CalbaTech has signed an agreement to acquire privately-held
Molecula Research Laboratories, a company developing gene silencing
technologies for gene and protein function studies.
BioFocus has entered into an agreement with Switzerland's Roche for
the design of a several custom kinase libraries for use in the
latter's drug discovery efforts.
Germany's Bayer has continued the revamp of its business units by
setting up its chemicals, technology services and healthcare
activities as three separate legal entities. The move follows the
carve-out of Bayer CropScience a...
Qiagen has launched a new version of its Quantitect kit that will
allow users to design and order assays to measure the expression of
any gene from any organism in minutes.
Iceland's deCODE Genetics saw its US-listed shares rise more than
10 per cent yesterday after it reported the discovery of a gene
that appears to play a role in whether people are lean or fat.
Another drug targeting epidermal growth factor tyrosine kinase -
Roche's Tarceva, has failed to live up to early promise as a
treatment for lung cancer.
Mary Harney, the Irish Deputy Prime Minister and incoming President
of the European Union's Competitiveness Council will speak at the
opening plenary session of the CORDIA - EuropaBio Convention 2003,
on 2 December in Vienna,...
A consortium of companies and academic researchers has completed
the first phase of a mammoth screening programme designed to
discover a small-molecule drug candidate for smallpox.
Tepnel Life Sciences has trimmed its losses and boosted sales in
the year ended 30 June, helped by the sale last month of its first
robotic Nucleopure DNA purification systems.
Swedish company Perbio Science has agreed to a $714 million (€626m)
takeover by Fisher Scientific International of the USA, which says
that it sees the acquisition as a means of capitalising on the
strong growth of the life science...
The world market for toxicogenomics technologies is set to grow
strongly over the next five years, but needs the catalyst of
recognition by regulatory authorities.
Researchers from Icelandic genomics company deCODE Genetics have
discovered the first gene ever linked to ischaemic stroke, raising
the hope that new drugs to treat the condition may be developed.
Akubio bolsters its position in acoustic detection, which uses
sound to detect the interactions between molecules, by licensing a
complementary technology from GlaxoSmithKline.
GlaxoSmithKline has secured rights to a technology, developed in
partnership with US company Advaxis, could improve the
effectiveness of vaccine-based treatments for cancer.
Pall tells BIOPHEX/INTERPHEX conference that use of its
ultrafiltration technologies cuts both the time and cost of
conjugate vaccine production; greater adoption could increase the
availability of vaccines for diseases such as meningitis...
Researchers at Merck Research Laboratories have discovered a
small-molecule drug that blocks the activity of FtsZ, an emerging
therapeutic target for antibacterial agents.
A production facility operated by Sigma-Aldrich was rocked by a
serious explosion on Monday. There were no casualties, but the
facility itself has been 'largely destroyed'.
The US market for media, sera and reagents used in cell culture is
expected to nearly double in value to reach $1.7 billion (€1.48bn)
in 2008, according to a report.
Contract research organisation (CRO) revenues have been growing
strongly as a result of drug developers' need to reduce R&D
costs while shortening product evaluation times. However, as demand
for more efficient preclinical...
Quinacrine could provide the first drug treatment for
prion-associated disorders such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease,
according to new research presented at ICAAC.
Roche forges an alliance with ParAllele to discover genes that
contribute to type 2 diabetes, aimed at identifying potential new
medicines and diagnostics for the disease.
Next week's Society for Biomolecular Screening annual meeting will
once again be a showcase for dozens of new products in the drug
discovery arena. We preview some of the highlights.
Genevac of the UK has introduced a high performance Model HT-4X
centrifugal evaporator for scientists in the drug discovery and
medicinal chemistry sectors.
Sweden's Nanoxis has secured a financing deal that will help it
develop nanoanalytical platforms - so-called proteinchips - for the
identification of proteins in drug discovery.
Peptide and antibody specialist AnaSpec has acquired HiLyte
Biosciences, which makes bioanalytical research reagents and kits
designed for scientists engaged in life science research and drug
discovery.
The first in a new class of antibiotics has been approved in the
USA for the treatment of complicated skin and soft structure
infections, including those caused by methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
A team of researchers at Switzerland's Novartis and Rigel
Pharmaceuticals in the USA have created a method for discovering
molecules that are involved in signalling pathways, according to a
report in the Journal of Biology.
New products this week include: a kit for isolating RNA from blood;
a DNA microarray for cytogenetics and cancer research; an automated
mammalian cell picker; and a reagent dispenser for a microplate
reader.
The axe looks set to fall on Scottish biotechnology company PPL
Therapeutics now that the company put itself up for sale, having
failed to convince investors of a rescue plan.
A partnership between Celltech and Access Pharmaceuticals is
focusing on the use of a vitamin-based delivery technology for
monoclonal antibodies and antibody fragments.
Bristol-Myers Squibb has taken another step towards building a
franchise in insulin therapy by licensing an inhaled version of the
drug from QDose for $30m.
Argonaut Technologies has released its latest Synthesis and
Purification catalogue, a technical resource for pharmaceutical
chemists and others involved in all phases of drug discovery and
development.
Merck & Co has become the first drug major to make a
significant alliance in the field of RNA interference - one of the
hottest topics in drug discovery - via a deal with Alnylam
Pharmaceuticals.
On 13 October 2003 the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) will
launch a new bioinformatics support network that is tailor-made for
small companies.
NiKem Research says it has developed its ADMET capabilities to such
an extent that it can offer them as a service to customers involved
in drug discovery.
