Analytical testing, QC

Evotec has been contracted to manage candidate APIs by Pierre Fabre

19-Apr-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

Evotec has been hired to manage candidate drug compounds by French privately-owned pharmaceutical firm Pierre Fabre.

GE and Zenith collaborate on bioprocessing automation

05-Apr-2016 By Dan Stanton

GE has teamed up with Zenith Technologies to implement automation across its single-use and modular bioprocessing technologies.

SGS and DiscoverX to supply bioassays for biosimilar development

04-Apr-2016 By Dan Stanton

SGS has teamed with DiscoverX to offer bioassays for assessing the potency of prospective biosimilars of Roche’s Avastin and BMS’s Erbitux.

Eurofins agrees to buy US analytical services firm Advantar Laboratories

01-Apr-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

Eurofins Scientific has agreed to buy analytical services firm Advantar Laboratories in its latest deal in the pharmaceutical space.

Quanterix raises $46m with goal of adding 60 new assays

23-Mar-2016 By Melissa Fassbender

The funding will be used to accelerate the company’s global expansion of its proprietary digital immunoassay platform into new markets.

Drug firms should share more data says environmental researcher

23-Mar-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

Drug companies should share more details of their APIs and the green credentials of the companies that supply says an award winning environmental researcher.

Any old ion? Metrion gets grant to develop better stem cell-based cardiac risk assays

21-Mar-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

Metrion Biosciences has been awarded a grant to develop CiPA-compliant stem cells and screening technologies by Eurostars, a European Union (EU) programme.

Affymetrix rejects Origin offer and backs Thermo Fisher merger

21-Mar-2016 By Joseph James Whitworth

Affymetrix has rejected a $1.5bn rival bid and said it prefers to merge with Thermo Fisher Scientific.

UK CRO BioPharmaSpec eyes growth in India and Asia-Pacific

21-Mar-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

BioPharmaSpec has set up business development teams for the Indian and Asia-Pacific markets and predicted increased demand for biosimilar characterisation services.

Eurofins expands into Asia-Pacific through QC services firm acquisition

14-Mar-2016 By Dan Stanton

Eurofins has bought Australian QC firm ams Laboratories in a push to expand its biopharma testing services into the Asia-Pacific region.

Eurofins cites pharma demand as 2015 driver and predicts more of the same in 2016

08-Mar-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

Eurofins says its drug testing business performed above expectations in 2015 thanks to increased demand and relocation of its central labs operations.

Preclinical consolidation creating 'service desert,' says Swiss CRO Anapath

25-Feb-2016 By Dan Stanton

Anapath has seen a surge in histotechnology services from Europe pharma and rival CROs as consolidation in the preclinical sector has left a lack of capacity for such work.

AAI/Cambridge Major Labs to rehouse anaytical services in new MO facility

22-Feb-2016 By Dan Stanton

Increased client demand for analytical testing has driven merged CDMO AAIPharma/Cambridge Major Laboratories to invest $11m into a new facility in Missouri.

Real-world data studies could 'revitalize' productivity, says analyst

16-Feb-2016 By Melissa Fassbender

Pharmaceutical companies can optimize market access by analyzing real-world trends in different treatment spaces, according to a new report.

Amatsigroup buys Q Biologicals in 'fragmented' EU bio-services space

27-Jan-2016 By Dan Stanton

French CDMO Amatsigroup will offer complete biologics development services and expand its European presence through the acquisition of Q Biologicals.

Johnson Matthey expands Cambridge catalysis facility

21-Jan-2016 By Dan Stanton

Johnson Matthey has expanded its UK biocatalysis R&D operations in response to growing drug industry demand.

More takeovers: Eurofins buys pharma QC services firm Sinensis Life Science

13-Jan-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

Eurofins Scientific has bought drug quality control testing firm Sinensis Life Science BV in a move designed to expand its global reach.

Waters to open analytical lab in UK biohub

07-Jan-2016 By .

Waters Corporation will offer an open access analytical laboratory and technology support  to biotechs based at a former AstraZeneca site in the UK.

Merck expands deal with 'organ-on-chip' tech firm Emulate

06-Jan-2016 By Dan Stanton

Merck & Co. has expanded a partnership to use Emulate’s organ-on-chip technology to carry out predictive modelling of inflammatory processes.

Bad data: new methods needed to catch errors in clinical trials

06-Jan-2016 By Melissa Fassbender

About 2% of researchers admit to data manipulation, but this figure may be much higher and a new method is being sought to detect flawed data.

Paragon launches manufacturing compliance service for drug firms

05-Jan-2016 By Staff writer

Paragon Solutions has rolled out a new service to help drugmakers make sure their manufacturing operations comply with US FDA regulations.

Heightened regulatory environment drives AMRI’s $54m Whitehouse acq

17-Dec-2015 By Dan Stanton

AMRI has acquired chemical testing services firm Whitehouse Laboratories to complement its pharma analytical offerings.

New liver cell production method will spark end of animal testing, scientist

02-Dec-2015 By Dan Stanton

An Israeli researcher says a cost-effective method for making human liver cells offers drug developers better safety evaluation and will “undoubtedly” replace animal testing.

Acquired Sigma-Aldrich businesses part of Merck's Africa growth plan

26-Nov-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

New acquisition Sigma Aldrich will play a part in African growth plans in addition to giving it a presence in the preclinical services sector says Merck*.

Cyprotex: Predictive toxicology tech will help pharma cut animal study spending

23-Nov-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Cyprotex has expanded its toxicology offering with a new in silico technology it claims will reduce preclinical costs and cut the number of animal studies required.

Abcam buys AxioMx for antibody production technology

23-Nov-2015 By Staff Reporter

Abcam has acquired monoclonal antibody production specialist AxioMx in a deal worth up to $45m (€42m).

Sanofi strategic research agreement bolsters Evotec's topline

12-Nov-2015 By Dan Stanton

A strategic discovery partnership signed with Sanofi in March has helped grow Evotec's revenues by over 50%, the German CRO reports.

Almac to hire 180 at ex-AZ site in UK

09-Nov-2015 By Fiona BARRY

CDMO Almac says it will hire 180 people following a £16m ($24m) expansion of formulation and analytical services.

CRL plans to pounce as pharma outsources more early discovery

05-Nov-2015 By Fiona BARRY

Charles River has reported strong Q3 sales despite weakness in Japan and plans to grab space in emerging early discovery, bio-testing and Chinese markets.

Lonza: industry should shift to QC automation

04-Nov-2015 By Fiona BARRY

While pharma is increasing use of automation and data integration tools in process development and manufacturing, it lags behind in electronic documentation of quality control, according to Lonza Biologics QC director Jessica Jean.

Almac buys biocatalysis partner Arran, expanding capacity and services

04-Nov-2015 By Dan Stanton

Almac has acquired Arran Chemical Company to further grow its biocatalysis services and increase its large-scale intermediates capacity.

Hanson, Shimadzu combine technologies to create an automated testing system

30-Oct-2015 By Staff reporter

Hanson Research and Shimadzu have teamed up to combine their respective technologies into an automated online pharmaceutical testing system.

Bioprocess International

Pharma manufacturers using smart glasses for virtual POV

29-Oct-2015 By Fiona BARRY

Big pharma is adopting Google Glass-type tech to remotely advise and monitor manufacturing operators, says the company licensing the handsfree tech.

Intertek's CA bioanalytical lab expansion latest response to biopharma demand

22-Oct-2015 By Dan Stanton

An expanded San Diego facility will support demand for preclinical and clinical development services driven by the growth in the antibody and biosimilar sector, Intertek says.

AmerisourceBergen will pay $2.56bn for compounder PharMEDium Healthcare

06-Oct-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

AmerisourceBergen has announced plans to buy drug compounding firm PharMEDium Healthcare Holdings from private equity group, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.

Intertek opens bioanalysis plant in UK to support biosimilar growth

24-Sep-2015 By Dan Stanton

Intertek has added 10,000 ft² of bioanalytical laboratory space through a new UK facility, the second to be opened this year.

Labcorp: Covance not adding capacity despite preclinical recovery

18-Sep-2015 By Dan Stanton

Covance will not add more capacity in the near future despite increased demand and improving preclinical sector pricing, Labcorp’s management says.

SGS testing site upgraded to handle biosafety level 2 materials

10-Sep-2015 By Dan Stanton

A New Jersey facility has been upgraded to Biosafety Level 2, allowing SGS Life Sciences to offer customers analytical testing of hazardous organisms.

Agilent adding metabolism analysis tech in $235m Seahorse acquisition

10-Sep-2015 By Dan Stanton

Agilent Technologies has inked a deal to acquire Seahorse Bioscience, adding a cell metabolism analysis platform to its lead development and preclinical offerings.

Europe bans drugs tested by GVK; FDA monitors but keeps allowing sales

31-Aug-2015 By Dan Rosenberg

The US FDA has found no systemic issues affecting the safety or efficacy of generics clinically tested at GVK BioSciences, but says it supports Europe’s ban of around 700 products.

Mid-sized M&A madness: Smaller deals dominate CRO space so far in 2015

27-Aug-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Chiltern’s takeover of Theorem Clinical will be the latest acquisition in a busy eight months of deals impacting the mid-sized CRO space.

Device advice: Intertek study shows its key to consider devices in formulation development

26-Aug-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Pharma firms developing inhalable drugs often fail to test that their formulations are compatible with their intended delivery devices early enough according to the Intertek team behind research stressing the benefits of early assessment.

$47m innovation facility built in Nottingham, UK

21-Aug-2015 By Fiona BARRY

The UK’s BioCity in Nottingham is adding a £30m ($47m) facility to house life science start-ups including CROs. The site will also become a hunting ground for a soon-to-launch venture capital fund which will invest in the SME tenants.

Eurofins tasked with streamlining disease testing by US kidney transplant group

21-Aug-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Eurofins has been contracted to streamline donor serology testing by the US National Kidney Registry (NKR).

Pharma plants strike in Pakistan to protest QC rule changes

19-Aug-2015 By Fiona BARRY

Pakistani pharmaceutical manufacturers are today halting production in protest at changes to manufacturing regulations.

BASi sees Q3 profit rise due to early preclinical project terminations

17-Aug-2015 By Zachary Brennan

One of the smaller contract research providers -- Bioanalytical Systems (BASi) – has reported modest revenue and profit gains for Q3. 

MHRA to launch pilot inspections of contract pharmacovigilance service providers

13-Aug-2015 By Zachary Brennan

The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is working on a pilot project investigating the feasibility of inspecting pharmacovigilance contract service providers as it’s becoming increasingly common for a MAH (marketing authorisation...

BioClinica looks to tap CROs, sponsors hesitant to adopt cloud tech

12-Aug-2015 By Zachary Brennan

BioClinica is looking to target its new offering to the CROs and sponsors who have yet to adopt a cloud-based solution for the management and delivery of clinical trials.

WuXi finds success in pilot testing of edible microtags

11-Aug-2015 By Zachary Brennan

Service provider and contract manufacturer WuXi PharmaTech is vouching for TruTag Technologies’ edible microtags following a pilot project adding to evidence that they can help root out counterfeits.

Medpace’s European expansion continues in UK

11-Aug-2015 By Zachary Brennan

CRO Medpace has tripled the size of its Stirling, Scotland office with a new office, also in Stirling, that will allow for growth in data management, biostatistics, quality assurance, regulatory affairs, clinical operations and safety services.