A desire by pharmaceutical companies to concentrate their resources
on marketing products, rather than production and drug discovery,
will drive global revenues for contract manufacturing and research
to nearly $168bn (€128bn) by...
A high-ranking US Food and Drug Administration official has told a
Senate advisory committee that the agency needs more authority to
force drug companies to change labelling for their drugs when
safety issues arise, writes Phil Taylor.
The Netherlands has set up a programme to boost its biotechnology
sector by helping small and medium-sized biopharma firms to develop
and manufacture products, writes Phil Taylor.
Claims that allowing parallel trade in pharmaceuticals is opening
the door to counterfeiting and bioterrorists have been refuted by a
senior executive at Pfizer in testimony to the US Senate's Health,
Education, Labour and Pensions...
Japan's Chugai Pharmaceutical is planning to slash the number of
manufacturing plants it operates in Japan in the wake of its
alliance with Switzerland's Roche in 2002.
The rumours of a marriage between Japanese drugmakers Sankyo and
Daiichi Pharmaceutical were confirmed on Friday, when the two
companies officially announced their intention to merge in a stock
deal valued at around Y 813.0 billion...
Serologicals has continued its acquisitive streak, buying the cell
culture business Specialty Media from Sentigen Holding Corp, for
$6.5m (€4.9m) in cash. The unit will be integrated into
Serologicals' Chemicon subsidiary.
Rumours abound that Sankyo, Japan's second largest pharmaceutical
company, is in late-stage discussions with sixth-ranked Daiichi
Pharmaceuticals over a merger.
The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries in the 'new' EU
countries are rapidly expanding, presenting considerable potential,
although parallel imports remain a challenge.
The consolidation of the generic drugs industry continues, with
Novartis' unit Sandoz merging with two companies that will bring it
back into the number one position in the sector.
In-PharmaTechnologist.com presents a round up of personnel moves in
the pharmaceutical sector, including the executive line-up at
soon-to-be number one generics company Sandoz.
The Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA) has praised the Food
and Drug Administration for validating the science of generic
biopharmaceuticals and making significant progress in establishing
requirements to approve these medicines.
West Pharmaceutical Services, fresh from the disposal of its drug
delivery business, is to acquire Monarch Analytical Laboratories in
exchange for cash, assumed liabilities and shares totalling $5.6
million (€4.3m).
The top pharmaceutical companies are investing less money and
people in nanotechnology than other industries, despite pressure to
replace fading blockbuster drugs as fewer drugs come out of the
sector's R&D pipeline, according...
US officials attempted to restore the reputation of the
pharmaceutical industry by announcing plans to introduce an
independent board, which aims to monitor the safety of drugs on the
market.
Israeli drug and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) company
Teva has reported a sharp increase in sales in 2004, helped in part
by last year's $3.4bn (€2.6bn) acquisition of Sicor.
The UK education system is failing to provide sufficient high
calibre scientists needed for the research-based pharmaceutical
industry. The concern is that financial targets have meant
university science departments becoming increasingly...
The Indian pharmaceutical sector has begun its seismic shake-up
following the introduction of new laws granting patent protection
to medicines on 1 January.
A €10 million grant from the EU has allowed researchers throughout
Europe to advance their research in the field of 'biological
crystallography,' which aims to create precise, 3-D "architectural"
models of biological...
West Pharmaceutical Services has completed the sale of its drug
delivery operations to Archimedes Pharma, a newly formed UK company
backed by private equity house Warburg Pincus.
The bad press surrounding the pharmaceutical industry continues
with claims that Merck & Co executives were concerned about
infant exposure to mercury in vaccines several years before the US
Food and Drug Administration made the...
According to a recent survey, leading pharmaceutical firms claim
that despite the decline in R&D productivity, scientists are
working harder and completing more projects.
The pharmaceuticals sector has been highlighted by the UK
government's Cabinet Office as one of its priority projects in a
review of business regulation.
Pharmaceutical distribution and technology company Cardinal Health
reported a slide in profits in the second quarter of the year, as
an internal investigation into the company's accounting practices
claimed additional executive...
A UK company is finding that the pharmaceutical industry is a
lucrative new market for its under vehicle bomb detector, now that
terrorist attacks are no longer confined to political and military
targets.
Finnish chemicals company Kemira is planning to buy Verdugt BV of
the Netherlands in a move that will triple its sales of organic
acids at a stroke and make it the number one company in the sector.
Akzo Nobel has reported a sharp rise in profits for 2004, but
warned that 2005 would be tough and that further divestments in its
chemicals portfolio are planned.
The European monoclonal antibody therapeutics market is set to grow
at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34.1 per cent to $11.4
billion (€8.7 billion) by 2011. The growth is fuelled by the need
for safe and effective treatment...
Pharmaceutical industry groups today welcomed new government
legislation, which ensures animal extremists who are found guilty
of 'economic damage' to research laboratories will face
imprisonment of five years.
The long-standing relationship between biotechnology company
Genencor and Danish ingredients firm Danisco is to be cemented via
the merger of the two companies.
The UK government has given the national biotechnology industry
trade group £3 million (€4.3m) in funding to support the
development of bioprocessing, continuing a string of projects aimed
at boosting the UK biotech sector.
Merck KGaA is planning to sell its electronic chemicals business to
BASF for €270 million, freeing it up to focus on its
pharmaceutical, chemical and liquid crystal businesses.
Construction of the UK National Biomanufacturing Centre, an
ambitious project aimed at helping biotechnology start-ups get
their product ideas into clinical trials, is progressing on
schedule and should be ready to start production...
Pharming of the Netherlands, which is pioneering the use of
transgenic animals for the production of biologics, has raised €7
million in new funding and will use the proceeds to advance its
portfolio of clinical drug candidates.
The global market for spectroscopic equipment used in process
monitoring is tipped to grow by 30 per cent between now and 2009,
helped by an increasing focus on process analytical technologies
(PAT) to streamline the drug manufacturing...
The European Parliament embarked on a new round of deliberations
over the controversial REACH legislation last week, amid intense
lobbying by groups representing the chemicals industry, animal
rights activists and environmentalists.
Increasing numbers of suppliers are being forced to stop providing
their services to companies and organisations engaged in animal
research, according to the Association of the British
Pharmaceutical Industry.
Figures released by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical
Industry (ABPI) has revealed that the level of intimidation posed
by animal extremists reaches as far as the suppliers who do
business with companies involved with...
Growth in Asian and South American markets boost sales for Danish
firm Chr Hansen, counterbalancing a fall in revenue in North
America for the first quarter of the year.
Australia's CSL, the world's largest manufacturer of blood plasma
products, has agreed to sell its JRH Biosciences division to
Sigma-Aldrich for $370 million (€283m) in cash. JRH makes cell
culture and sera products used...
New Year, new job. Busy times for personnel in the pharmaceutical
technology sector, with a series of new appointments.
In-PharmaTechnologist.com provides a round-up.
Wacker-Chemie is to acquire German biotechnology company ProThera,
based in Jena, to boost its presence in the biologics manufacturing
sector. ProThera will now operate as Wacker Biotech.
Despite burgeoning demand for biopharmaceutical drugs, little
progress is being made toward the improving efficiency and reducing
costs in conventional biomanufacturing processes using microbial or
mammalian fermentation systems.
US chemicals company Aceto has broken cover and is now racing to
develop a leading player in the market for generic versions of
biologic drugs, even though the regulatory route to approval of
these products is far from established.
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.
Peptide drugs look like they may finally fulfil their promise,
after years of what has largely been disappointment, if figures
released in a new market research report prove accurate.
The market for low-cost generic drugs looks set to be buoyant for
the foreseeable future, both in Europe as a whole and in France,
according to Hubert Olivier, president of the French subsidiary of
the leading German generics group...
New treatment guidelines have concluded that there are no
significant differences between the aerosol therapy devices used
for respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD), as long as they are...
In response to accusations of a cover up over negative data and
placing patient safety at risk, pharmaceutical companies worldwide
have agreed to reveal the results of clinical trial drug data.
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.