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.
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...
Clariant has announced plans to establish a Technology Centre in
Germany that will support the pharmaceutical industry in the
commercialisation of new drugs.
UK study finds sewage treatment is effective in removing
pharmaceutical and personal care product chemicals,although there
some facilities are better than others.
Needle-free injection systems are finally emerging as a serious
alternative to traditional syringes, despite first being introduced
in the middle of the last century.
The organisers of CORDIA EuropaBio 2003 have revealed the keynote
speakers for the 'largest convention in Europe for trade,
investment, partnership and information exchange'.
Swiss drugmaker Roche has succeeded in developing a crystalline
form of one of its pipeline compounds with the help of a US
company, TransForm Pharmaceuticals, that is applying a
high-throughput approach to form and formulation.
Germany's Schott Glas has been granted a US patent on a glass
container for storing medicines that incorporates an anti-adherent
coating on its inner surface.
Botanical drug specialist Phytopharm suffered a setback yesterday
when Pfizer withdrew from a collaboration to develop P57, a drug
for obesity and metabolic syndrome.
A UK programme aimed at identifying the environmental, health and
safety, ethical and societal implications of nanotechnology has
appointed a working group to oversee the effort.
Degussa has acquired a stake in a company specialising in ionic
liquids, an innovative technology that could provide a greener
alternative to commonly used volatile organic solvents in the
manufacture of pharmaceuticals.
Scientists have developed a way of making proteins in sugarcane
that they claim will be safe and less expensive than transgenic
approaches using animals.
Australian dairy farmers could become major suppliers of
pharmaceutical-grade lactose, if a new technology developed at the
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation can be
exploited commercially.
Emisphere Technologies has demonstrated effective oral delivery of
protein-based drugs in three studies presented at the Controlled
Release Society's annual meeting.
LipoCore's Galacticle delivery technology is to be the subject of a
feasibility study at one of the largest multinational drug
manufacturers in the autumn
A deal with Vaccinex has taken Lonza Biologics beyond its primary
focus of mammalian cell culture-based manufacturing and into the
area of antibody drug discovery.
The shift towards full automation with ready-to-use separation
devices is the first step on the path to a completely disposable
manufacturing process, says Millipore
Ultrasound monitoring of process column chromatography can lead to
significant improvements in productivity, lower costs and greater
drug purity, says study
GlaxoSmithKline has opened an ultra-high-throughput screening
facility at its site in Tres Cantos, Spain, marking a significant
milestone in the company's bid to develop a more industrialised
approach to the process of drug discovery.
Centocor forged a deal with Biolex in which the latter firm will
examine the feasibility of producing three therapeutic proteins
using a proprietary plant-based expression system
MediGene is relocating the entire research department of its US
subsidiary to Germany, delighting those who lament the "brain
drain" of scientific talent flowing in the other direction
There has been a steady increase in the number of diabetes-related
R&D projects in recent years, and one area of particular
interest is the pulmonary delivery of insulin, says a new report
Switzerland's Novartis has been awarded a US patent for a novel
means of extending the shelf life of pharmaceuticals. The invention
describes the use of a plastic bottle made from a polymeric
material that is impregnated with...
Researchers in the USA have generated designer metal oxides with
specific surface properties that can be used as catalysts in the
manufacture of pharmaceuticals and chemicals
Avantium Technologies of the Netherlands, a specialist in
developing high throughput process R&D techniques for customers
in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, has been signed up
by Eastman Chemical for the discovery...
Bruker Daltonics has forged an alliance with the US Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory to develop and commercialise mass
spectrometry for high-throughput proteomics research
Nature Technology has launched an improved delivery technology for
DNA vaccines that is now available for license by companies working
in this fast-growing area
Transgenomic has taken out a non-exclusive licence from Geron in
which it gains manufacturing rights to phosphoramidate and
thio-phosphoramidate oligonucleotides.
Boston Biomedica has been issued an additional US patent covering
the design and use of its Pressure Cycling Technology for the
control of pressure-sensitive chemical reactions.
METabolic EXplorer, a French biotechnology company specialising in
the development and production of new biological processes for the
manufacturing of chemicals and pharmaceuticals, has bolstered its
scientific team with the appointment...
AstraZeneca has opened a new multi-million dollar research facility
in Bangalore, India, which will focus principally on finding new
treatments for tuberculosis, a disease which is diagnosed in about
8 million people worldwide each...
Germany-based drugmaker Merck KGaA has launched a major
restructuring of its R&D activities after shelving two of its
early-stage diabetes product candidates, EML 16336 and IDD 676.
A science and technology advisory group has called on the Irish
government to ensure that the country remains competitive in the
pharmaceutical and chemical industries by developing R&D
operations and, in particular, fostering...
Reports in Ireland have suggested that Germany's Schwarz Pharma is
planning to scale back its operations in Shannon and cut its
workforce. The company is allegedly planning to reduce its Irish
workforce by 70 to around 180 staff.
US biopharmaceutical firm Acceptys has licensed an immortal
humanised cell line from Columbia University, which will allow it
to discover and produce fully human monoclonal antibodies and other
human proteins for use as therapeutic...
Belgian pharmaceutical and chemicals firm Solvay expects to launch
a new version of its Influvac brand flu vaccine, based on a novel
cell-based production process, in 2005. The speed of the new
process means that a vaccine can be...
Sweden's Amarin Development has been commissioned by GEA
Farmaceutisk Fabrik, a Danish subsidiary of German pharmaceutical
company HEXAL, to develop a formulation of one of its candidate
compounds.
BASF AG's Fine Chemicals division is expanding production of
pharmaceutical active ingredients with the construction of a new
plant at its site in Minden, Germany. A spokesman for the company
told In-pharmatechnologist.com that...
New bulk drug manufacturing facilities, worth a total of around
€123 million (£90 million), were officially opened this week at
AstraZeneca's Avlon Works near Bristol in the UK.
An international conference serving global centres of excellence
for biotechnology, so-called 'bio-technopoles,' life science parks
and 'bio-incubators' will take place ahead of the 7th European
Biotech Crossroads...
BASF Plant Science, the plant biotechnology subsidiary of chemical
giant BASF, has entered into an agreement with Cellectis,
specialists in genome engineering and a recent spin-off from the
Institut Pasteur, that will provide BASF...
An EU funded project is building the critical mass of knowledge
required to ensure that Europe meets the Lisbon objective of
becoming the world's most competitive knowledge-based economy by
2010, reports Cordis.
Strasbourg, France-based Aventis has signed a research, option and
license agreement with Vivalis of the USA for the manufacture of
vaccine candidates using avian stem cell technology.
The European Commission has proposed new regulations allowing
Member States to grant aid for research and development (R&D)
to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), without having to
first apply for clearance from the Commission,...
Architects of the new instruments for the Sixth Framework Programme
will be heartened by news that a German report on the country's
networks of competence has concluded that such arrangements
stimulate innovation and, in turn,...
