The creditors of Australian over-the-counter medicines and vitamins
manufacturer Pan Pharmaceuticals have rejected a rescue bid for the
company at a meeting held last week. Another meeting is due to be
held later today.
Chiron's headquarters is hit by two homemade bombs, with an animal
rights group claiming responsibility. The blasts caused no
casualties and only minor damage to property, but represent an
alarming escalation in the tactics used...
French company Flamel Technologies has added another high-profile
client for its drug delivery technology spurring another leap in
its shares that have already climbed almost 800 per cent over the
last 12 months.
A new report from Best Practices provides a view of how the top
pharma firms manage their quality control to reduce manufacuring
costs and production time.
Delivery of millions of doses of Acambis' smallpox vaccine to the
US government has been delayed because of a disagreement over the
best glue to use for the vial labels.
Aventis has licensed a drug for Alzheimer's disease and other forms
of dementia from Japan's Dainippon; AC-3933 is claimed to have a
completely novel mechanism of action.
Alex Matter is to direct the Novartis Institute for Tropical
Diseases (NITD) in Singapore after his retirement as Novartis
oncology chief later ths month.
Leading CRO says it has seen a marked increase in the number of
trials it has been asked to work on in Central Europe, and believes
the trend is set to continue.
IBM has introduced its new InsightLink software, an application to
help pharma companies create searchable online databases that will
enable more sharing of research knowledge.
Transgenic plant technologies could lead to a revolution in vaccine
production and manufacture; should plant-based vaccines prove
effective in clinical trials, this will drive licensing activity
between key vaccine players and companies...
The UK MHRA will allow salt and ester variants of active drugs to
be submitted for approval as generics using abridged applications,
following the EU's lead.
US pharmaceuticals major Pfizer is considering moving some of its
activities in Germany to the UK due to government health reforms;
meanwhile, Merck & Co has shelved plans to open a new R&D
facility in the country.
A new report suggests that pharmaceutical companies reap much
greater rewards from licensing in products than they do in
conducting their own in-house research.
Schering-Plough has lowered its financial forecasts for the second
time and unveiled a fresh round of cost cutting in an attempt to
stabilise its finances.
Australian packaging group Amcor has entered into a A$330 million
(€198m) agreement to buy Rexam's healthcare flexibles packaging
business and will also buy out Danisco and Ahlstrom's 28.1 per cent
minority stake in its...
Abbott Laboratories and artus have gained European approval for
their RealArt HPA Coronavirus LC RT Reagents, a diagnostic test for
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Researchers have uncovered evidence that the first time that
neurotoxic peptide assemblies known as ADDLs are responsible for
Alzheimer's disease in humans.
Clariant has announced plans to establish a Technology Centre in
Germany that will support the pharmaceutical industry in the
commercialisation of new drugs.
The lead compound in Merck and Karo Bio's selective oestrogen
receptor modulator collaboration has been dropped after toxicity
emerged preclinical tests.
A new-generation smallpox vaccine developed by Acambis may be less
neurovirulent than a rival registered in the USA, while still
providing equivalent immunogenicity.
BioProgress of the UK, which specialises in delivery mechanisms for
the pharmaceutical oral dosage markets, has sold the first two
machines in its line of systems for tablet coating based on its
proprietary coloured cellulose film.
Sigma-Aldrich has negotiated an exclusive contract to distribute a
range of catalysts that are used in pharmaceutical discovery and
fine chemical production.
Fisher Scientific has extended its SK5.3 billion (€573m) offer for
Perbio Science after failing to win the support of more than 90 per
cent of Perbio's investors.
UK study finds sewage treatment is effective in removing
pharmaceutical and personal care product chemicals,although there
some facilities are better than others.
A new report from Datamonitor predicts the end of the
pharmaceutical industry's blockbuster product model, pointing to a
dramatic shortfall in growth rates for billion dollar-plus products
out to 2008.
US antisense specialist Genta has agreed to acquire Salus
Therapeutics, a specialist in small interfering RNA, for up to $30
million in cash and stock. The terms of the agreement call for
Genta to issue $13 million in stock at closing.
A fluorescence imaging technology developed by Siemens promises to
improve the in vivo imaging of molecular processes in drug
discovery and disease research
Abingworth Management, a UK venture capital group, has raised a
$350 million investment vehicle in a move that lends further weight
to suggestions that the funding crisis hitting the biotechnology
sector may be nearing its end.
Parallel traders in pharmaceuticals fend off moves to force them to
use plain white boxes and black print in their packaging; they
argue that such a restriction could lead to patient safety
problems.
German chemicals and drugs company Bayer has said that it plans to
sell its subsidiary Walothen to Finland's Wihuri as part of an
ongoing restructuring of its portfolio.
Daicel has entered into an agreement with Thesis Chemistry in a
deal which will see the two companies collaborate in the area of
chiral process manufacturing.
Oden has introduced its Mass/Blend Continuous Stream Digital
Blending System, designed to eliminate problems associated with
large-batch liquid preparation.
