Biotechnology firm Nastech has chosen Procter & Gamble to
develop and commercialise its osteoporosis nasal spray worldwide,
in a lucrative deal that could reach $577m (€480m) over the life of
the project and give both companies...
British biotechnology firm Angel has won a manufacturing contract
from stem cell therapeutics expert ReNeuron Group to produce a
master cell bank for Huntington's disease, as the company's demand
for stem cells increases.
Johnson Matthey, a British catalyst, precious metals and chemicals
firm with a division that provides contract manufacturing services
of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to pharmaceutical
companies, has bought chemical technology...
Responding to growing demand, Biotechnology giant Amgen has
announced an expansion of its manufacturing facilities in Puerto
Rico, investing $1 billion (€835 million) in the project over the
next four years.
Recently approved, Exubera is the first in a line up of needle-free
insulins promising to win the hearts of diabetics. Amidst all the
hype, some market analysts predict it will be a blockbuster, while
others believe it has been overvalued....
SAFC, a member of the Sigma-Aldrich Group, has launched a supply
solutions business, which aims to combine its Specialties business
with the manufacturing site that was acquired from Degussa last
year. The move is the latest step...
According to a new report RFID production is to increase 25-fold in
four years, buoyed on by the scramble by pharmaceutical
manufacturers to comply with the new RFID Certification program,
which aims to synchronise the industry's...
Outsourcing specialist Celsis Laboratory Group will provide
contract testing services for drug firms Mutual and Procter &
Gamble, advancing the company's status in this market.
A hiatus in leadership, changes in accounting rules and a
restructure in manufacturing have taken their toll on separations
specialist Whatman, whose sales growth for last year appears
stagnant, just 1 per cent up when adjusting for...
Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT), the largest supplier of custom
nucleic acids in the US, has bought Texan oligonucleotide (oligo)
supplier Synthegen, making further inroads into this fast-growing
specialty market.
Laboratory equipment maker Thermo Electron saw its Q4 net income
fall 53 per cent to $56.5 (€47.2) m from $121.1 m a year ago due to
one-time tax charges, but new acquisitions and a surge in demand
for its instruments, particularly...
Pharmaceutical manufacturer Patheon has reaffirmed its dominant
position in the outsourcing market with the announcement of a
five-year master supply agreement with drug giant Merck.
Amgen are to create a European Development Centre in the UK,
significantly increasing UK R&D employee numbers. Amgen's
announcement echoes the UK Government's commitment to attract more
R&D investment with a view...
Oxygen therapeutics company Biopure has announced another $3
million (€2.5 million) public offering to boost its working
capital, despite its major drug for humans, Hemopure, an artificial
blood product, being licensed only in South...
Croatian drug firm Pliva has sold its Dresden production plant to
Italy's Menarini Group as it tries to recover losses suffered by
its failed venture in proprietor drugs and an end to most of the
royalties it receives.
AstraZeneca, Baxter BioPharma Solutions, Daiichi Asubio Pharma,
Janssen Pharmaceutica and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals are the finalists
competing for this year's Facility of the Year Award, which
recognizes innovation and cost effectiveness...
Japanese health care firm Eisai will make Hatfield its European
headquarters, in a major £75 million (€105 million) investment that
demonstrates the UK's appeal for big pharmaceutical companies.
Millipore, manufacturers of purification systems used in drug
manufacture, posted lower forth-quarter profits, carrying over the
company's previous quarter's performance, after being hit by a
hefty one-off earnings charge.
The big pharma companies may have dreamed of launching the world's
first non-injectable insulin, but it has been Canadian biotech
company Generex that shattered this dream, bypassing EU and US
regulatory processes and launching...
As pharma companies continue to search for new areas of business to
outsource, third party logistics (3PL) is an area tipped for
dramatic growth over the next four years, particularly in Europe
where the practice is still in its infancy,...
Emerging biopharmaceutical company, Align Pharmaceuticals, has
enlisted sales and marketing services provider, PDI, to provide a
40-person sales force for its three newly acquired oncology
products.
A new report has claimed that the benefits pharma crop producers
enjoy have been greatly exaggerated suggesting that any claims
regarding high farmer compensation and booming pharma-crop acreage
are likely overblown.
With the first non-injectable insulin to the world market predicted
to earn $1.5 bn (€1.2 bn) a year, inhaled pulmonary delivery is
winning the race, looking certain to trigger a bitter grapple
between the big insulin players.
Injectable insulin is under threat. The imminent arrival of
non-injectable insulin could finally topple the big insulin players
off their comfortable perch, in the $7 bn industry that has seen
little real competition until now.
International Isotopes has announced the renewal of an existing
contract manufacturing agreement, which aims to continue the
production of nuclear medicine calibration and reference standards.
UK medical technology producers, Bespak reported healthy sales and
profit figures the first half period, identifying three areas of
prosperity, which could spell future growth within established
markets and opportunities worldwide.
The break up of global fine and specialty chemicals company Avecia
continued as Fujifilm said it would take over Avecia Inkjet
formally next month. The €220 million fee to acquire the company's
Inkjet and Electrophotography...
The FDA has cut red tape and modernised its guidance on
experimental clinical studies to help improve and accelerate the
R&D process of new compounds and ultimately get new drugs to
market faster.
Large Scale Biology Corporation (LSBC) along with its subsidiaries
Bioprocessing and Predictive Diagnostics, has now filed for Chapter
11 bankruptcy protection after going bust last month.
Porter Novelli, one of the world's leading public relations
agencies, has acquired Californian life sciences agency, Atkins +
Associates, in a move to establish a new business unit that will
serve as the first corporate and marketing...
Supernus Pharmaceuticals has acquired the drug formulation business
of Shire Laboratories (SLI) in a move that strengthens the
pharmaceutical technologies and services. The company will make use
of the patents to improve its own portfolio...
Innovata has backed out of discussions for the possible "all-share"
takeover of beleaguered drug development company SkyePharma, citing
its inability to be competitive with cash-based offers from other
companies.
Bayer has acquired Icon Genetics in a culmination of an existing
agreement between the two companies. The deal also solidifies
Bayer's direction as it soughts to strengthen its efforts to
produce specific plant-made pharmaceuticals.
CFC International is to be acquired by Quad-C Management in a move
that aims to capitalise on the worldwide demand for CFC
International products that include hot stamp foils and heat
transferable labels for intravenous solution bags,...
Chromos has announced an expansion to an existing Pfizer
collaboration, which builds on research focusing on genetic
engineering of production cell lines with multiple genes to improve
bioreactor performance and reduce monoclonal...
After months of speculation, chemical giants BASF have put in a
$4.9 billion (€4.1 billion) offer for the Engelhard Corporation,
which if successful, would become BASF's largest acquisition to
date, surpassing Dow Chemical as...
Indian drug maker Shasun Chemicals & Drugs has agreed to buy
the customs synthesis business of French company Rhodia Pharma
Solutions, in a move to strengthen its global presence in active
pharmaceutical ingredient (API), custom...
Baxa has announced it is to move to direct sales and marketing
operations in Europe, bringing to an end its existing business
strategy, which sold its products through exclusive distributors,
with support provided by Baxa from their...
The firing of Dr Peter Rost by Pfizer highlights the position that
employees can be faced with if they take a stand on what they
believe to be illegal activity in the companies they work for.
A restructure of DSM's pharma businesses will see the closure of
its Pharma Chemicals site in Michigan, US, in the first half of
2007 and the mothballing of the DSM Biologics facilities in
Montreal, Canada at the beginning of...
Australian company pSivida has completed its acquisition of US drug
delivery firm, Control Delivery Systems (CDS), as part of its
strategy to expand its presence in the US biotech industry.
A new study is underway in the US to define the technical knowledge
and expertise required by professionals involved in drug product
development and manufacturing. The results will form a basis for a
new global credentialing program...
Dutch biotechnology company Crucell continues to push its PER.C6
cell line forward into the worldwide market, with a new agreement
now enabling the revolutionary vaccine technology to be used to
manufacture vaccines in Canada.
PDI, who provides sales and marketing services to the
pharmaceutical industry, have received a new sales representative
contract in the US from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), worth $65-70m
(€55-59m).
In the same week that saw Novartis threaten its planned merger with
Berna Biotech, Dutch biotech company Crucell has signed three new
licensing agreements for its PER.C6 and STAR manufacturing
technologies.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) has cut $400 million in annual expenses
over the last two years in order to boost its R&D pipeline and
achieve sales and earnings growth beginning in 2007.
Actavis Group has announced the company has acquired the human
generics business of Alpharma, making the international generic
pharmaceuticals company one of the five largest companies in
generic pharmaceuticals worldwide in terms...
Fine chemical and pharmaceutical intermediate manufacturers may be
affected by supply disruptions due to ongoing UK shortages of
natural gas. Price spikes in gas are becoming both higher and more
frequent in the UK.
India's Ranbaxy Laboratories has been granted a US patent on its
controlled-release drug delivery system, which takes the form of a
'floating' tablet that once swallowed, is retained in the upper
gastrointestinal...
The European Commission has profiled the top 100 biotech technology
offers in a new brochure, which showcases the offers in such a way
that encourages European researchers to pursue the exploitation of
their own research results.
