Omnicare will soon be offering staff that are "eClinical trained"
as a strategic tool to woo clinical trial contracts and compete
with services offered by rival contract research organizations
(CROs) such as Quintiles.
SRA International has received a $15 million outsourcing contract
from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to provide enterprise
messaging and IT infrastructure support services over the next 6
years.
Drug production company Patheon has released its fourth-quarter
results, which has revealed that profit has jumped 180 per cent
despite a recent production halt at a Puerto Rican subsidiary. This
bodes well for the recent manufacturing...
Shanghai-based biotech company WuXi PharmaTech has grown more than
100 times in the last 5 years after operating successfully in
China's infant biotech industry by providing variety of outsourcing
services in drug R&D.
Ventiv health reported a strong performance across all its business
units in the third quarter, with total revenues increasing by 44
per cent to $128.4 million (€107.6 million) compared to the third
quarter of 2004.
SR Pharma, specializing in RNAi therapeutics, will be the first
company to use the new UK National Biomanufacturing Centre (NBC),
operated by contract manufacturing organization (CMO) Eden
Biodesign, when it opens on schedule early...
Contract research organisations (CROs) are responding to the
looming threat of competition from India and China by moving
outside their traditional role of simply providing contract
services to drug companies.
Covalent Group has improved its financial position on last year,
reporting a net revenue increase of 45 per cent for the third
quarter of 2005 with sales of $2.7 million, (€2.3 million) compared
to $1.9 million one year ago.
Innovata has entered into a second agreement in which the
development of a combination asthma therapy could generate in
excess of £25 million (€37 million) in milestones and development
funding.
Invitrogen has created three new business divisions in a move to
strengthen its position in the growing biotechnology industry and
drive growth through improving links between its product
development cycle and customer base.
Accelovance has broadened its presence in China and expanded its
capacity for conducting Phase I-IV clinical trials for Western
pharmaceutical and biotech firms seeking to enter the Chinese
market, by opening a new office in Shanghai.
Escalating drug costs could be driven down by up to $20 billion a
year and dwindling drug pipelines improved if a newly-formed US
research group is successful.
A Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) was launched last week in a move
to bolster the chemistry and biotechnology industry's contribution
to European growth and competitiveness.
Private equity firm, Direct Capital has acquired a shareholding of
51 per cent in New Zealand Pharmaceuticals (NZP). The investment by
Direct Capital aims to tap into the growing potential of
glycotherapeutics drugs.
Patheon has received the 2005 Contract Manufacturing Company of the
Year Award from consultancy firm Frost & Sullivan, in
recognition of its customer service and innovative market growth
strategies.
The Pharmaceutical Fine Chemicals Business of Clariant took the
opportunity to review new developments at the CPhI Expo in Madrid,
Spain, making announcements on new investments in facilities in
Europe and the US as well as new business...
Pliva released its financial results for the first nine months of
2005, which revealed a net loss of $34 million, as the drug maker
tries to recover from its loss-making drug launch in the US. This
is despite posting higher revenues...
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (DRL) has signed a definitive agreement to
acquire Roche's Mexican API business, in a move to drive the next
wave of growth in its custom pharmaceutical services (CPS)
business.
Cook Pharmica will be the first contract manufacturer to offer live
webcam services, an innovation that will enable both customers and
regulatory agencies to view production as it occurs.
Lanxess has said it will spin-off its Fine Chemicals operations
into a separate business unit that is expected to become
independent as of the second quarter next year.
New findings may have significant implications for the growing
generics drugs industry, by challenging previous assumptions that
all formulations of the same active pharmaceutical ingredient (API)
are therapeutically equivalent.
Fisher Scientific International reported it's third quarter
performance for 2005, which revealed profit had more than doubled
as a result of improved sales and fewer acquisition related
charges.
AssurX have launched a software process for document control, which
will enable pharmaceutical manufacturing companies to streamline
their approach to monitoring safety issues and overall quality
control efforts.
pSivida has signed a licensing agreement with Beijing's Med-Pharm,
in a move that will facilitate distribution of BrachySil in China -
the world's fastest growing market for pharmaceuticals.
Troubled firm Flamel reported a sharp decrease in total third
quarter revenues - $3.1 million (€2.6 million), compared to $13.3
million this time last year - resulting in a net loss $11.9
million.
A federal US judge set a precedent last week in ruling against the
US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in a four-year dispute
against Utah Medical Products.
Penn Pharmaceutical Services has reported strong sales figures for
the fifth consecutive year, with a key driver of recent growth
being attributed to a boom in contract manufacturing as well as
small-scale commercial batches.
Cambrex has recorded a gain in the third quarter of this year, with
growth in its Bioproducts and Human Health segments. The company's
troublesome BioPharma division continues to underperform,
indicative of a market for outsourced...
Cardinal Health reported a varied first quarter, with sales and
income receiving substantial gains due to across-the-board
improvement in pharmaceutical distribution, medical products and
services and clinical technologies.
Arsenal Capital Partners has acquired a majority stake in Reilly
Industries for €209 million and Velsicol Chemical for an
undisclosed fee. The purchases continue a rich vein of activity for
the private equity firm, which now hold...
Millipore, a maker of purification systems used in drug
manufacturing, reported lower third-quarter profit due to
acquisition-related tax charges and manufacturing consolidation
costs.
Drug packaging maker West Pharmaceutical Services release its 3Q
results, which indicate a rise in profits but fell short of analyst
estimates, due to slow sales in some segments and high raw material
and energy costs.
Bruker AXS, a subsidiary of the Bruker BioSciences Corporation, has
announced an agreement to purchase Roentec, an x-ray microanalysis
instrumentation company that signals Bruker's intention to
reinforce its standing within this...
Actavis's $810 million (€677 million) cash acquisition of
Alpharma's US and international generic drugs division is part of
the firm's strategy to become one of the global leaders in the
sector.
Dutch pharmaceuticals and chemicals giant Akzo Nobel reported
third-quarter sales of €3,29 billion, a slight decrease from the
previous quarter but up 5.4 per cent from the comparable period in
2004, thanks to growth in all its units,...
The GEA Group has acquired the manufacturer of freeze dryers for
pharmaceutical products, STERIS, a unit of US-based STERIS
Corporation in a deal that aims to strengthen the group's Process
Engineering Division in the Process...
BASF has announced it is to reduce production at one of its main
sites in a move that reflects the declining demand for
pseudoephedrine and caffeine caused by a change in prescription
regulations and pricing pressures.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers, Wyeth, are to phase out manufacturing
at its US facility as part of its consolidation plans, which will
see the gradual phasing out of all operations at the New York
facility by late 2008.
Contract biopharmaceutical manufacturer SynCo Bio Partners has
started construction of two new manufacturing suites at its
facility in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in a move that builds on
the firm's ability to make microbial...
India's Matrix Laboratories has made two acquisitions that will
enhance its presence in the European and Asian markets for
pharmaceutical intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients
(APIs).
UK drug delivery company Phoqus has said it plans to list on the
Alternative Investment Market (AIM) via an institutional placing
that should raise proceeds of £10-£12 million.
According to a recent report, the emerging market for protein
microarrays will experience strong growth buoyed on by the
emergence of the technology's ability to detect protein expression
more quickly and easily than traditional...
S R Pharma have released its interim results for the first half of
2005, which show the continued consolidation of Research and
Development costs as resources were diverted to acquire contract
development services provider, Atugen.
Celtic Pharma has announced the acquisition of a stake in IDEA - a
biopharma company, which is developing targeted therapeutics based
on novel, Transfersome carriers that can increase drug potency and
diminish harmful side effects.
DecisionNews Media is seeking a further reporter for its
pharmaceuticals industry news services. Applicants must be
exceptionally bright, ambitious and talented, with experience in
news writing on the pharmaceuticals industry.
US biotechnology major Genzyme officially opened four European
facilities last week as part of a investment package eventually
expected to cost $540 million (€449m).
The Advanced Biosciences division of US specialty materials maker
Rohm and Haas has decided to sell its entire range of solutions for
the production of biopharmaceuticals directly to customers.
New discoveries and innovative technologies will create growth
opportunities in the in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) market with
molecular diagnostic assays set to feature strongly in the
development of personalised medicine and theranostics.
PANalytical has added a new focusing mirror to its range of PreFIX
optics that for the first time, can analyse macromolecules using a
standard, laboratory-based XRD system, rather than on a synchrotron
beam line or a single crystal...
