PPD’s acquisition of Merck’s vaccine testing laboratory will give it a geographic location from which it can compete for business with its “number one competitor”, which is well established in the north east of the US.
Continued high demand for vaccine manufacturing technologies saw life sciences emerge as one of the few positives for industrial processing specialist Pall in Q1.
It is “legislative madness” to allow reimportation in the US, according to the chair of EAASM who spoke at AAPS about Europe’s “porous supply chain” and how it could affect the standard of medicines in the States.
UK process technologies firm Reaxa has received a £146K (€164K) R&D grant from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) to scale-up production of its EnCat nickel catalyst.
Boehringer Ingelheim looks set for a significant windfall with results from Phase III trials indicating that its drug flibanserin can boost sexual desire in women, raising the prospect of a female equivalent to Pfizer’s Viagra.
WuXi PharmaTech’s operating income increased by 35 per cent in the third quarter, underpinned by strong growth in China-based laboratory services, but its manufacturing operations continue to struggle.
Regulatory enforcement efforts to tackle counterfeit and substandard APIs are in disarray, according to Guy Villax, CEO of Hovione, who spoke at AAPS about the scale of the problem.
French drug delivery specialist Galenix has named DSM’s pharmaceutical products unit as its manufacturing and co-marketing partner as it continues to efforts build its global presence.
Pfizer will close six R&D facilities in the US and the UK, reducing its global capacity by over a third following completion of its acquisition of Wyeth.
Genmab has put its Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, US facility up for sale, which will reduce its headcount by 300, and plans to use CMOs to cover for the loss of capacity.
Canada’s Biovail Contract Research says its stand-alone biostatistics unit will help sponsors “anticipate roadblocks ahead of time and create a sound statistical analysis plan for optimal results.”
The ICH says it made progress on its S9 guideline on non-clinical data requirement for late-stage cancer treatments at its most recent steering committee meeting in Missouri, US.
New US Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) monographs designed to prevent adulteration of key excipients with diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG) have been published ahead of their official implementation date in February.
Ohio, US-based CTI Clinical Trial and Consulting Services (CTI) has bought German trial staffing specialist CRS Clinical Research Services (CRS) to build its presence in Europe’s contract research sector.
Particulate Systems (PS) and Surface Measurement Systems (SMS) have entered into a strategic collaboration drawing on their knowledge of using analytic equipment for the characterisation of particulate, porous and complex materials.
US contract services firm Catalent has launched a new test service capable of detecting trace amounts of the toxic chemical melamine in pharmaceuticals.
US R&D facilities in Rahway and Kenilworth, New Jersey will remain operational as they are vital to the to the newly formed Merck Schering-Plough group, according to CEO Richard Clark.
Welsh contract services firm Penn Pharmaceuticals has reorganised its transport and delivery infrastructure in the first phase of a £12m (€13.3m) expansion at its facility in Tredegar.
Pfizer and Nigerian authorities want Trovan compensation claimants to provide DNA samples to confirm their identity, according to former Nigerian Supreme court justice Abubakar Wali.
Novartis is investing $250m (€170m) to construct a facility in China focused on research, development and manufacture of APIs and has earmarked a further $1bn to expand its R&D activities in the country.
Good news for Human Genome Sciences (HGS) as development partner GSK reports Ph III data showing that their co-owned lupus treatment Benlysta (belimumab) is effective.
Lonza cuts 2009 earning guidance and may reduce its workforce under “Project Bond” cost cutting plan after a Q3 characterized by an “accumulation of unexpected events”
Early-stage CDC research suggests that the anti-inflammatory properties of cholesterol-busting statin drugs can help mitigate the impact of flu infection.
Novavax says its new Indian vaccine plant will be operational in four months with sufficient capacity to help meet local demand for seasonal influenza vaccines.
Late last week Ecuador’s government announced plans to sidestep patents on more than 2,000 drugs, enabling them to produced local or imported as “generics”
Novotech says its new “management hub” in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia will serve as a base for expansion in the booming Asia-Pacific contract research sector.
Nokia, SAP and G&D are forming a company to provide anti-counterfeiting services which will draw on the firms’ respective expertise in mobile phones, supply chain technology and encryption.
inVentiv Clinical Solutions' new Clinical Global Alliance will help meet industry demand for rapid access to “concentrated patient populations” according to CEO Michael Hlinak.
US headquartered Unilife is targeting pharmaceutical companies with its new Unifill RTF safety syringe and product range and has begun seeking international trademarks.
Australia-based CROs, state government and a clinical trails network are collaborating with a Japanese company to encourage businesses to outsource preclinical and early-stage research to Queensland.
Increased focus on international markets, soaring demand for finished dosage forms and improved capacity usage helped India-based CMO Granules posting record revenues.
Portuguese CMO Hovione has bought an aseptic spray-drying line from US firm Acusphere and says that the demand for the technology is increasing as drug firms aim to boost bioavailability.
Globalisation and “heightened awareness and scrutiny of clinical trials” in the wake of the Northwick Park, UK incident, where some patients suffered multiple organ failure, have had a significant impact on study insurance, according to a MD.
Comparative effectiveness research (CER) represents a “historical market opportunity”, according to a VP at Quintiles who explained that pharmas that do the work will be “properly rewarded for their innovations”.
Health Decisions is “effectively franchising” its clinical trial model to other CROs to create a network of partners that it believes will offer “great flexibility” to clients, according to its COO.
Encorium has abandoned plans to sell its Finnish unit, Encorium OY, citing its new strategic focus and recent contract wins as the basis for the decision.
Environmental and safety matters concern pharma “less than they should” when outsourcing to Asia, according to the CEO of Ash Stevens who believes there are long term benefits of using US-based companies.
