A new method to improve the accuracy and speed of fluorescent flow
cytometry has been developed. The technique, which is tipped to
become a new industry standard, promises to dramatically increase
the accuracy and speed of the technique,...
India's Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals has set up a company
specialising in the contract manufacture of active pharmaceutical
ingredients (APIs) and intermediates that is specifically aimed at
winning business from foreign...
The UK's Science and Innovation Minister, Lord Sainsbury, has
defended his government's record on nanotechnology, after last
week's report from the House of Commons science and technology
select committee blamed policy...
France's Sanofi-Synthelabo has announced plans to sell two of its
products to GlaxoSmithKline in a deal which forms part of its
strategy to take over Aventis.
General Electric has completed its €8.1 billion acquisition of UK
healthcare company Amersham, promising to create a new company that
will 'change the face of healthcare,' according to GE chief
executive Jeffrey Immelt.
The US Food and Drug Administration is planning to hold a meeting
in June to re-examine its regulations on electronic records and
signatures, used to generate the audit trail in the food and drug
industries, to examine whether some...
Despite years of promises, there is still not a single product on
the market that has been manufactured in a genetically-engineered
organism. But a soon-to-be released market report maintains that
the floodgates are about to open,...
Researchers studying cell migration and the screening of drug
compounds, can benefit from a new type of cell analysis system
developed by Guava Technologies. These processes are extensively
studied in cancer research and drug discovery...
Cobra Biomanufacturing has granted AstraZeneca the right to use its
proprietary DNA manufacturing process to make nucleic acids for use
in its drug discovery operations.
Scientists studying vaccinia virus, a close relative of smallpox,
have discovered that a gene necessary for virus replication also
plays a key role in turning off inflammation, a crucial antiviral
immune response of host cells.
A scientist has claimed that nanotechnology - devoted to
engineering tiny machines with applications as diverse as drug
delivery, electronics and materials science - could pose a health
hazard and should be investigated further before...
UK-based packaging company Rexam has provided further evidence of
its commitment to the pharmaceutical sector with the purchase of
Plastic Omnium Medical, a company specialising in plastic
components for medical devices.
Scientists atDuke University's Medical Centre in the US have
discovered why certain vaccines are unable to mount an attack
against cancer and have also demonstrated how to overcome this
constraint by reinforcing the vaccines'...
Leaving aside the safety concerns surrounding nanotechnology set
out in In-Pharmatechnologist.com's lead article today, a
report commissioned by the UK government has claimed that a lack of
foresight by both policy makers and...
Distek has developed a new product in its range of devices for
testing how well pharmaceutical tablets dissolve that does not need
a water bath. The benefit? A reduction in maintenance, faster
throughput and less system vibration...
A new technique for engineering protein crystals is helping
scientistsfigure out the three-dimensional structures of some
important biological molecules, including a key plague protein
whose structure has eluded researchers until...
Daiichi Pharmaceutical is to set up a new manufacturing subsidiary
in a bid to profit from forthcoming Japanese legislation that makes
it easier for firms to produce drugs for third parties.
Encapsulation specialist RP Scherer, part of the Cardinal Health
group, has been granted a patent on a technology that could be used
to reduce the amount of flavours and sweeteners used in
fast-dispersing dosage forms.
Danish biotechnology company LifeCycle Pharma has won a contract
with Italy's Recordati to develop an improved formulation of
Zanidip (lercanidipine), used for the treatment of hypertension,
reports Phil Taylor.
A non-profit pharmaceutical company has set up a network of
volunteer scientists in order to plug a hole in medical research -
the development of medicines for diseases that affect some of the
poorest people in the world.
UK filtration specialist Domnick Hunter has made a foray into the
US market with the purchase of a Californian company specialising
in filtration for the biopharmaceutical, food and beverage and
chemical industries.
US biotechnology company Genentech is planning to build a new
large-scale mammalian cell culture manufacturing facility in
California which will be the largest of its kind in the world.
Scientists have started to develop what could be a biosynthetic
route to producing compounds that serve as precursors to a range of
industrial chemicals, including pharmaceuticals.
Novo Nordisk has broken ground on a new manufacturing facility in
Kalundborg, Denmark, that will produce liraglutide, a potential new
product for treating type 2 diabetes.
An international consortium of scientists has sequenced the genome
of the Brown Norway rat, which many predict will deliver a boost
for medical science by alowing the development of better models of
human diseases.
The first in a series of government-funded incubation facilities
opened in Ireland this week, designed to nurture the development of
biotech companies.
A new study has challenged the current thinking that there is a
fundamental difference in the way that solid tumours and leukaemias
developing, and suggests a new way of tackling cancer, reports
Phil Taylor.
IWKA PacSystems of the UK has introduced a new blister packing
machine that can dramatically reduce the time it takes to carry out
validation and get into production compared to rival systems.
A number of countries set to join the European Union in May,
including Hungary, have signed a petition against new EU
legislation that they claim would significantly raise the cost of
providing healthcare, reports Phil Taylor.
The UK's recently adopted standard for child resistance in
non-recloseable pharmaceutical packaging such as blister packs
contains a serious flaw that must be addressed, according to
Stephen Wilkins, secretary of the UK's...
Isopak, a company specialising in small-scale pharmaceutical
production equipment, will introduce a new machine next month that
overcomes one of the major obstacles to making capsules that can
deliver liquid medications.
Rhodia Pharma Solutions has completed a new extension to its
production operation in Dudley, outside Newcastle, in the UK to
strengthen its ability to provide custom manufacturing services to
pharmaceutical companies.
US company NeoPharm believes it may have overcome one of the major
limitations of using RNA interference (RNAi) or gene silencing as a
systemic treatment.
Several companies in the biopharmaceutical technology arena are
championing the concept of disposable manufacturing as a simple,
cost-effective way of making biologic drugs. But data on the actual
cost benefits of adopting this approach...
Spain's Telstar Industrial is developing a technology for leak
testing of pharmaceutical packages that could revolutionise the way
this vital quality control function is carried out in the industry.
Weighing and metal detection specialist Sartorius has developed a
new detector that solves a tricky problem - how to detect stainless
steel shards in products like blister packs that contain aluminium
foil, such as blister packs and...
UK-based Lonza Biologics has extended its agreement with Chromos
Molecular Systems for non-exclusive access to the Canadian firm's
ACE System, technology that speeds up the time researchers need to
isolate cell lines.
A US partnership is hoping that rights to a new gene delivery
system will help it to develop avian transgenic technology as an
efficient and cost-effective biomanufacturing platform for the
production of human therapeutic protein...
Drug companies are waking up to the notion that the environment a
researcher works in - whether in drug discovery or the quality
control lab - is a crucial factor in determining their productivity
and creativity. And they have started...
Two and a half years ago, Northern Ireland's Sepha sparked a minor
revolution in the blister packaging sector by unveiling the first
clean, non-destructive alternative to the methylene blue dye test
(MDT) for leak testing. Now,...
The pharmaceutical packaging market plays David to the Goliath of
the food and beverage sector, but is one of several sectors that
has the packaging industry interested, reports Phil Taylor,
who spoke with Rolf Borjesson the chief...
Beckman Coulter, the leading manufacturer of instrument systems and
automated laboratory processes, has launched two new laboratory
automation workstations which promise to set new standards in
accuracy and precision of assays.
Biotrove has reported promising data from a study of its Living
Chip microfluidic technology used to generate genotyping data from
human genomic samples. Their high-density array chip promises to
hike the throughout rate for this...
Compared to the total research products market, which has been in
the doldrums of late, the DNA microarray market continues to
experience robust growth world wide, according to new market
research from Frost & Sullivan.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has created a new rule
requiring content and warning labelling for over-the-counter (OTC)
drugs that contain levels of calcium, magnesium, sodium, or
potassium that might be harmful to people...
The Japanese regulatory authority has approved the JRS Pharma's
ProSolv excipient - designed to make it easier and cheaper to make
high-quality tablets - for use in pharmaceutical formulations.
The first ever TOTAL Processing and Packaging Show opens its doors
this week, bringing together tens of thousands of processing and
packaging professionals across the pharmaceutical and food sectors
and providing a rare opportunity...
The European Commission has announced a collaborative tuberculosis
research initiative, underpinned by €32 million in funding for two
overlapping research projects aimed at developing an improved
vaccine for the disease. The news...
