Fine chemicals company Rohner is to work together with
Switzerland's Solvias on the provision of development and
manufacturing services for complex active pharmaceutical
ingredients (APIs).
The marriage between US chemicals group Dynamic Synthesis and
French separations specialist Novasep has been completed, creating
what the new company claims is a unique company to serve the life
sciences industry.
Technology used to enhance a mammalian cell based protein in
pharmaceutical production as well as the creation of new production
cell lines is the subject of collaboration between Pfizer and
Sangamo BioSciences.
The first new leukaemia treatment approved specifically for
children in more than a decade was approved as Ash Stevens are to
manufacture Clofarabine, the active ingredient in Clolar, used to
treat acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).
Judith Hackitt, director general of the UK Chemical Industries
Association, highlighted the key issues facing the UK sector at a
the group's recent council meeting in London.
Degussa Homogeneous Catalysts, an internal start-up company
operating as part of the Degussa chemical group, introduced a new
family of ligands at the CPhI meeting.
Researchers at AstraZeneca in Sweden have been granted a US patent
on a new film coating for tablets that can be carried out in
water-based conditions, doing away with the need for use of organic
solvent-based systems.
Cerestar has responded to the rising demand for starch-based
excipients by extending its range of Sorbitol products, two
non-animal and non-synthetic based formulations that offers a
carrier platform for active pharmaceutical ingredients.
The Ministry of Commerce in China has that it plans to review the
five-year programme of anti-dumping duties it set on catechol
imports from the European Union.
Busy times for personnel in the pharmaceutical technology sector,
with a series of new appointments at the senior level in
ingredients, separation and drug delivery companies.
A non-profit pharmaceutical company, the Institute for OneWorld
Health, has been awarded a $42.6 million (€32.1m)grant from the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to find a new way of producing
a valuable drug for malaria, which...
German chemicals group BASF has launched two new pharmaceutical
film-coating products, cementing its position in a market estimated
to be worth about €200 million and growing at 5 to 6 per cent a
year.
A joint proposal by the UK and Hungarian governments that would
allow chemical companies to share the cost of testing to comply
with the new REACH legislation has received the support of the
European Union's Competitiveness Council.
Denmark's Chr Hansen is considering breaking up into two separate
entities, one focused on food and pharmaceutical ingredients and
the other a pharmaceutical pure-play making allergy vaccines and
asthma treatments, activities...
Bayer stockholders have cleared the way for the spin-off of
chemical unit Lanxess, with voters holding 99.66 per cent of the
company's capital stock supporting the split.
In-Pharmatechnologist.com's periodic round-up of manufacturing
developments from around the world sees Fujisawa expanding in
Ireland, Solvay partnering in Russia, Vietnam's machinery firms
undercutting competitors and...
Italian firm Chemi is moving production of the nutraceutical
ingredient phosphatidylserine to its pharmaceutical actives plant
in Brazil, allowing it to increase capacity and become more
competitive on price.
In the race to develop therapeutics based on RNA interference,
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has claimed a first with the publication of
a study showing in vivo RNAi-mediated gene silencing in
mammals by a method that potentially can be...
Lactose specialist Borculo Domo has teamed up with Univar to ramp
up its presence in the Scandinavian pharmaceutical market, part of
a concerted effort to improve its standing internationally.
With just a few weeks to go before the introduction of India's new
patent regime - which will increase protection to include product
as well as process patents - a group of government Ministers is
calling for a waiver that would...
US company Spherix has made the first sale of its Naturlose
sweetener to a company in the pharmaceutical sector, since the
products was cleared for this application last December.
US drug delivery company SCOLR Pharma, announced it has filed a
provisional patent application utilizing the company's patented
amino acid technology for the Controlled Delivery Technology (CDT)
extended release form of ondansetron.
The European Union has put forward new legislation that would allow
generic manufacturers to make drug products with in-patent active
pharmaceutical ingredients, provided that they are intended for use
in developing countries, reports...
UK cellulose film specialist BioProgress has won another round in
its patent dispute with Stanelco Fibre Optics over the use of
radiofrequency welding to make polymer capsules.
Dow Chemical has renewed a collaboration with the University of
Texas at Austin (UT Austin) in the US aimed at developing a new
technology to improve the solubility and bioavailability of
candidate drugs.
Cambrex has recorded a loss in the third quarter of this year after
writing down goodwill in its biopharma division in a move that
paints a pessimistic picture of the market for outsourced
manufacturing of biological drugs.
In the wake of the expansion of the European Union with 10
additional states, attention has been fixed on the development of
the pharmaceutical industry in these and other Eastern European
states. In-Pharmatechnologist.com provides...
Bioalliance Pharma, a pharmaceutical company focused on the field
of drug resistance, revealed results of a study that indicated a
new formulation of miconazole administered as a bioadhesive
extended release buccal tablet was more...
Novis, now with almost half a million readers, last week earned
broad industry recognition with two further publishing awards,
following on from its best publication prize earlier this year.
BioProgress, a developer of film strips and cellulose-based
capsules for drug and vitamin delivery, is increasing its
international presence, signing its first agreement for a line of
products for the Chinese market.
India is gearing up for the introduction of new legislation on
intellectual property that will bring it into line with its World
Trade Organisation commitments.
Swiss biopharmaceuticals company BioPartners has filed its first
application in Europe for a generic version of interferon alpha, a
biological drug. If approved, the 'biosimilar' could be on the
market as early as next year.
The growing loss of patent protection on blockbuster drugs over the
next few years and the rising need to contain spiralling healthcare
costs are going to lend significant impetus to the growth of
Europe's generics and biogenerics...
A marriage between US chemicals group Rockwood Specialities and
French separations specialist Novasep will create a unique company
to serve the life sciences industry, according to the two
companies.
Dutch chemicals and drugs group Akzo Nobel saw its net income
accelerate in the third quarter of this year, to the surprise of
analysts and investors, and helped by cost reductions and a big
gain from the divestment of its coatings...
Drug developer 3M has been given the go ahead to manufacture,
assemble and import investigational medicinal products (IMP) for
clinical trials involving human use in the UK, writes Wai Lang
Chu.
A study performed at Tufts University in the US, commissioned by
the Nordic Council of Ministers, has downplayed the impact of the
controversial REACH legislation on the European chemicals industry.
Novartis Consumer Health is set to become one of the first
companies to launch a pharmaceutical based in the 'film strip'
format, which has become a popular alternative to lozenges and gums
for freshening the breath.
The US Food and Drug Administration will start using a risk-based
approach for prioritising site inspections for certain
pharmaceutical products, the agency has announced in a final report
on its current good manufacturing practice...
Germany's BASF has entered into a collaboration with Solvias of
Switzerland that will see the two companies combine their expertise
in the development and manufacture of chiral intermediates for the
life science industry.
The first commercial products from chloroplast transformation
technology (CTT) looks a distinct possibility after Chlorogen
signed a joint development and supply agreement with Sigma-Aldrich
to produce four specific proteins in tobacco...
In a dispute with Stanelco Fibre Optics, Bioprogress Technology has
been awarded outright ownership of a master patent giving it
exclusive rights to the process of making capsules from
non-gelatine materials by means of radio frequency...
Medicated chewing gum company Fertin has launched its Chlorhexidine
therapeutic chewing gum in Singapore, the second chewing gum brand
approved since the country's relaxation of its chewing gum ban.
Chemicals group Lanxess - to be spun out of Germany's Bayer next
year - plans to relocate a plant in Texas to China in order to tap
into the strong growth in the market for chemicals there.
Competition in the sweeteners market could move up a gear in the
near future as Japanese scientists harness production capacity for
the taste-altering protein miraculin that makes sour foods taste
sweet,reports Lindsey Partos.
Ireland's pharmaceutical industry saw a return to strong growth in
July, after a lengthy period in which the prevailing wisdom was
that the sector had plateaued.
Germany's chemical and pharmaceuticals firm Altana is considering
an acquisition valued at up to €500 million to strengthen its
specialty chemicals division, according to chief executive Nikolaus
Schweickart.
Germany's Girindus is this year's recipient of the Product
Differentiation Award sponsored by consulting firm Frost &
Sullivan for its innovative developments in the commercial
production of oligonucleotides.