German biopharmaceutical company Medigene has been granted a US
patent covering a specific manufacturing process for viruses suited
for the use in therapies and research.
Japan's Nitto Denko has developed what it claims is the world's
first biodegradable gene carrier that can be used to transfer
foreign genes into animal cells. Because the polymer breaks down in
the body, it exhibits extremely...
A pilot study supported by the European Commission has concluded
that a lack of access to scientific equipment and technology, and
not salaries, is one of the main factors causing the 'brain drain'
of scientists, often from...
TTP Labtech gave the first European demonstration of the
high-throughput version of its mosquito liquid-handling system,
designed to cope with the tiny quantities of reagents used in the
new generation of 1536-well plates, this week...
The high cost of some of the compounds kept in pharmaceutical
company libraries has driven a move towards the use of smaller and
smaller quantities of samples in both in storage and
high-throughput screening.
An oral drug developed to treat the common cold that was rejected
for approval by the US Food and Drug Administration last year could
find a new lease of life in an oral formulation, according to its
developer. If this is correct,...
German drug major Bayer has entered into a collaboration with
Artemis Pharmaceuticals focusing on the development of
genetically-engineered mice that are designed to have human-like
biology. The ArteMice will be used in Bayer's...
Applied Biosystems has introduced a system for rapidly identifying
and characterising potential antibody, diagnostic and therapeutic
candidates. The 8500 Affinity Chip Analyser can detect and measure
up to 400 antibody binding interactions...
Since they were first described in 1998, the existence of so-called
nanobacteria - tiny RNA-based organisms that form microscopic
mineral structures that have been blamed for causing calcified
deposits in diseases such as atherosclerosis...
Like many life sciences companies before it, Crucell of the
Netherlands has started a major shift in strategy from a technology
platform company to one involved in in-house product development.
Could this put pressure on its well-established...
Just ahead of the Lab Automation Europe and International Biotech
conferences in London this week, DrugResearcher.com spoke with
Kevin Hrusovsky, the chief executive of Caliper Technologies, to
get his take on the current state of...
The US has passed a new bill that will see the country invest €3.1
billion in nanotechnology over the next four years and should
cement its position as a leader in this emerging technology sector.
ESA has developed a set of oxidative stability tools that could
allow compounds with unfavourable characteristics to be weeded out
at an early stage of development.
Merck & Co continued a run of bad luck in its product
development portfolio yesterday with the news that it had
terminated the development of a drug to treat diabetes.
Belgium's Devgen has been awarded a €1.9 million technology
development grant from the Flemish government to develop a
technology to identify the molecular target of human drugs.
Dutch biotechnology company Crucell has put in place another
element in its strategy to develop in-house drug products functions
with the appointment of a new vice president of development.
UK biotechnology bellwether Celltech has announced plans to close
its proteomics unit in early 2004 at a cost of £5.5million (€7.8m),
giving up on the search to find a buyer for the business.
Agilent returns to profit for the first time in two years in the
fourth quarter ended October 31, as cost-cutting compensated for a
modest decline in revenues.
Germany's CyBio, which makes laboratory instruments and equipment,
has seen its revenues in the first nine months of the year fall by
a third and expects to post a full-year loss.
The days when cigarettes were held up in advertising as healthy
products are long gone, but new research suggests there may be some
substance to this - at least for some disorders affecting the
brain.
The European Commission has launched a five-year €11.7 project to
identify brain mechanisms affecting obesity and seek new treatments
to treat the condition.
Evotec OAI once again defied the difficult environment for drug
discovery technology companies with a 20 per cent hike in
nine-month revenues to €56.7 million. Growth was driven by the
firm's ultra high-throughput screening collaboration...
Bayer has managed to avoid posting a third quarter operating loss,
but may incur charges in the fourth quarter relating to its
decision to float its chemicals business on the stock exchange.
The globalisation of the marketplace for pharmaceuticals means that
it is becoming more common for medicines destined for consumption
in the European Union to be manufactured in distant lands. As a
consequence, the EMEA has started...
Syngene has introduced a new low-cost gel documentation system,
called DigiGenius, for scientists that need a quick and simple
method of capturing and analysing gel images.
Researchers in the USA have uncovered a cellular mechanism that
could lead to a larger role for retinoids, compounds derived from
vitamin A, in the treatment of cancer.
Acacia Research has said that its CombiMatrix unit will launch what
it claims is the first fully-customisable DNA microarray platform,
CustomArray, in the first quarter of 2004.
China has become the first country in the world to grant a
commercial license to a gene therapy medication. The new drug,
called Gendicine, will be launched for the treatment of head and
neck cancer in January.
GlaxoSmithKline today announced details of its seventh Centre of
Excellence for Drug Discovery (CEDD), extending the company's new
model for pharmaceutical R&D into the biopharmaceutical sphere.
Becton Dickinson results come in on track, with sales driven by
safety and prefillable devices, the BD ProbeTec ET diagnostic
instrument and the BD FACSAria cell sorting system.
Quintiles Transnational has launched a new screening technology for
drug discovery and development to detect the interaction of
compounds with ion channels.
A case study based on Pfizer's blockbuster antidepressant Zoloft
(sertraline HCl) reveals how early research on the different
crystal forms of a drug can avoid generic challenges later on.
For the second time this year, Germany's LION bioscience has
dropped its full-year sales targets after reporting a slump in
interim sales to €7.5 million.
Researchers in the UK have uncovered important clues about how
cells age that could be used to develop treatments that counteract
the ability of cancers to grow and spread.
MWG links up with Quanta Biotech to launch a new offensive on the
market for thermal cyclers, often described as a "must-have"
laboratory tool. The deal also marks MWG's first entry into
real-time thermal cyclers.
Instruments specialist Mettler Toledo reports flat sales in a
difficult operating environment for the sector, but says that
investments in R&D should pay off going forward.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday issued a new
document that encourages drug and biologic developers to conduct
pharmacogenomic tests during drug development and clarifies how the
agency will evaluate the resulting...
UK firm Astex Technology says that it has acquired German cancer
specialist metaGen, a spin-out from European drug major Schering
AG, in an all-share transaction.
Dharmacon has entered into a collaboration with fellow US firm
Akceli to explore new ways of conducting high-throughput gene
function analysis, target validation and drug discovery.
A collaboration between Peakdale Molecular and fellow UK firm De
Novo Pharma has made progress in identifying novel molecules
targeting G protein-coupled receptors.
Millipore yesterday launched a range of accessories designed to
improve the monitoring of the purity and quality of water generated
with its Elix and RiOs systems.
