The European Commission has given Europe a boost in the field of
structural genomics, awarding the European Molecular Biology
Laboratory (EMBL) and its partners €10 million to create a common
platform for researchers working in the...
Asthma is now one of the world's most common long-term conditions,
according to figures released today during the World Asthma Meeting
in Bangkok, Thailand, and the UK has the highest rate in the world.
A series of new drugs to treat HIV infection which work in
different ways to available therapies are moving through clinical
trials, raising the hope that a new generation of antivirals is on
the horizon to treat resistant strains...
Scientists in South Korea have isolated stem cells from a cloned
human embryo for the first time, bringing the use of cell- or
tissuse-based therapies for treating disease a step nearer. But the
work has also re-ignited the controversy...
Italy's Defiante Farmaceutica is in negotiations with BioDelivery
Sciences International for the development of a new formulation of
aspirin that could cut the risks of side effects with the
painkiller.
BASF has claimed a first with the launch of a new pellet form of
triphenylphosphine (TPP), used in the production of active
pharmaceutical ingredients, that minimises dust and improves
handling and processing.
Aradigm has selected the final design configuration for its
Intraject needle-free drug delivery system, allowing the company to
press ahead with plans to commercialise the device.
Schering-Plough last week stopped enrollment in a Phase III trial
of its new anticancer agent, Sarasar (lonafarnib), after saying it
would not provide sufficient evidence of efficacy as a first-line
treatment for non-small cell lung...
Dutch drug delivery company OctoPlus will undergo a significant
change in 2004 as it completes its transformation from a
formulation services company to one firmly planted in drug
development.
The widely used vaccine adjuvant alum is not associated with an
increased risk of adverse events, despite fears to the contrary,
according to a new analysis. The study should allay patient fears
and help maintain immunisation rates...
It has the same name and the same active ingredient, but
GlaxoSmithKline claims to have significantly improved its migraine
treatment Imitrex (sumatriptan) with a new formulation that
dissolves rapidly in the stomach.
Israel-based Biodar, a subsidiary of food ingredient company
Lycored, has announced its acquisition of Karma Pharm in a
transaction that boosts its activities in pharmaceuticals.
Zambon has teamed up with fellow Italian company BioXell to develop
small molecule drugs that antagonise CXCR3, a chemokine receptor
protein which plays a key role in inflammatory diseases affecting
skin, joints as well as the respiratory...
It is no secret that India is becoming a major force in the world
market for active pharmaceutical ingredients, but recent
developments suggest that companies in the country may be gearing
up to play a similar role in inactive ingredients.
Solvay has doubled the output of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) at its
Solvay Interox industrial pilot plant in Povoa, Portugal, using a
new high-yield process.
Scientists at Switzerland's Roche have developed a small molecule
that interferes with the binding of p53 - a protein that blocks the
development of cancer - to its natural inhibitor. The discovery
could open the door to novel,...
The widely used food ingredient inulin could be a more effective
alternative to established excipients in stabilising protein-based
medicines and improving their shelf life, according to researchers
at the University of Groningen...
Researchers from Vertex Pharmaceuticals have identified the first
crystal structure of Flt-3, a member of the receptor tyrosine
kinase family that is implicated in the development and progression
of leukaemia, paving the way for the...
Manufacturers of pharmaceutical excipients that are imported into
the US must step up their compliance with new legislation or risk
having shipments turned back at the border.
The UK's Cambridge University has scrapped plans to build a primate
research centre to conduct research into neurological disorders
which caught the attention of the scientific press late last year.
Spanish manufacturer of choline salts Algry Quimica has signed
several new research agreements to develop active ingredients for
pharma and food applications.
A small US company has developed an encapsulation technology for
pharmaceuticals that promises to overcome a major healthcare
problem - deaths and illness caused by aspirin and other
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
Active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturer Tetrionics is
planning to double the capacity at a facility in the US to hike its
ability to make highly potent compounds.
Germany's Wacker Specialties has signed an R&D agreement with
Finland's Prokaria to bolster its activities in chiral alcohols,
used as chemical building blocks by the pharmaceutical industry.
Last year, pharmaceutical companies from India submitted a third of
all the Drug Master Files for active pharma ingredients (APIs)
received in the US, outstripping their international rivals by a
wide margin.
German contract ingredient manufacturer Girindus posted its first
profit since it was floated on the stock exchange in 2000 in the
last quarter of 2003, as sales rose 16 per cent to €32 million.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories has developed a new class of therapeutic
that could make it the first pharmaceutical company in India to
develop a proprietary blockbuster product.
MorphoSys has entered into a cross-licensing deal with fellow
German company Bayer Healthcare for technologies used in the
development and production of antibody-based drugs.
Switzerland's Roche is setting up an R&D centre in Shanghai in
a move which reflects the growing importance of the country as both
a market for pharmaceutical products and a site for drug research.
A survey has found that difficulties in swallowing pills is
widespread among adults, but is rarely discussed with doctors and
can prevent some people from taking their medicine. The findings
suggest that pharmaceutical companies should...
A recent trend in drug development has been the re-invigoration of
older pharmaceuticals by developing new versions based on just one
of the two optical isomers of the active compound, a process known
as racemic switching. But critics...
A study which has found significant differences between the adult
and childhood forms of asthma suggests that pharmaceutical
companies may have to rethink their approach to developing new
drugs for the disease.
Dow Chemical has started a new research product, with the support
of the US government, that could hasten the time it takes to make
vaccines in response to a new epidemic or biological attack.
Large Scale Biology Corp has solved the problem of supplying large
quantities of aprotinin - widely used in the manufacture of
biologic drugs - by developing a recombinant form that is made in
tobacco plants.
An ageing drug for asthma marketed by Abbott Laboratories could get
a new lease of life from a revamp using drug delivery technology
developed by SkyePharma of the UK.
Genentech's strategy of expanding beyond its traditional territory
of protein-based drugs and into small molecules was reinforced
earlier this week by its new agreement with Array BioPharma.
Bayer Fine Chemicals has developed a new way to make chiral
epoxides that could shorten reaction times and reduce the amount of
expensive catalysts used in the process.
Researchers in the UK have discovered a protein that seems to play
a key role in repairing the DNA of cells. The discovery could lead
to a way of inhibiting malignant cells from repairing themselves
after treatment, potentially improving...
A collaboration between Switzerland's Genedata and Bayer of Germany
has led to new way of developing assays for antibacterial activity
and accelerate the search for novel antibiotic classes.
A Scottish life sciences company specialising in the development of
bioinformatics software has been sold to QbioCom, a rival firm
based in England, for £1 million.
Virologists in China have said that a man suffering from fever and
a respiratory infection is infected with severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS), the viral disease that caused nearly 800 deaths
around the world in the first half...
Near-defunct Scottish biotechnology company PPL Therapeutics marked
the end of a dreadful 2003 with the sale of its cloning technology
which created Dolly the sheep for just £760,000 (€1.1m).
There are fears that a renewed epidemic of severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS) could occur in 2004, after initial tests on a
patient with symptoms associated with the disease suggested that
the causative agent was the SARS coronavirus...
France's Nautilus Biotech says that it has achieved a key technical
milestone in a collaboration with Aventis Pasteur, designed to
improve the productivity of the latter's vaccine manufacturing
process.
The international team of scientists working to determine the most
common variations of the human genome have given more details of
the rationale behind the effort, known as the HapMap project, in
the journal Nature (18 December).
Formulation specialist TransForm Pharmaceuticals has licensed a
novel salt form of the antiepileptic drug topiramate to Johnson
& Johnson in a development that provides the first real
validation of its business model.
