Owens-Illinois has received an Ease-of-Use Commendation from the
Arthritis Foundation in the US for its 1-Clic Packaging System,
first introduced in 2002.
Pharmacogenomics will alter the balance of power in the way drugs
are developed, tested, marketed and prescribed during the next
decade, and the blockbuster business model of big pharmaceutical
companies will eventually give way...
Having opted to hang onto its pharmaceutical packaging business
instead of selling it off, Denmark's Superfos has now expanded the
production capacity of the unit 'to extend its position as one of
the leading suppliers in...
Nanotechnology for molecular targeting and drug delivery is set to
become a trillion-dollar industry, fuelled by the pharmaceutical
industry, which faces increasingly challenging market conditions.
This has lead to an intensified...
New statistics released today show that total US investments in
R&D made by the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry
topped $38.8 billion (€29.3 billion) during 2004. This beats the
$34.5 billion total set in 2003 and demonstrates...
A consortium of companies producing biodegradable and compostable
polymers for packaging has committed itself to guaranteeing an
efficient biodegradeability standard across the EU.
Worldwide demand for packaging equipment for the pharmaceutical and
personal care products sector is forecast to post the strongest
gains of any market through 2008, reaching $4.4 billion in that
year.
Unisys has signed an agreement with Boston, US-based GenuOne to
provide product tracking and authentication software to the
healthcare and life sciences industries.
A pilot project aimed at combating pharmaceutical fraud using a
combination of radiofrequency identification (RFID) tagging and bar
coding, set up by UK firm Aegate last November, has come to a close
and the results should be made...
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).
UK laser marking specialist Sherwood Technology now has two
pharmaceutical companies evaluating its DataLase technology, an
additive that can be used to mark tablets.
The first documented case of drug resistant HIV has prompted calls
to step up HIV drug research after the victim developed full-blown
AIDS in just three months.
Thomson Scientific & Healthcare has launched a new service to
allow pharmaceutical companies to quickly create and modify drug
labels that comply with new US Food and Drug Administration
guidance due to come into play this year.
High rates of antibiotic resistance in South and East Europe are
higher than in northern Europe because the regions have high rates
of antibiotic use, according to a study published in this week's
issue of The Lancet.
In the US, drugmaker Eli Lilly has extended its bar coding to
include individual vials of its insulin products, going beyond the
requirements of recent labelling legislation aimed at cutting
medication errors.
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...
Understaffing and heavy workloads are constant problems for
hospital pharmacies in the US, but one company believes it has a
packaging solution that could speed up dispensing.
A new potential diabetes drug from Dia-B Tech, which is based on a
naturally occurring peptide consisting of four amino acids,
promises convenience and fewer side effects over current day
treatments for type 2 diabetes.
Cargill says it has agreed to acquire The Dow Chemical Company's
interest in Cargill Dow LLC, the 50/50 joint venture formed in 1997
to commercialise polylactic acid biopolymers.
Regulatory action on the COX-2 inhibitors was still a possibility
as the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products
for Human Use (CHMP) held hearings with Pfizer, Merck Sharp &
Dohme and Novartis regarding...
UK packaging equipment supplier Isopak has introduced an all-in-one
system designed to eliminate the difficulties of handling and
packing pharmaceuticals, foods and cosmetics in sachets.
Scientists researching pharmaceutical treatments for Parkinson's
disease are invited to submit study information to a new patient
website, which is intended to improve access to information on
Parkinson's clinical trials,...
Ampac Packaging is continuing its acquisitive spree into 2005 with
the purchase of Flexicon, a maker of flexible packaging materials
for the pharmaceutical, medical and other industries.
Applied DNA Sciences, a specialist in the use of DNA as a security
and anti-counterfeiting technology, is to work with the US
Department of Energy to develop an improved process for identifying
its marker technology that should bring...
A new report suggests that recent safety concerns over certain
blockbuster drugs, notably Merck's Vioxx (rofecoxib) and Pfizer's
Celebrex (celecoxib), has placed the COX-2 inhibitor drug class
under intense scrutiny and...
The need for an effective HIV drug became apparent as the US Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation to the
first in a new class of HIV drugs called Maturation Inhibitors.
World demand for packaging machinery is projected to rise over 4
per cent per year (including price increases) through 2008 to over
$31 billion, with developing nations expected to register the
strongest market gains, according to...
Franklin Miller has launched a shredding system designed for the
efficient destruction of pharmaceutical materials, making it easier
for drug companies, distributors or wholesalers sitting on a pile
of expired medicines to dispose...
US company NanoInk, which has pioneered the dip pen nanolithography
process which can provde nanoscale printing, is reportedly working
with the manufacturer of a blockbuster drug to trial the encoding
of unit doses of the product...
ForHealth Technologies has started production of its flagship
robotic intravenous drug compounding device through contract
manufacturer Delphi Medical Systems.
Tekni-Films, part of the Tekni-Plex group, has introduced a new
blister package modeling system to support pharmaceutical
manufacturers in the development of packaging for oral solid dosage
forms.
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has announced the submission of a global
registration dossier for its investigational antibiotic Tygacil
(tigecycline), a new class of treatment for intra-abdominal and
skin infections.
Researchers at the University of Derby in the UK are appealing for
industrial partners to join their research programme into tackling
problems associated with misleading medicine labels, difficult drug
names and package designs.
German packaging machinery company Groninger & Co has bought a
new computer-aided design software package that it says will enable
it to meet the demands of its customers more closely.
US packaging giant MeadWestvaco has made progress in its
collaboration with Cypak, a Swedish company specialising in the
development of 'smart' packaging.
In the US, New Jersey Packaging has acquired Altwood Roll Label,
which supplies flexible packaging, inserts and labels to the
pharmaceutical and healthcare sector.
Flint Ink North America has announced a price increase for
packaging ink products ranging from 5 to 7 per cent depending on
ink type. The increase, effective 1 December 2004, comes in
response to the rising costs of transportation,...
The UK Packaging and Industrial Films Association (PIFA) is warning
buyers of plastic film products to expect further price increases
as producers and converters are forced to look for recovery of
exceptional rising raw material costs....
Avery Dennison, one of the world's largest suppliers of pressure
sensitive adhesive labels, is expecting to be fined by the European
Commission for what it describes as 'instances of improper conduct'
by workers in...
As the pharmaceutical industry gears up to use radiofrequency
identification for supply chain management, medical suppliers in
Germany have already adopted the technology to track blood products
and no plan to use it safeguard quality.
The top two pharmaceutical companies have signaled their commitment
to the adoption of radiofrequency identification (RFID) and
electronic product code (EPC) technologies in the battle against
counterfeit drugs.
The pharmaceutical industry is doing little to help people with
impaired or partial sight get information from drug labels,
according to a new study which found a font change could alleviate
the issue.
Plastics are featuring more often in the packaging of healthcare
products, including pharmaceuticals, and this will drive a 28 per
cent increase in the volume of plastic resins used between now and
2009 in North America.
Active-Pak Automation claims that companies installing its
dessicant sachet dispensing systems can achieve cost savings of up
to 40 per cent compared to systems based on canisters, offsetting
the capital costs of installing the machinery.
Borealis has developed new advanced Borseal terpolymers to improve
biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP), a raw material used in
clear film packaging.
A new study has revealed that a commonly used asthma medication
lost more than half its potency after being kept for just four
hours in conditions akin to a mailbox on a hot day. This raises
questions about the efficacy of mail-order...
Printing solutions specialist Zebra Technologies, a specialist in
radio frequency identification (RFID) labels, has launched two new
UHF (ultra high frequency) EPC (electronic product code) multi-
protocol printer/encoders, the Zebra...
