Pharmaceutical companies are set to face stiff competition, as
generic forms of best-selling biologic drugs will capture a
significant market share. The expiration of drug patents, which
expire within the next few years, opens up...
Judith Hackitt, director general of the UK Chemical Industries
Association, highlighted the key issues facing the UK sector at a
the group's recent council meeting in London.
Contract manufacturing company Patheon has completed its $350m
(€259m)acquisition of Puerto Rican rival Mova Pharmaceuticals,
first announced in November.
Pharming, a Dutch company specialising in the production of
proteins from transgenic animals, has acquired an Australian
company to shore up its patent position and technology portfolio in
this area.
In-PharmaTechnologist.com's periodic round-up of developments in
the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector sees Schering-Plough
expanding in Japan and plant news from Germany, Mexico and Vietnam.
The ongoing controversy concerning certain drugs and a link to
heart trouble gained further momentum after the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) issued a warning for the pain reliever
naproxen after researchers found an increased...
At the CPhI meeting this year, many contract manufacturing
organisations (CMOs) trumpeted their new investments in capacity,
despite the prevailing wisdom that the pharmaceutical sector is
over-served at present.
Companies in the European life sciences industry could save
significant sums of money, up to 5 per cent of turnover in some
cases, by considering tax implications in their supply chain
strategy, according to a report from consultants...
US drug delivery company Inyx has signed a definitive agreement to
acquire Aventis Pharmaceuticals Puerto Rico, part of the French
Sanofi-Aventis group.
The safety of cox-2 inhibitors was plunged into further uncertainty
after Pfizer released details of trials that found an increased
risk of heart problems with patients taking its painkiller
Celebrex. The drug is in the same class...
Applera suffered a setback to its European sector after the
European Patent Office revoked its patent covering real-time PCR
thermal cycler technology.
Busy times for personnel in the pharmaceutical technology sector,
with a series of new appointments at the senior level in
ingredients, separation and drug delivery companies.
With the advent of ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi) offering a
radical approach to drug discovery, the emphasis is now placed on
finding the most efficient means to deliver or transfect RNAi into
mammalian target genes,writes...
European contract manufacturers of active pharmaceutical
ingredients (APIs) are operating under a system of regulatory
double standards that is destroying their ability to compete in the
marketplace.
At the Conference on Pharmaceutical Ingredients (CPhI) opened its
doors yesterday, In-PharmaTechnologist.com spoke with Nick Hyde,
global business director at leading contract manufacturer
Dowpharma, to hear his views on the state...
In-Pharmatechnologist's periodic round up of personnel moves in the
industry includes a crop of new chief executives and senior
managers across the pharmachem, drug development and manufacturing
sectors.
German drugmaker Bayer last week put an end to speculation that it
is planning swingeing job cuts by conforming that it is planning to
axe 560 positions in Germany and the US as part of restructuring
its global pharmaceutical R&D...
A new anti-infectives company, spun out of the Sanofi-Aventis
group, has received €40 million in financing from an international
group of leading life science investors led by Atlas Venture and
including Sofinnova, 3i, Abingworth...
New laws to stop increasingly violent animal extremists from
harassing scientists involved in medical experiments have received
the seal of approval by the Association of the British
Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).
In-Pharmatechnologist.com's periodic round-up of pharma production
developments from around the world sees Cognis mulling the sale of
process chemicals, Perrigo buying a generics and API manufacturer
and two new contract manufacturing...
The predicted deficit in manufacturing capacity for biologic drugs
that has been tipped to impede the development of the market has
not materialised, with capacity exceeding demand, according to new
market research.
AstraZeneca has started construction a €30 million tablet
manufacturing plant in Egypt that could form a springboard for an
expansion into emerging markets.
A joint proposal by the UK and Hungarian governments that would
allow chemical companies to share the cost of testing to comply
with the new REACH legislation has received the support of the
European Union's Competitiveness Council.
Japanese drugmakers Dainippon Pharmaceutical and Sumitomo
Pharmaceuticals are to merge in an attempt to increase their
standing in international markets and fend off competition at home.
Switzerland-based BioPartners has submitted a second Marketing
Authorisation Application in Europe for a generic copy of a
biologic drug under the recently agreed European Union framework
for so-called 'biosimilar' drugs.
German chemical and pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA has sold off
a manufacturing facility in France in a move aimed at consolidating
its global production infrastructure.
Overcapacity remains the main issue affecting the European market
for active pharmaceutical ingredients, with lack of capability
differentiation and competition from low-cost manufacturers also
holding back growth in the sector.
Bioengineers at the University of Oxford have developed a solution
to the problem of toxicity testing for new drugs, which can prove
to be ineffective or at worst dangerous to humans.
German chemical giant BASF is to shed about 3,600 jobs at its main
Ludwigshafen plant over the next three years as part of efforts
ensure the site's competitiveness.
The first in a completely new class of drug for multiple sclerosis
has been approved in the US, opening up a new avenue of treatment
for sufferers of the debilitating diseases and potential
blockbuster revenues for developers Elan...
Contract pharmaceutical manufacturer Patheon is to buy Puerto Rican
rival Mova Pharmaceuticals in a transaction that could be valued as
high as $350 million in cash, stock and assumed debt.
Dutch chemicals and ingredients company DSM is to purchase a stake
in North China Pharmaceutical Group in a move that boosts its
presence in the country, writes Phil Taylor.
High throughput protein (HTP) crystallography is set to undergo key
technical developments in which the development of automation in
protein expression, protein engineering and crystallisation will
provide the accurate screening data...
Applying automation to tissue culture techniques can improve the
development, maintenance and expansion of mammalian cells,
increasing the efficiency of drug discovery efforts, reports Wai
Lang Chu.
France's drug industry has started filling in the detail of its
strategic plan to boost the standing of the biotechnology sector,
first unveiled at the end of last month. At the heart of the plans
is a quadrupling of the production...
In-Pharmatechnologist.com's periodic round-up of manufacturing
developments from around the world sees Fujisawa expanding in
Ireland, Solvay partnering in Russia, Vietnam's machinery firms
undercutting competitors and...
Germany drugmaker Schering is planning to reduce its headcount by
1,250 with most of the cuts coming in production. The company is
blaming increased cost pressures due to European and international
competition.
A number of measures to help make the UK Medicines and Healthcare
Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) and the pharmaceutical
industry operate more openly and transparently were announced late
last week by the country's Health...
A new study suggests that there are important differences between
Merck & Co's Vioxx (rofecoxib) and other COX-2 inhibitors and
that this may account for variations in cardiovascular safety
within this drug class, writes...
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.
BioProgress, which makes cellulose based XGEL films for coating
tablets and capsules, has signed an agreement with a contract
manufacturing organisation to accelerate the installation of its
own film manufacturing capacity.
With just a few weeks to go before the introduction of India's new
patent regime - which will increase protection to include product
as well as process patents - a group of government Ministers is
calling for a waiver that would...
The first ever-manufacturing agreement for a drug based on small
interfering RNA emphasises the potential of this pioneering
therapeutic approach, which could be a fertile stamping ground for
contract manufacturers.
The news that US President George Bush will be residing at the
White House for a further four years has been greeted with some
measure of relief by the pharmaceutical industry, which had been
worried about drug price curbs in the...
Danish pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk has announced plans for a
significant expansion of its production facilities in China,
expanding its capabilities to accommodate the increasing demand for
its FlexPen, NovoPen and Penfill products.
In-Pharmatechnologist's periodic round up of personnel moves in the
pharmaceutical sector includes a crop of new chief executives and
senior managers across the pharmachem, drug development and
manufacturing sectors.