A natural mutation of a gene that helps regulate the reactivity of
the immune system is a major contributor to type 1 diabetes,
researchers have found, writes Wai Lang Chu..
Swiss chemicals group Clariant, currently in the throes of a major
restructuring exercise, has sold off its UK-based Lancaster
Synthesis unit to Johnson Matthey.
SkyePharma has completed Phase III testing of a new version of
AstraZeneca's asthma drug Pulmicort (budesonide) that does not use
ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) propellants.
Researchers in the US have provided the first direct evidence in
mice for the role of an enzyme that specifically controls the
production of serotonin in the brain.
Swiss life sciences company Tecan has launched the Freedom EVO 75,
a compact laboratory liquid handling system for medium throughput
applications which represents another addition to the EVO family
and its range of liquid handling...
A yeast encapsulation technology developed by UK company Micap is
at the heart of a new strategy for controlling
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, the 'superbug'
that is emerging as a major threat in hospitals...
A collaboration between De Novo Pharmaceuticals and Peakdale
Molecular of the UK has led to the launch of a library of drug-like
compounds that interact with G protein-coupled receptors, a fertile
new source of drug targets.
BD Biosciences has acquired Atto Bioscience in a deal worth $25
million (€20m), allowing it to enter the emerging high content cell
analysis market and enhancing its presence in the pharmaceutical
and biotechnology sectors.
The discovery of the three-dimensional structure of the anthrax
toxin as it binds to and enters human cells could lead to both a
treatment for the disease and a way to harness its effects in
cancer therapy, according to a report in...
The results of a new clinical trial provide evidence that Durect's
Oradur delivery technology can reduce the risk of misuse or abuse
of narcotic painkillers.
Dermatrends, a US drug delivery company, has been awarded a patent
that covers the method of using bases to enhance the permeation of
amine drugs across the skin and could lead to new products for
Alzheimer's and other diseases.
Researchers have demonstrated for the first time that physical
symptoms and neurological damage caused by an inherited
neurodegenerative disease that is similar to Huntingdon's disease
(HD) may be prevented by gene therapy.
Boehringer Ingelheim has been granted a US patent on a way to
disguise real and placebo tablets in a clinical trial - without
having to resort to placing them in larger capsules which may be
difficult for patients to swallow.
Qiagen has sold off its embattled nucleic acid synthesis business
in a management buyout, but has retained a minority stake and all
activities relating to RNA interference (RNAi), a potent new drug
discovery tool.
Tomtec has launched a new multipurpose pipetting workstation that
can handle tiny volumes (down to less than 1 microlitre) and has
features that allows the automation of a number of routine
laboratory liquid handling tasks.
West Pharmaceutical Services of the US said yesterday that it is
looking to hive off its drug delivery business and focus on its
primary business in prefilled syringes and components.
A new alliance between Merck & Co and Alnylam, a specialist in
the development of therapeutics based on RNA interference (RNAi)
could fast-track the first drug in this class though to market.
A compound targetting respiratory syncytial virus - a major threat
to immunocompromised patients - has completed Phase I trials,
raising hopes of the first effective treatment for the virus,
writes Wai Lang Chu.
Researchers in the US have taken an important step toward creating
a vaccine against Alzheimer's disease, overcoming the side effects
that held back a prior vaccine for the disease.
Dutch drug delivery company OctoPlus has licensed two
biodegradeable polymers to SurModics that can be used to coat
medical devices and deliver drugs into the surrounding tissues.
Germany's Icon Genetics and Israeli firm Protalix are to
collaborate on a way of hiking protein expression in plant cells to
improve their use a production vehicle for recombinant proteins.
Cardinal Health has completed its $2 billion (€1.6bn) tender offer
for intravenous product and services firm Alaris Medical Systems in
a deal that could give Alaris a leg-up that will allow it to
leapfrog its competitors.
A Korean company has developed a new way of making peptide nucleic
acids - a promising drug category that has been limited to date by
an expensive and cumbersome synthetic process.
Adjuvants - substances that are added to vaccines to intensify the
immune response to an antigen which have been used for over 80
years - are beginning to be understood by researchers who believe
more effective adjuvants can be designed.
AstraZeneca's anticoagulant Exanta (ximelagatran) has been launched
in Germany, its first market worldwide, for the prevention of blood
clots in patients undergoing hip or knee replacement surgery.
Canada's Generex Biotechnology has presented new evidence that its
RapidMist device can deliver proteins and peptides through the
lining of the mouth, potentially doing away with the need for
injections.
The US subsidiary of India's Ranbaxy has launched a cephalosporin
antibiotic in a chewable tablet formulation designed to be easier
to take by patients who struggle with tablets or capsules.
The world's largest centre for human embryonic stem cell research,
which will develop treatments for a range of currently incurable
diseases, is to be opened by Cambridge University in the UK.
Sigma-Aldrich has boosted its capacity to supply pharmaceutical
ingredients with the purchase of Tetrionics, a company with a
strong position in the high growth area of high potency and
cytotoxic compounds.
Unigene, which specialises in developing oral versions of
injectable drugs, has received a $4 million (€3.3m) milestone
payment from pharmaceutical major GlaxoSmithKline for starting
clinical trials of an osteoporosis drug.
The first clinical trial of a peptide that mimics the cellular
adhesion molecule NCAM is due to take place in the UK in the third
quarter of this year, bringing a potential new treatment for
Alzheimer's disease a step closer,...
A new treatment for cancer that destroys tumours by heating them
from the inside has shown promise in animal studies conducted at
Rice University in the US, writes Phil Taylor.
Micap, a UK company specialising in using yeast cells to
encapsulate drugs, has entered into a collaboration with leading
medicated chewing gum company Fertin that should extend the range
of active ingredients that can be delivered...
Researchers at Harvard have discovered why cholesterol-lowering
drugs do not have identical effects on patients. These medicines on
average cut heart attacks by a third and with sales of $26 billion
dollars and used by 20 million...
Irish start-up Celtic Catalysts believes it can tackle two of the
major obstacles holding back the use of catalysts to make chiral
drugs - the strong patent positions of existing players and
difficulties in scale-up - with its platform...
Hovione of Portugal has teamed up with drug delivery company CyDex
to develop improved formulations of drugs that have lost or will
soon lose patent protection.
The development of an in silico model of the non-obese
diabetic (NOD) mouse, the primary animal model used by researchers
to study type 1 diabetes, is set to enhance understanding of the
disease and radically advance pharmaceutical...
A biomechanical pathway which is key to the specific allergic
response suffered by those with asthma has been shown to induce a
specific enzyme which if neutralised, could eliminate the
inflammation and hyperresposiveness of the airway,...
The safety of thiomersal, a preservative that is used in vaccines,
has come under scrutiny once again after a study found that it
causes damage to nerve cells in newborn mice.
Scottish biotech firm CXR biosciences and Edinburgh's Roslin
Institute have entered into a collaboration with Geron to develop a
new technique that promises to reduce the need to test drugs on
animals.
French ingredients company Roquette has been granted a US patent
for a way to make mannitol a suitable carrier excipient - or
pulverulent - for active pharmaceutical ingredients in hard filled
capsules, reports Phil Taylor.
Researchers have isolated a protein that appears to be behind the
curious phenomenon that severe dietary restruction can extend the
lifespan of some organisms. The protein is thought to control
whether a mammal stores fat or sheds...
This week has seen three companies put forward different solutions
to the topical issue of improving the yield of proteins and nucleic
acids made by biomanufacturing technologies.
Despite advances made in sustained delivery drug delivery
technologies in recent years, a problem still persists in trying to
obtain controlled release of a wide variety of medications that
have only a narrow absorption window in...
Drug therapies that focus on the vascular endothelial growth factor
(VEGF) in treating advanced or metastasised cancer represents a
huge slice of drug treatments currently in development. This
molecular target paves the way for...
Neuro3d has started trials of its orally active phosphodiesterase-4
(PDE4) inhibitor in depression, resurrecting the use of this class
of drug in this indication.
Recently formed US company WaferGen has acquired licenses to three
labs-on-a-chip developed at the Technical University of Delft in
the Netherlands that could be on the market in the next two years.
In the build up to the American Society of Clinical Oncology's
(ASCO) annual conference, drug companies from around the world have
been showcasing potential drug treatments, with a number of new
molecular targets for cancer,...
Drug re-engineering company Eiffel Technologies will add to its
existing project in improving insulin delivery with the start of
clinical trials of an in-house product early next year, writes
Wai Lang Chu.
