UK-based Avecia, Europe's largest privately owned chemicals
company, has teamed up with Germany's IEP to develop new synthetic
routes for pharmaceutical intermediates using biocatalysis.
A cell culture vessel designed by Taiwanese company CESCO
Bioengineering can produce the same amount of cells in a single
500ml bottle as would be made in 20 or more conventional roller
bottles, according to the company which is introducing...
Switzerland's Lonza has negotiated exclusive rights to an
expression system, used in the manufacture of therapeutic proteins,
that could be used to shorten the development time for its
customers' biologic products.
Tecan of Switzerland's US subsidiary has launched Cellerity, a new
system designed to produce a ready supply of cells for cell-based
assays, at the LabAutomation 2004 exhibition, which opened its
doors yesterday.
Agilent Technologies has launched a software package to help drug
companies keep a close eye on the quality of chemical compounds.
The firm says the product is the first of its kind, allowing a more
than seven-fold increase in the...
Millipore has teamed up with HyClone Laboratories in an alliance
that brings the concept of disposable factory for
biopharmaceuticals production a step closer.
Eksigent Technologies is launching a new high-pressure liquid
chromatography system in March that can increase throughput
compared to rival HPLC systems as much as six-fold.
Australia's Gradipore has been boosted by news that its Gradiflow
separation technology has been scaled up to produce commercial
quantities of an antibody from source plasma.
BioCatalytics has expanded its product line of enzymes for chemical
synthesis with the addition of new ketoreductases (KRED) enzymes
for the stereoselective reduction of ketones.
Dowpharma has developed new strains of the bacterium Pseudomonas
fluorescens that can be used to improve the yield of
recombinant proteins made in fermentation vats.
Amersham Biosciences has responded to competition in the
marketplace for purifying tagged proteins with the launch of Ni
Sepharose, a new affinity chromatography medium.
Applied Biosystems has launched a new product, based on the
combination of a new set of reagents with a software package, that
promises to speed up genotyping studies carried out on the firm's
3730 and 3730xl analysers, first...
Affymetrix and liquid-handling specialist Caliper Technologies -
now renamed Caliper Life Sciences - are collaborating on ways of
automating genomics research carried out using microarrays.
A microarray developed by Protometrix has been used to characterise
the interactions between an antibody-based drug and the proteome -
a snapshot of all the proteins produced by a cell.
Cypak, a Swedish company specialising in novel forms of packaging,
has signed what promises to be a major new deal for a 'smart'
blister pack system that can detect if patient is taking medication
as prescribed.
Millipore has developed a new set of labels for its filter products
that should make it easier for its biopharmaceutical customers to
comply with the obligation to keep accurate batch production
records.
Colony counting and picking are well-recognised as one of the most
boring, repetitive and error-prone jobs in the lab, and there has
been a strong desire to automate the process.
Qiagen of the Netherlands has started shipping a set of RNA
interference (RNAi) reagents that correspond to the 5,000 or so
genes in the human genome thought most likely to be viable targets
for drug discovery.
The Automation Partnership has launched a new robotic system
designed to take the legwork out of extracting proteins made in
microbial or insect cells.
A prototype machine developed by SPAMI, a subsidiary of Italian
glassware company Stevenato, can produce glass containers for
pharmaceutical uses that are superior in quality to those made via
existing processes.
In 2003, Freeman Technology launched its new-generation FT4
rheometer in Europe for testing the flow properties of powders, an
important measurement in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries
where most processes involve the extensive...
Owens-Illinois has developed a new generation of plastic bottles
and vials for pharmaceutical applications that have significant
advantages over glass counterparts, including shatter resistance
and low rates of damage in production...
Indian companies may be making great strides in capturing
international market shares for bulk pharmaceutical ingredients and
generic drugs, but to date they have not made a great impression on
the laboratory tool market.
Isopak of the UK will be unveiling the latest version of the
automatic benchtop In-Cap capsule-filling machine at the Total
Solutions show in Birmingham, UK, in the spring.
CCL Label, a US firm specialising in the packaging and labelling of
pharmaceutical and consumer products, has forged an alliance that
could see so-called 'track and trace' technologies more widely
applied to the healthcare...
AstraZeneca has been granted approval for a new drug - the first in
its class - for the prevention of blood clotting complications
(venous thromboembolism) in major orthopaedic (hip or knee
replacement) surgery. It is the first new...
A UK company has introduced a clean manufacturing environment that
fits on top of a bench as a low-cost alternative for companies that
do not want to invest in a full cleanroom facility.
German biotechnology company febit has started shipping its geniom
one instrument - the first benchtop system that handles the entire
process of oligonucleotide microarray synthesis, hybridisation and
data analysis in a single instrument.
A combination of a microarray technology developed by Switzerland's
Zeptosens and signal processing software from US firm ViaLogy has
provided a quantum leap in the sensitivity of gene expression
testing in a new study.
Dutch formulation specialist ForTe has developed a new taste-masked
formulation of sodium phenylbutyrate, used in the treatment of a
group of rare metabolic disorders characterised by an inability to
eliminate waste nitrogen, that...
The US subsidiary of Denmark's Nilfisk-Advance group has introduced
a new collection container for its vacuum cleaners, designed to
allow the safe handling and disposal of hazardous materials,
including potent powder compounds...
The number of shots delivered in national influenza immunisation
programmes could be increased - without making any additional
vaccine - by simply using a syringe developed by Becton Dickinson.
Profile Therapeutics of the UK, a specialist in inhaled therapies,
said it has agreed to supply France's Schering SA with its Prodose
intelligent inhalers to support Schering's product Ventavis
(iloprost), a recently-approved...
A recently-formed UK company has developed a simple solution to
avoiding one of the most fundamental problems affecting
pharmaceutical products: contamination with water.
ICI subsidiary National Starch has significantly hiked up prices in
the US as rising costs across the board continue to put pressure on
the bottom line.
A blister packaging system for tablets and capsules developed by
Colbert Packaging has just received a top rating for child safety
from the US Government's Consumer Product Safety Commission,
allowing the company to press ahead...
UK company Medisys has confirmed that it will move ahead with the
launch of its Futura safety syringe product on its own and should
be filling customer orders in the second quarter of 2004.
Spirax Sarco has introduced a stainless steel steam trap station -
used to remove condensate and air or other incondensable gases from
a production pipeline - that is suitable for use in pharmaceutical
applications. The all-in-one...
French company Kalix has launched a new system called the Universal
Feeder which increases the production capacity of its machines for
filling and cartoning pharmaceuticals and cosmetics in tubes.
Aerosol delivery specialist Inyx has entered into an agreement with
a European partner that will see the company sign a partner for its
dry powder inhaler (DPI) technologies for the first time.
US packaging specialist Advantek has sold its Vaculok range of
vacuum-insulated panels to MOCON, an instrumentation company
serving the medical, pharmaceutical and food industries.
A new low-calorie sweetener which tastes just like table sugar and
is suitable for use in pharmaceuticals and other health care
products is now available from Biospherix, a subsidiary of US firm
Spherix Incorporated.
Over the last few years, researchers involved in high-throughput
screening have been seeking out the use of their expensive reagents
by developing assays that use smaller and smaller volumes, helped
by sophisticated automation technologies.
A lactose product developed by DMV International of the
Netherlands, Pharmatose DCL14, has properties that give it
performance advantages over rival excipients used as
filler/binders, according to the company.
