German chemicals giant BASF reported strong earnings increases
across the board yesterday, helped by pricing increases. The
companies activities in pharmaceuticals, part of its chemicals and
fine chemicals units, also did well, report...
A desire by pharmaceutical companies to concentrate their resources
on marketing products, rather than production and drug discovery,
will drive global revenues for contract manufacturing and research
to nearly $168bn (€128bn) by...
The Netherlands has set up a programme to boost its biotechnology
sector by helping small and medium-sized biopharma firms to develop
and manufacture products, writes Phil Taylor.
Japan's Chugai Pharmaceutical is planning to slash the number of
manufacturing plants it operates in Japan in the wake of its
alliance with Switzerland's Roche in 2002.
ITI Life Sciences and CXR Biosciences together with Artemis
Pharmaceuticals have entered into a £5.5 million (€7.9 million)
R&D programme to develop new screening and safety models to
more accurately predict the effects of drug...
Akzo Nobel has reported a sharp rise in profits for 2004, but
warned that 2005 would be tough and that further divestments in its
chemicals portfolio are planned.
With safety a key issue amongst drug researchers and manufacturers,
Genaissance Pharmaceuticals has expanded its genetic testing
service, which can analyse key cardiac ion channel proteins
involved in drug-induced cardiac arrhythmias.
Wacker-Chemie is to acquire German biotechnology company ProThera,
based in Jena, to boost its presence in the biologics manufacturing
sector. ProThera will now operate as Wacker Biotech.
Fine chemicals company Rohner is to work together with
Switzerland's Solvias on the provision of development and
manufacturing services for complex active pharmaceutical
ingredients (APIs).
The marriage between US chemicals group Dynamic Synthesis and
French separations specialist Novasep has been completed, creating
what the new company claims is a unique company to serve the life
sciences industry.
Japanese drugmakers Dainippon Pharmaceutical and Sumitomo
Pharmaceuticals are to merge in an attempt to increase their
standing in international markets and fend off competition at home.
German chemical and pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA has sold off
a manufacturing facility in France in a move aimed at consolidating
its global production infrastructure.
Canada's SemBioSys Genetics has been granted a US patent on a
vaccine production system that uses genetically modified seeds as
biological factories of vaccine antigens.
With just a few weeks to go before the introduction of India's new
patent regime - which will increase protection to include product
as well as process patents - a group of government Ministers is
calling for a waiver that would...
The European Union has put forward new legislation that would allow
generic manufacturers to make drug products with in-patent active
pharmaceutical ingredients, provided that they are intended for use
in developing countries, reports...
Cambrex has recorded a loss in the third quarter of this year after
writing down goodwill in its biopharma division in a move that
paints a pessimistic picture of the market for outsourced
manufacturing of biological drugs.
Novis, now with almost half a million readers, last week earned
broad industry recognition with two further publishing awards,
following on from its best publication prize earlier this year.
India is gearing up for the introduction of new legislation on
intellectual property that will bring it into line with its World
Trade Organisation commitments.
UK-based Avecia has been awarded a $50.7 million (€41m) contract by
the US government for the development of a recombinant plague
vaccine. The contract provides funds for pilot lot manufacture,
release, testing and initial human clinical...
The US Food and Drug Administration will start using a risk-based
approach for prioritising site inspections for certain
pharmaceutical products, the agency has announced in a final report
on its current good manufacturing practice...
Ireland's pharmaceutical industry saw a return to strong growth in
July, after a lengthy period in which the prevailing wisdom was
that the sector had plateaued.
Germany's Girindus is this year's recipient of the Product
Differentiation Award sponsored by consulting firm Frost &
Sullivan for its innovative developments in the commercial
production of oligonucleotides.
Inproteo and its subsidiary company, Prosolia, have announced a
licensing agreement with Thermo Electron Corporation for its
ElectroSonicSpray Ionization (ESSI) Technology. The move attempts
to commercialize the ESSI technology, gaining...
Calling the next six months 'a critical period', the US Food and
Drug Administration's Acting Commissioner Lester Crawford has
unveiled a lengthy list of agency priorities, including continued
work on Good Manufacturing...
Contract service provider, GeneLogic, has formed a partnership with
Millenium Pharmaceuticals acquiring a technology program and an
associated research team as part of the deal. Millenium becomes the
first customer for this new service...
The market for generic drugs is going to expand from its present
level of $35 billion (€29bn) to $80 billion in 2008, as
cash-strapped healthcare payors turn increasingly to cheaper
options.
Sigma-Aldrich has boosted its capacity to supply pharmaceutical
ingredients with the purchase of Tetrionics, a company with a
strong position in the high growth area of high potency and
cytotoxic compounds.
Affymetrix has extended the range of custom microarrays it offers
to customers with the launch of the NimbleExpress Array Programme,
which caters for users that require fewer units.
Ireland's Elan has signed its first major contract manufacturing
and supply agreement in a development that reinforces its
credentials as a player in the outsourcing sector.
Companies developing new drugs for the global market must deal with
the rising costs of the R&D process - and outsourcing may well
be the best route, according to Dr Faiz Kermani, a specialist in
outsourcing and research development.
Hospira, the hospital products company spun out of Abbott
Laboratories earlier this year, has acquired a manufacturing
facility that will help it grow its pharmaceutical injectable and
outsourcing business.
German contract manufacturer Strathmann Biotec has won a contract
to manufacture clinical supplies a new type of cancer treatment in
development at Sweden's Active Biotech.
Dowpharma has unveiled plans to consolidate its biopharmaceutical
custom process development activities to a single site in the US
that it says will make it easier to respond to its clients' needs.
In an unusual move, Finnish science park Medipolis has set up a new
Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) pilot plant to take advantage of
the growing demand for biopharmaceutical production capacity.
Swiss contract manufacturing company Lonza has licensed a
technology that makes it possible to make peptide drugs that are
longer and have a more complex structure than is possible using
conventional techniques, reports Phil Taylor.
Sigma-Aldrich has expanded its contract development and
manufacturing for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) at its
Buchs production site in Switzerland.
Fisher Scientific has opened a new small scale chemical
manufacturing facility in Loughborough, UK, to add new custom
synthesis services for the pharmaceutical and other industries.
Chemical Synthesis Services of Northern Ireland has acquired a
controlling interest in Albachem, a company specialising in peptide
and protein synthesis based in West Lothian, Scotland.
UK contract research company, Peakdale Molecular has invested in
two large-scale glass reaction systems from Radleys to upgrade the
capabilities of its kilo-scale laboratory.
Cobra Biomanufacturing has granted AstraZeneca the right to use its
proprietary DNA manufacturing process to make nucleic acids for use
in its drug discovery operations.
Daiichi Pharmaceutical is to set up a new manufacturing subsidiary
in a bid to profit from forthcoming Japanese legislation that makes
it easier for firms to produce drugs for third parties.
Rhodia Pharma Solutions has completed a new extension to its
production operation in Dudley, outside Newcastle, in the UK to
strengthen its ability to provide custom manufacturing services to
pharmaceutical companies.
US-based biotechnology company Human Genome Sciences is planning to
set up the first protein manufacturing facility in India in
collaboration with local companies.
Germany's Haupt Pharma and Wulfing Holding have joined forces to
create a new company specialising in the contract manufacturing of
highly active pharmaceutical products.
Two France-based companies have pooled their resources to set up a
new venture specialising in the contract development and
manufacturing of biologicals drugs.
Chemicals company Sigma-Aldrich is to build an $8 million (€6.5m)
laboratory-scale production facility for pharmaceuticals in
Hyderabad, India, that will act as a feeder site for its plants
elsewhere.
Boehringer Ingelheim has won a contract to develop a
commercial-scale manufacturing process for a new prostate cancer
drug in development at fellow German company Micromet.
Dutch chemical company Akzo Nobel followed through on its plans to
cut costs at its pressured Diosynth subsidiary by slashing staff at
the unit, which has been hit by a deteriorating market for its
manufacturing services in both chemical...
Lonza has signed two new agreements for the supply of monoclonal
antibody-based drugs that provide an early fillip for its contract
manufacturing business, which was adversely affected by
overcapacity in 2003.
Solvents are defined as organic chemicals that are used to dissolve components. They are used during the manufacture of drug substances and can also potentially...
Oral tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are a class of cancer drugs that can be highly susceptible to issues with solubility in the gastrointestinal tract
Various options exist for freezing biopharmaceutical bulk material, but selecting the most effective and efficient approach for each cold chain can be...
