Sanofi's hostile bid for larger French rival Aventis may have been
rejected, but there are a number of arguments in favour of a link,
according to analyst Nicole Lamble at market research firm
Datamonitor.
Danish company Chr Hansen saw its revenues slip 4 per cent in its
first quarter, as the impact of the economic downturn and tough
dollar exchange rate was felt across its business units.
Monsanto and Pfizer's Pharmacia subsidiary have asked a federal
judge to either deny or postpone a request by Solutia to eliminate
liabilities to its former parent Monsanto.
Filtration specialist Millipore has reported strong growth in sales
in the fourth quarter of 2003, suggesting that the fortunes of the
biopharmaceutical industry - Millipore's primary customer - may be
on the up.
Dutch biotechnology company Crucell has appointed a new chief
execvutive as it continues its transition from a company
specialising in enabling technologies to one focuused on product
development.
Israel-headquartered generics company Teva Pharmaceutical
Industries has completed its $3.4 billion takeover of US company
SICOR, which makes generics and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Healthcare giant Cardinal Health reported revenues up 11 per cent
to $14.1 billion (€11.2bn) in the fourth-quarter of 2003, as a
strong performance in its pharmaceutical manufacturing services,
pharmacy automation and medical product...
Japanese pharmaceutical companies must build strong, in-house,
R&D capabilities in order to survive, according to research
from market analyst firm Datamonitor. But this is not simply a
matter of spending more money; strategic...
French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Synthelabo has launched a
hostile takeover bid for its larger rival Aventis, in a move which
would create a top three drug major.
Switzerland's Bachem saw its 2003 sales slip by 3 per cent as
continued slack demand for research chemicals held back a modest
increase in its active pharmaceutical ingredients business.
If 2003 was marked by consolidation in the biotechnology industry,
then in 2004 the spotlight seems to have tracked firmly back to
pharmaceuticals - and particularly the European majors.
Irish pharmaceutical group Elan has raised around $70 million
(€55m) from four new deals, including the sale of formulation and
manufacturing interests.
General Electric's €8.1 billion acquisition of the UK's Amersham
was approved by the European Union yesterday, after it concluded
that the deal would not create a monopoly in Europe's medical
imaging market.
UK-headquartered NextGen Sciences has formed an alliance with
Germany's Protagen aimed at developing 'biochips' that can contain
thousands of functional proteins for use in drug discovery.
Israel's Teva has moved a step closer to consolidating its position
as the world's biggest generics manufacturer with the $3.4 billion
(€2.7bn) acquisition of US-based SICOR, which makes active
pharmaceutical ingredients...
A hoped-for recovery in the second half of 2003 failed to
materialise at Lonza, causing the chemicals and custom
manufacturing firm to post steep declines in sales and profits for
the full-year.
Denmark's Novo Nordisk is to invest €218 million in a plant to
manufacture insulin in Chartres, France, one of the group's largest
investments outside its home market.
DFB Pharmaceuticals has appointed Magnus Precht as the new
president at Phyton, a company specialising in plant cell
fermentation for the production of pharmaceutical which it acquired
last year.
A US-based private equity firm is the latest to join the list of
bidders for Dynamit Nobel, the chemicals business being sold by
German chemicals and engineering group MG Technologies.
The US market for chiral technologies - used to make single isomers
of compounds - will grow by an estimated 8.8 per cent a year to
reach a value of $1.8 billion (€1.4bn) in 2008, according to
soon-to-be-released market research.
World pharmaceutical packaging demand will increase at a rate of
4.3 per cent a year to reach $22.2 billion (€17.2bn) in 2007,
according to a new report from Freedonia Group. Companies supplying
blister packaging will benefit from...
German pharmaceutical company Altana has started construction of a
€70 million manufacturing facility in Cork, Ireland. The move would
appear to refute claims that the attractiveness of the region to
the drug industry is on the wane.
BASF IT Services, one of the first units of the German chemical
major to be spun out into a separate unit, has signed an agreement
with Merck KGaA that confirms its ability to win major contracts
from companies other than its parent.
UK independent Pentagon Chemicals has made its first major
acquisition since spinning out of parent Dow Chemical in a
management buyout in 2002, in a move which bolsters its product
range and contract manufacturing capacity.
The Automation Partnership (TAP), a company specialising in the
application of robotics to pharmaceutical drug discovery and
production, has named a new chief executive to succeed Richard
Archer, who is stepping down in February.
MW Consultants, a small Irish company specialising in engineering
and construction in the pharmaceuticals industry has been acquired
by US firm Parsons Corp.
The pharmaceutical industry must cut the time its drugs linger in
development and terminate less promising projects earlier if it is
to improve the efficiency and productivity of its R&D
programmes.
Schering-Plough is to cut 18 per cent of its workforce at a
manufacturing plant in Brinny, Ireland, in the face of stiff
competition to two of the firm's biologic drugs.
Although there are some signs of an economic recovery that should
help its business, the European chemical and pharmaceutical
industry can expect to have another difficult year in 2004.
Akzo Nobel unit Diosynth has unveiled plans to cut 70 jobs at its
UK subsidiary based in Fife, Scotland, because strong competition
from Asian competitors is hitting the business.
Senior executives at LGC, a UK-headquartered provider of
pharmaceutical reference materials and analytical and diagnostic
services, are gearing up for a secondary buyout that will help it
to accelerate its expansion into international...
Norway's Norsk Hydro has agreed to sell 80.1 per cent of its shares
in omega-3 producer Pronova Biocare to Norwegian industrial company
Ferd for NOK 165 million (€19.4m).
UK drug delivery company SkyePharma expects to make a loss in 2003,
a disappointing result given that it chalked up its first
profitable year just a year earlier, and will cut 10 per cent of
its workforce as a result.
US chemicals firm Aceto has bought the German Pharma Waldhof
business from Switzerland's Roche, making its first foray into the
market for biologically-derived active pharmaceutical ingredients
(APIs).
German chemistry specialist ChiroBlock has pulled out of the
business of producing and marketing chiral compounds and will focus
exclusively on providing chiral research and synthesis services for
pharmaceutical and biotechnology...
Life sciences technology company Invitrogen has entered into a
definitive agreement to acquire fellow US firm BioReliance, which
specialises in the testing and manufacture of biologic drugs.
The executive chairman of UK-based drug delivery specialist
SkyePharma, Ian Gowrie-Smith, will step down at the firm's next
annual general meeting in 2004 and seek reappointment as
non-executive chairman.
DFB Pharmaceuticals has acquired fellow US company Phyton to gain
access to the latter's plant cell fermentation technology for the
manufacture of pharmaceuticals.
Kiadis of the Netherlands has acquired the entire issued share
capital and assets of Selact in a move that bolsters its
capabilities in chemical synthesis and contract research.
2003 was the second best year of all time for the biotechnology
industry, and 2004 looks set to be even better. This is the verdict
of James Burrill, head of US merchant bank Burrill & Co, who
describes the industry as "rising...
US packaging giant MeadWestvaco has started the second phase of a
restructuring programme aimed at improving productivity at the firm
and boosting both earnings and cash flow, at the cost of 1,000 job
cuts and a number of facility...
The restructuring activity that has features this year in the
European pharmachem industry continued yesterday with the news that
Germany's Merck KGaA had sold off BioMer, a joint venture focusing
on orthopaedic products.
Although there are a number of interesting new compounds in the
antibacterial pipeline, none of them are likely to reach
blockbuster status, according to a new report from Datamonitor.
The troubles affecting the global chemicals industry were brought
into sharp focus today when Solutia filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection, citing onerous financial commitments to its former
parent Monsanto that are hampering...
Switzerland's Lonza has won a long-term manufacturing contract from
US biotechnology bellwether Genentech for Rituxan (rituximab) a
biological drug which recorded worldwide sales of $1.48 billion in
2002.
UK-headquartered separations company Whatman is to sell its filter
cartridge business to Graver Technologies of the US for $2.1
million (€1.7m) in cash, continuing a string of divestments as it
copes with a decline in revenues.
French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Synthelabo has opened a new
manufacturing facility in Aquitaine for the production of two of
its top drugs, the antithrombotic Plavix (clopidogrel) and Aprovel
(irbesartan) for hypertension.
