European scientists continue to be strong in areas such as medical
research and chemistry and Europe may produce the highest number of
science graduates but it is lagging behind in biotechnology, still
employs fewer researchers, accounts...
For years, it has been common wisdom in the pharmaceutical industry
that delivery of drugs via the nose only really works if the
compound can be presented in liquid form. One company begging to
differ is Britannia Pharmaceuticals...
Drug target validation has become the critical step in maintaining
profitability for the pharmaceutical industry, claims a new report
from market research company Business Communications. Drug
developers must accelerate identification...
Aclara BioSciences, a US company involved in tools for drug
discovery, this week introduced new toxicology applications that
expand the capabilities of the eTag Assay System.
A new approach to identifying patterns in gene expression analysis
has been shown to be more effective than the most popular method in
a joint Penn State and University at Buffalo study, write US
scientists this week.
Amersham Biosciences has launched a new bench-top separations
system for purifying proteins, äKTApilot, which for the first time
allows scientists to carry out process development right through to
small-scale production using a single...
Developer of life science tools Bruker Daltonics has introduced a
new research instrument for proteomics research at the laboratory
science exhibition Pittcon, taking place in the US this week.
Scientists in the US report this week that they have developed a
new technology that increases the amount of vitamin C in plants,
including grains, by increasing the amount of the enzyme that is
responsible for recycling vitamin C.
US outsourcing company Cardinal Health is to provide alternative
drug formulation development and delivery capabilities for the
biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, the company announced
this week.
The UK Medicines Control Agency has published a new guidance on
best practice in drug labelling and packaging which is part of a
broader Department of Health programme aimed at achieving a 40 per
cent cut in medication errors by 2005....
In its first progress report since adopting the EU strategy on life
sciences and biotechnology in 2002, the European Commission
yesterday indicated that the risk of diverging policies in Member
States could seriously hamper the effectiveness...
CyDex, a US company working in drug delivery technologies, has
signed announced an agreement with Merck regarding its advanced
formulation system Captisol.
UK microbial testing company Celsis International announced this
week that food giant Nestle has selected Celsis' recently launched
milk and cream diagnostic system for its global Research &
Development site in Konolfingen.
Roche Vitamins is to start production of pure epigallocatechin
gallate (EGCG), the active compound in green tea, at a new
production plant in Shanghai. Annual output is expected to be more
than 40 tons.
Amarin corporation this week confirmed that its Swedish subsidiary
Amarin Development AB, as part of an agreement with Watson
Pharmaceuticals, has developed a generic formulation of glipizide
extended release tablets.
"The current confluence of negative factors facing the chemical
manufacturing industry could be called 'the perfect storm',"
said Andrew N. Liveris, president of Dow Chemical company's
Performance Chemicals...
Drug development and biomedical company Thuris and Italian
pharmaceutical company Sigma-Tau Industrie Farmaceutiche Riunite on
Monday announced an expansion of their ongoing research
collaboration to develop compounds to combat brain...
An Edinburgh-based marine biotech business has been given a £50,000
(€73 000) boost in its bid to scour tidal areas such as rock pools
to find and develop new drugs and antibiotics, including a new
compound found to be active against...
Foss, a Danish manufacturer of analytical instruments, announced
recently that it has improved the quality assurance (QA) module for
its instrument WineScan.
The European Commission has given Pfizer the all clear to acquire
Pharmacia corporation - paving the way for the creation of the
largest pharmaceutical company in the world.
Swiss life-science company Lonza announced on Tuesday that it is to
strengthen the production of oligonucleotides - an emerging new
class of therapeutics consisting of short nucleic acid chains
interfering in the processing of genetic...
Women are becoming the most attractive target audience for
healthcare companies, claims a new report from market analysts
Datamonitor. A combination of increasing Internet access, a general
interest in health issues among women along...
In the second news of the day on a European life science company,
DSM announced this week that from now on it will supply
technologies and services for the initial development phases of new
medicines - supplementing its existing service...
The US Food and Drug Administration announced this week that it has
accomplished the initial objectives outlined in its ongoing
initiative to modernise the agency's regulation of pharmaceutical
manufacturing and product quality.
Japanese company Kaken Pharmaceutical and US Elitra Pharmaceuticals
said yesterday that they are to collaborate on a multi-year
research project for the discovery and development of novel
anti-fungal drugs.
US company Mylan Laboratories has reached a final agreement with
Bristol-Myers Squibb, which resolves all disputes between the
companies related to buspirone.
AstraZeneca Canada has received approval from the Therapeutic
Products Directorate of Health Canada to market CRESTOR
(rosuvastatin) 10 to 40 mg, a new medicine for the management of
primary high cholesterol (primary hypercholesterolemia),...
Nabi Biopharmaceuticals saw biopharmaceutical product sales -
driven by strong growth in sales of Nabi-HB - reaching record
levels of $89.5 million (€83m) in 2002, a 22 per cent increase from
2001 levels.
Danish company Novozymes announced yesterday that the US Department
of Energy (DOE) has approved the third year of funding for
Novozymes' three-year subcontract to develop more cost-efficient
enzymes for ethanol production.
Isis Innovation, the wholly-owned technology transfer company of
Oxford University, reports this week that researchers at the
university's Inorganic Chemistry laboratory have found that they
can intercalate a range of pharmaceutically...
US demand for combinatorial chemistry products and services is set
to increase by more than twelve per cent annually to reach $4
billion (€3.7bn) in 2006, according to a new report from market
analyst the Freedonia group.
France needs to invest more in the emerging 'revolutionary' science
of nanotechnologies if it is to remain competitive in this
promising field, a French parliamentary committee has recommended.
US company Biolog this week received a patent for its Phenotype
MicroArray technology. The patent, number US 6,472,201, is granted
for comparative phenotypic analysis of two or more microorganisms
using a number of substrates within...
In response to recent news regarding patent litigation surrounding
its drug ribavirin, biopharmaceutical company Ribapharm announced
this week that it believes its patent position to be unchanged by
Schering-Plough's recent action...
Roche Molecular Systems, the in vitro diagnostics element of
Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche said this week that its
supplement to the AMPLICOR(TM) HIV-1 Test, version 1.5 has been
accepted for review by the US Food and Drug Administration...
Large Scale Biology Corporation (LSBC) has started a research
collaboration with Novozymes Biotech to apply LSBC's gene shuffling
and molecular evolution technologies to genes of interest to
Novozymes Biotech.
The chemical cousin of vitamin A is thought to restore production
of a key protein, which has been damaged by cigarettes in the lungs
of former smokers, and protects the cells against lung cancer,
according to new findings published...
Pharmaceutical and veterinary product manufacturer IVAX corporation
has acquired ChemSource, a manufacturer of active pharmaceutical
ingredients based in Puerto Rico.
Two suppliers to the life sciences industry, Amersham Biosciences
and Thermo Electron are to jointly market and sell mass
spectrometry-based proteomics solutions for protein scientists.
Genicon Sciences this week launched its second Resonance Light
Scattering (RLS) technology product - an RLS-based two-colour
nucleic Acid microarray toolkit for gene expression analysis.
Genetronics Biomedical has completed the sale its BTX division to
Harvard Bioscience for $3.7 million. Genetronics Biomedical's
stockholders approved the sale in a meeting on Friday.
High Content Screening company Cellomics announced today that the
Canadian Intellectual Property Office has issued Cellomics'
Canadian Patent No. 2,328,194 entitled 'A System for Cell-Based
Screening.'
The structure of a key energy-releasing enzyme found in all animals
is designed to minimise free radical production, an international
team of researchers report in this week's Science.
US Valentis announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, PolyMASC
Pharmaceuticals, has received a favourable ruling from the Japanese
Patent Office in regard to patent invalidation proceedings brought
by ALZA Corporation, a unit of...
Canadian drug development company Ecopia BioSciences on Monday
announced that it had filed patent applications for the first two
novel compounds using its proprietary drug discovery platform -
suggesting investments by the company...
London zoo was the setting last week for UK inspection body Select
QA to formally receive certification from the United Kingdom
Accreditation Service, involving the company in a new scheme for
the food packaging industry.
Alcan Pharma Center, a US division of flexible packaging unit Alcan
Packaging, has installed a new four colour Rotomec 3000-5 ES
gravure printing press, with in-line coating from UK company Valmet
Converting.
Franco-German drugmaker Aventis and Germany's Bayer have agreed not
to pursue their plans to create a joint venture in the field of
biological products.
