New products this week include: a kit for isolating RNA from blood;
a DNA microarray for cytogenetics and cancer research; an automated
mammalian cell picker; and a reagent dispenser for a microplate
reader.
The axe looks set to fall on Scottish biotechnology company PPL
Therapeutics now that the company put itself up for sale, having
failed to convince investors of a rescue plan.
Bristol-Myers Squibb has taken another step towards building a
franchise in insulin therapy by licensing an inhaled version of the
drug from QDose for $30m.
Capsule technology company BioProgress has reported its first set
of interim results since becoming an AIM-listed company, as well as
a distribution deal with Hoefliger.
The notion that there is undercapacity in biomanufacturing has
become common wisdom, but a new study suggest that now supply and
demand are in balance.
Profile Therapeutics has reported strong growth in sales and a
reduced operating loss for the year-ended June 30, and expects this
trend to continue as its R&D efforts in improved nebuliser
technologies come to fruition.
US firm Medrad has installed an automated assembly line that has
increased production capacity of its sterile disposables operation
by more than 60 per cent.
Argonaut Technologies has released its latest Synthesis and
Purification catalogue, a technical resource for pharmaceutical
chemists and others involved in all phases of drug discovery and
development.
Merck & Co has become the first drug major to make a
significant alliance in the field of RNA interference - one of the
hottest topics in drug discovery - via a deal with Alnylam
Pharmaceuticals.
On 13 October 2003 the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) will
launch a new bioinformatics support network that is tailor-made for
small companies.
Chemical Synthesis Services has opened a new, £25 million (€36
million) facility in Craigavon, Northern Ireland, improving its
drug development and analysis services.
BioProgress has completed the design and build of the first pilot
scale version of its XGEL NROBE powdered drug coating technology
and is set to deliver the machine to Farmasierra in Madrid, Spain.
UK-based separations specialist Whatman saw its turnover drop in
the first half of 2003, but operating profits leap on back of its
restructuring effort.
Merck & Co is conducting a pilot evaluation of Aegis's
Discoverant software in two of its manufacturing plants to assess
its impact on process performance and productivity.
NiKem Research says it has developed its ADMET capabilities to such
an extent that it can offer them as a service to customers involved
in drug discovery.
Tecan has launched a new 384-channel pipetting head that is
suitable for high precision dispensing of volumes - from 200nl to
50µl - in a broad range of fluid-handling applications.
Two $500m-plus licensing deals reveal the rewards available to
biotech firms with novel drugs, but also the lengths large
biopharma companies will now go to secure exclusive rights to
promising candidates, even if they are in the...
Zinsser has launched a sample preparation system - the Moss 2002 -
that makes it easier to process the hundreds and thousands of
compounds used in HTS laboratories
A small Korean biotechnology company maps the binding site of
phosphodiesterase-5, the target of Pfizer's Viagra and other drugs
for erectile dysfunction.
Recordati is expecting to sell off its pharmaceutical chemical
operations by the end of next year or early in 2004, according to
the company's chief executive, who expects €80-€90m in proceeds for
the sale.
An October conference on biogenerics will see research-based
biopharmaceutical companies and their generic rivals battle to win
the hearts and minds of regulators.
Millions of dollars are being spent unnecessarily each year on
treatments for high blood pressure says research published this
week in BMC Health Services Research.
Medical device multinational Guidant has paid $35 million (€32m) in
cash to acquire the rights to a polymer technology from MediVas for
use in its stent programme.
The US Food and Drug Administration has issued its final guidance
document describing its current thinking regarding the scope and
application of 21 CFR Part 11 on electronic records and electronic
signatures; also unveils a series...
A process developed by Amersham has enabled Isis Pharmaceuticals to
produce the world's largest antisense oligonucleotide synthesis
scale per single run.
Waters has launched a new MALDI-TOF (time of flight) mass
spectrometer, along with a line of porous silicon-coated target
plates and new reference standards,
Companies that supply instruments and consumables to the life
sciences industry have been hit hard by reined in research spending
resulting from the current adverse economic climate. However, one
chief executive believes there are...
Pall has reported a 10 per cent rise in sales to $471 million
(€430m) in the fourth quarter, boosted by currencies and the
recently-acquired FSG operations.
Amersham Biosciences has added a mouse genome product in its
CodeLink range, used for drug target identification, pathway
characterisation and drug effect predictions.
World Pharmaceuticals SA has been awarded a US patent for a
dropping bottle for pharmaceutical liquids that overcomes the
limitations of current designs.
Gradipore has reported a 65 per cent increase in sales for the year
ended 30 June, but said that it was disappointed by the figures,
which did not meet its expectations.
Innothera is awarded a US patent for a formulation of elemental
iron that could do away with the need for coatings to disguise the
mineral's disagreeable taste.
Bruker Daltonics has launched a compact, high-performance MALDI
-TOF/TOF mass spectrometer that has an affordable price tag,
requires less laboratory space than rival systems and is geared up
for use in proteomics applications.
Sidec Technologies has entered into a contract research
collaboration with a US research institute to study a receptor
involved in the regulation of blood pressure.
MiraiBio is to act as a distributor of Gentra Systems' Autopure LS
automated large sample nucleic acid purification system and related
consumables in the USA and certain other regions of the Americas.
Italian researchers suggest that patients with atrial fibrillation
may have a genetic predisposition linked to expression of
pro-inflammatory proteins.
