The Internet search engine Google has launched a pilot project with
17 universities around the world, including institutes in Italy and
the UK, aimed at improving access to research papers.
Germany's Merck KGaA has completed the $1.65 billion (€1.32bn) sale
of its laboratory distribution business, VWR International, to US
investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
UK fine chemical company Ultrafine is to be acquired by
Sigma-Aldrich of the US in a move aimed at strengthening the
latter's offerings for the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.
The global generics industry is growing at such a rate that it can
now support billion dollar companies, with activities crossing into
active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) production and R&D. This
shift in the sector - from...
France's Sanofi-Synthelabo has announced plans to sell two of its
products to GlaxoSmithKline in a deal which forms part of its
strategy to take over Aventis.
General Electric has completed its €8.1 billion acquisition of UK
healthcare company Amersham, promising to create a new company that
will 'change the face of healthcare,' according to GE chief
executive Jeffrey Immelt.
The US Food and Drug Administration is planning to hold a meeting
in June to re-examine its regulations on electronic records and
signatures, used to generate the audit trail in the food and drug
industries, to examine whether some...
Despite years of promises, there is still not a single product on
the market that has been manufactured in a genetically-engineered
organism. But a soon-to-be released market report maintains that
the floodgates are about to open,...
Daiichi Pharmaceutical is to set up a new manufacturing subsidiary
in a bid to profit from forthcoming Japanese legislation that makes
it easier for firms to produce drugs for third parties.
US biotechnology company Genentech is planning to build a new
large-scale mammalian cell culture manufacturing facility in
California which will be the largest of its kind in the world.
Novo Nordisk has broken ground on a new manufacturing facility in
Kalundborg, Denmark, that will produce liraglutide, a potential new
product for treating type 2 diabetes.
Rhodia Pharma Solutions has completed a new extension to its
production operation in Dudley, outside Newcastle, in the UK to
strengthen its ability to provide custom manufacturing services to
pharmaceutical companies.
Drug companies are waking up to the notion that the environment a
researcher works in - whether in drug discovery or the quality
control lab - is a crucial factor in determining their productivity
and creativity. And they have started...
The European Commission has announced a collaborative tuberculosis
research initiative, underpinned by €32 million in funding for two
overlapping research projects aimed at developing an improved
vaccine for the disease. The news...
The pharmaceutical industry looks set to be one of the key areas of
contention for the two US Presidential candidates as they square
off ahead of the election in November.
The enlargement of the European Union to include 10 new countries
has raised fears about the impact this could have on issues such as
parallel imports and intellectual property protection, but it could
reinvigorate the industry in...
Switzerland's Novartis has confirmed that it is interested in
joining with Aventis, but will not proceed with a formal bid unless
the French government draws back from its hostile stance on a
link-up, reports Phil Taylor.
US-based biotechnology company Human Genome Sciences is planning to
set up the first protein manufacturing facility in India in
collaboration with local companies.
Researchers in France and the US have used a technique known as
click chemistry to discover potent new inhibitors of
acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme that serves as a drug target in
Alzheimer's disease, writes Phil Taylor.
Proposals to introduce a 'scientific visa' to facilitate movement
of third country researchers to and within the EU have been adopted
by the European Commission, writes Wai Lang Chu.
The pharmaceutical industry in the UK could face a recruitment
crisis if more is not done to encourage students to opt for science
and engineering courses, according to the Association of the
British Pharmaceutical Industry, writes...
The UK government has promised to protect the large funding
increases for science announced in the country's last Spending
Review and pledged more investment under a new 10-year strategy for
science.
A new machine from Ultrasonic Scientific promises to revolutionise
the analysis of chemical reactions by requiring only a tiny amount
of sample, an important consideration when testing expensive
biologic compounds.
A brand new chemical genomics facility, one of the first academic
small molecule screening facilities in Europe, has been opened by
the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the German
Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) in Heidelberg,...
Fisher Scientific and Apogent Technologies are to merge in a $3.7
billion (€3.01bn) deal that will double Fisher's footprint in the
high-growth life sciences equipment market, reports Phil
Taylor.
Compared with European and US chemical companies, most domestic
Chinese chemical enterprises have remained technologically
challenged with productivity lagging behind international levels.
The US Food and Drug Administration is to develop a blueprint for
speeding up the approval of new medical products to counteract the
slowdown in R&D productivity in the pharmaceutical industry,
writes Phil Taylor.
Germany chemical and pharmaceutical company Bayer has christened
its chemicals spin-off Lanxess, and says it is on schedule for a
stock market flotation early next year.
German chemicals giant BASF has beaten its own sales and earnings
forecasts for 2003, prompting chairman Jurgen Hambrecht to suggest
that the sector may be due for something of a recovery this year,
writes Phil Taylor.
Switzerland's Novartis has confirmed that it is in discussions with
Aventis which could lead to a counter-offer to fend off the hostile
takeover bid from France's Sanofi-Synthelabo.
The need to conform with new European Commission (EC) regulations
and the increasing demand for improved efficiency in process
industries are encouraging greater adoption of flowmeters.
New active ingredients are the lifeblood of the pharmaceutical
industry, but with the number of new compounds being launched
tailing off almost yearly, companies are turning to inactive
excipients as a source of product innovation,...
Switzerland's Tecan saw its sales last year fall 6 per cent as
turnover growth in its genomics/proteomics division failed to
counterbalance declines in drug discovery and diagnostics.
Biotechnology company Crucell has acquired fellow Netherlands-based
ChromaGenics in a move to get hold of a promising new technology
that could boost yields of proteins and antibodies made in cell
culture, writes Phil Taylor.
Pharmaceutical companies must start exploring ways of extending
patents on their products early in their lifecycle, such as
developing improved formulations of the active ingredient, even
before they are launched onto the market.
A fall in demand from the pharmaceuticals industry has caused a
significant hole in 2003 profits for German chemicals group
Degussa, which implemented heavy restructuring to reduce production
capacity in its fine chemicals unit.
German processing technology group GEA has announced new
acquisitions that will increase its offering to the food and pharma
industries, part of a new strategy to expand the business under
parent company mg technologies.
Germany's Haupt Pharma and Wulfing Holding have joined forces to
create a new company specialising in the contract manufacturing of
highly active pharmaceutical products.
The Chinese pharmaceutical industry is still showing above average
growth, but the country's entry into the World Trade Organisation
means that tough times are ahead for manufacturers of active
pharmaceutical ingredients - which...
Filtration specialist Pall has seen its second quarter sales and
earnings held back by weak demand in the biopharmaceuticals
industry, particularly in Europe.
Human machine interface (HMI) technology is a growing sector in
European industrial plants, according to Frost and Sullivan, as
sectors such as the pharmaceutical industry try to reduce the
number of operators per machine.
Two France-based companies have pooled their resources to set up a
new venture specialising in the contract development and
manufacturing of biologicals drugs.
A reluctance by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to
invest in drug discovery technologies has been holding back the
market for combinatorial chemistry, but this is expected to change
over the next few years, according to...
Around 80 workers from Merck KGaA's French site at Lacassagne in
Lyon have taken part in a protest at the company's headquarters in
Darmstadt, Germany, against the planned closure of the unit.
The merger between Yamanouchi and Fujisawa is the first step
towards creating a global mega-player, but additional tie-ups will
be required if the new entity is to join the top tier of
multinational pharmaceutical companies.
Diversa has entered into a deal aimed at boosting its manufacturing
capacity in enzymes used for industrial processes, including the
production of pharmaceuticals. The agreement with Mexico's Fermic
is designed to step up the...
Boehringer Ingelheim has won a contract to develop a
commercial-scale manufacturing process for a new prostate cancer
drug in development at fellow German company Micromet.
A new study has provided a 'cautiously optimistic' estimate of
spending on drug discovery and other areas of R&D over the next
couple of years, which will be music to the ears of technology
companies hit by a reluctance...