-scale laboratory.
Germany's Merck KGaA has completed the $1.65 billion (€1.32bn) sale
of its laboratory distribution business, VWR International, to US
investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
Researchers in France have discovered how HIV hides itself from the
host immune system, raising the possibility of developing new drugs
or vaccines for the disease, reports Phil Taylor.
The next generation of orally-active erectile dysfunction (ED)
drugs took a step closer as researchers isolated a receptor that
could be used as a target of drug treatment without the side
effects associated with the only approved...
UK fine chemical company Ultrafine is to be acquired by
Sigma-Aldrich of the US in a move aimed at strengthening the
latter's offerings for the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.
3M has launched an updated version of its Integrated Packaging Tool
software that brings it into compliance with the US Food and Drug
Administration's 21 CFR Part 11 regulations on electronic
record-keeping, used to generate...
The global generics industry is growing at such a rate that it can
now support billion dollar companies, with activities crossing into
active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) production and R&D. This
shift in the sector - from...
Two Dutch researchers have developed a method for managing batch
productions - widely used in the pharmaceutical industry - which
has the potential of improving yields and reducing the number of
lost batches.
A team of researchers in the US has developed a technique that
overcomes one of the bottlenecks in research into the immune system
- identifying the antigens in a disease that stimulate attack by
the immune system.
Two medical charities - Cancer Research UK and the Netherlands
Cancer Institute - have completed the first stage of a pioneering
initiative to systematically uncover the function of human genes.
Membrane Extraction Technology has launched a new version of its
METcell - a chemically-resistant high pressure stirred cell used in
development laboratories in the pharmaceutical and chemical
industry - that can cope with more corrosive...
