Merck KGaA buys ProteoPlex in a move designed to shore up its
position in the emerging microarray market, estimated to reach $2
billion (€1.76bn) in 2008.
Shares in the UK's Genetix rose 15 per cent yesterday after the
company, which makes gene and protein research equipment, said it
had received orders from leading pharmaceutical groups for two of
its new products.
Agilent launches two new products at the ongoing Drug Discovery
Technology meeting, including an LC column to remove high-abundance
proteins from serum and an oligonucleotide mouse microarray to aid
in toxicogenomics research.
Evotec OAI has posted a strong set of figures in the first half of
2003 as operating losses are trimmed by a third and EBITDA enters
positive territory.
The pharmaceutical industry is facing the possibility of earlier
generic competition for its branded products from 18 August, when
new legislation in the USA comes into effect.
The organisers of CORDIA EuropaBio 2003 have revealed the keynote
speakers for the 'largest convention in Europe for trade,
investment, partnership and information exchange'.
Swedish biotech tools company Cellectricon says it has now received
orders from three of the top five pharmaceutical companies for its
Dynaflow microfluidic chip technology for increasing productivity
in the drug discovery process.
The first vaccine targeting the strains of HIV prevalent in
sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, where millions of people are infected
with the virus, has started Phase I volunteer studies in the USA.
An Anglo-US team of researchers has unveiled the first structure of
a membrane transport protein; disruptions in the activity of MTPs
are involved in a number of diseases.
Swiss drugmaker Roche has succeeded in developing a crystalline
form of one of its pipeline compounds with the help of a US
company, TransForm Pharmaceuticals, that is applying a
high-throughput approach to form and formulation.
A linear ion trap (LIT) spectrometer that is up to 10 times more
sensitive than current systems will be launched later this year by
Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX
Qiagen has reported strong growth in sales and profits in the
second quarter as last year's acquisitions of GenoVision and
Xeragon start to exert their effects. The company has also signed
two new deals in the area of RNA interference.
A conference examining the progress made in the field of
angiogenesis inhibition,organised by SRI, will take place 29-30
September in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Pharmagene has reported a near-doubling in turnover in the first
half of this year, on the back of strong growth in its drug
discovery services division.
Dharmacon has been awarded a US Patent (No 6,590,093) which covers
its proprietary 2'-ACE chemistry for the production of synthetic
RNA oligonucleotides.
GPC reports progress with its anti-MHC class II antibody, with
potential in a range of haematological malignancies, and says it
now has sufficient quantities to start a clinical trials programme.
Botanical drug specialist Phytopharm suffered a setback yesterday
when Pfizer withdrew from a collaboration to develop P57, a drug
for obesity and metabolic syndrome.
The battle to amass intellectual property in the hot area of RNA
interference (RNAi) continues to gain pace, with one of the key
players in the category, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, licensing patents
from the UK's Cambridge Research...
Argonaut sells its HPLC business to Grace Vydac as it refocuses on
supplying consumables for companies working on drug discovery.
Reports reduced losses in first half.
German researchers have developed a technique to speed up the
discovery of medicinal plant compounds, using a combination of
three analysis techniques.
Amersham trimmed its 2003 profit forecast by £40 million (€57m), or
4.1 pence per share, after reporting lower sales and pre-tax
profits for the first half of 2003.
EPIDAUROS Biotechnologie has acquired a non-exclusive licence for
the diagnostic use of one of the most important genetic variants of
the cytochrome P450 2D6 gene.
The European Commission sends written warnings to France, Belgium
and the Netherlands for failing to comply with its regulations on
animal experiments.
Tecan second-quarter results reveal some signs of recovery after a
torrid first quarter and the departure of former chief executive
Emile Sutcliffe, with diagnostics holding back an improved
performance in biopharma.
Roche is said to be considering a purchase of diagnostics company
Igen International after a US appeals court ruling put a slice of
the Swiss group's diagnostics operations in jeopardy.
Applied Biosystems has unveiled a gene expression analysis product
that allows researchers to conduct studies on the entire human
genome using a single microarray.
Italy's Abiogen Pharma has licensed rights to two UK-developed
compounds that seem to work via a completely new mechanism of
action for the treatment of anxiety.
The pharmaceutical industry is failing to increase efficiencies in
core areas of its business - such as clinical trials and sales -
because of an enormous pressure from investors to drive revenues,
according to Datamonitor.
Scientists at Roche have discovered a new class of drug, called
glucokinase activators, that may be of use in the treatment of
patients with type 2 diabetes.
Enanta has discovered a type of macrolide that could represent a
new class of antibiotic for the treatment of upper and lower
respiratory tract infections.
The market for non-array products used in the analysis of the
transcriptome - a map of gene expression and mRNA in the cell - is
maturing quickly but will still grow at more than 14 per cent a
year between 2003 and 2008, says a report...
Millipore has reported buoyant sales growth in the second quarter
of this year but was let down by a lacklustre showing from its
biotechnology division, held up as one of the key drivers of future
growth.
Therascope, a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on
small molecule drug discovery, has raised €24.1 million to develop
its TACE platform.
Switzerland's Tecan has forged a co-marketing alliance with EMD
Biosciences in the area of automated systems for medium- to
high-throughput protein extraction, screening and purification. The
collaboration will focus on companies...
