US biotechnology company Biogen Idec has said that it plans to sell
a California manufacturing plant built to produce its withdrawn
multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri (natalizumab) to Genentech,
reports Phil Taylor.
AstraZeneca has been fined a hefty €60 million by the European
Commission for manipulating patent laws to keep competitors out of
the market, marking the first occasion that antirust laws have been
used to combat patent abuse.
The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of the
first-in-class antibiotic, Tygacil (tigecycline), is set to provide
doctors with an alternative treatment for skin and intra-abdominal
infections that have previously been...
The Supreme Court's decision to allow drug companies to receive
exemptions from patent infringement during key early-stage research
carries wider significance throughout the industry as it reduces
licence negotiation for patented...
Solutia has drawn up an agreement with former parent Monsanto that
could finally bring it out of the state of bankruptcy
reorganisation it has resided in since the end of 2003, reports
Phil Taylor.
BASF, the world's largest chemical company, said on Friday it plans
to buy Orgamol SA of Switzerland as part of an expansion of its
BASF Pharma Solutions unit, reports Phil Taylor.
Arena Pharmaceuticals have been issued with a patent for drug
screening methods for the treatment of metabolic-related disorders,
especially in relation to the niacin receptor. Ligands of the
niacin receptor play a role in regulating...
Spending on pharmaceuticals across the 30 countries in the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has
increased by a third in real terms since 1998, reaching more than
$450 billion (€370bn) in 2003, according to new...
Roche has opened the world's largest polymerase chain reaction
(PCR) manufacturing site in the world, investing more than $150
million and creating approximately 350 new jobs.
Sanitas, Lithuania's largest pharmaceutical producer, signed an
agreement in late May to purchase Hoechst-Biotika, a drug
manufacturer in the Slovak Republic.
The European pharmaceutical sector is falling behind the US in
terms of innovation and R&D expenditure and is increasingly
under threat from newcomers, especially in India and China.
Security printing specialist AlpVision has signed an agreement with fellow Swiss company Serolab to develop packaging that will guard against drug counterfeiting.
In-PharmaTechnologist.com reports its periodic round-up of new
appointments in the pharmaceutical sector, headlined this week by
the appointment of a new head of manufacturing at US drugmaker
Merck & Co.
Concern over the threat of a new flu pandemic is hiking demand for
Roche's Tamiflu >(oseltamivir phosphate) product to the extent
that the firm needs to build another production plant, reports
Phil Taylor.
According to a recent report, the global bioinformatics market is
currently estimated at about $1.4 billion (€1.1 billion). It is
expected to grow at an average annual growth rate of 15.8 per cent
to reach nearly $3 billion by 2010,...
The boundary between the pharma and biotech industries will become
incresingly blurred over the next 10 years, with the latter
enjoying stronger growth, writes Phil Taylor.
The primary difficulty facing anyone given the task of designing a
state-of-the-art laboratory is that they generally don't have
access to a crystal ball to tell them exactly what will be at the
leading edge of technology in...
Novis Pharmaceutical and Science Division (UK) is looking for three
strong sales and business developers to take our award winning
daily online news services to the next level.
BioProgress has appointed Richard Trevillion as chief
executive, bolstering its executive management just over a month
after the dosage film specialist issued a trading statement that
sparked a 40 per cent slump in its UK-listed shares,...
Chiral Quest has opened up a production facility near Shanghai in
China, to tap into the trend by pharmaceutical companies to site
manufacturing operations in the region, writes Phil Taylor.
Switzerland's Siegfried Group, a specialist in active
pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), dosage forms and
biopharmaceuticals, has boosted its position in the production of
controlled substances with the acquisition of US-based...
A former editor of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) claims that
medical journals are an extension of the marketing arm of
pharmaceutical companies, placing editors in difficult positions as
company-funded trials are becoming increasingly...
Agilent Technologies is to open a new Life Sciences and Chemical
Analysis (LSCA) technical training centre in Shanghai in a move
that reflects the current trend for biotech companies to divert
resources to offshoring operations.
During the past 50 years, the number of pharmaceutical companies
making vaccines has decreased dramatically, and those that still
make them have reduced resources to produce new ones, writes
Phil Taylor.
The discovery of a new batch of counterfeit drugs circulating in
the US market adds urgency to ongoing efforts to improve
traceability in the medicines supply chain, and will also lend
weight to arguments against parallel trade in...
In-PharmaTechnologist.com presents a round up of personnel news in
the pharmaceutical sector, including the sudden departure of Susan
Vogt from Millipore.
Swiss chemicals company Clariant saw its operating profit decline
by nearly a third as higher raw material costs took their toll,
although net profit rose 18 per cent, boosted by lower
restructuring charges compared to the same period...
Latin America shows considerable and untapped business potential
for the pharmaceutical industry, according to new research
conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The sudden departure of Merck & Co's chairman and chief
executive, Raymond Gilmartin, last week brings into sharp
perspective the difficulties facing the ailing US drugmaker,
reports Phil Taylor.
Germany's chemical companies have reported improved sales and
earnings in the first quarter of the year, and are optimistic of an
improved operating environment through 2005, reports Phil
Taylor.
In-PharmaTechnologist.com presents a round up of personnel news in
the pharmaceutical sector, including the speculation surrounding
the successor to Solvay's CEO.
Celera Genomics have filed an Investigational New Drug (IND)
application for a novel histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor that
has proved effective in inhibiting cancer cell proliferation. The
filing also signifies Celera's transformation...
The contract manufacturing sector lagged behind the rest of the
outsourcing industry serving the pharmaceutical sector in 2004, but
there are encouraging signs for the future, reports Phil
Taylor.
Cardinal Health saw a double-digit hike in fiscal third quarter
revenues mirrored by a decline in operating earnings, as gains in
its drug distribution and medical products businesses were offset
by lower profits in sterile manufacturing...
The European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods
(ECVAM), part of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), is seeking to
reduce animal testing as part of the upcoming EU directive that
aims to abolish animal testing in scientific...
The Danish NovoSeven Facility has been given the '2005 Facility of
the Year Award' by the foremost representatives of the
pharmaceutical industry's international engineering society.
According to a new report, nanotechnology is set to play a major
part in drug delivery systems especially for tumour therapies. The
report cites nanoparticles as being particularly suited to curing
specific conditions such as cancer,...
Exelixis has submitted an investigational new drug application
(IND) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for XL820, a
novel small molecule anticancer compound that inhibits receptor
tyrosine kinases (RTKs) implicated in tumour...
The European Generic Medicines Association has criticised proposals
by the European Commission to offer six months' additional patent
protection to companies conducting trials of their drug products in
children.
The fine chemicals business unit of Lanxess, which was spun-out
from Germany's Bayer earlier this year and provides custom
manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical and other industries,
has said it plans to expand its geographic...
The US Supreme Court's decision as to how much a patent can
restrict research conducted by another company is a question that
is certain to affect the way innovative new drugs are researched
and developed.
Former New York city mayor Rudi Giuliani has marched into the
political battle surrounding the issue of drug reimportation in the
US, saying that the trade 'poses a serious threat to safety due to
the increased prevalence of...
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), under fire of late for
an alleged failure to properly ensure prescription drug safety, set
out its stall at last week's Food and Drug Law Institute meeting,
saying that it is increasingly...
