The European Commission has named research-performing small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as 'the entrepreneurial stars of
Europe', and hopes to raise €800m of extra funds for them.
A contract research organisation (CRO) is offering a unique
toxicity screening service using zebrafish as a model for assessing
drug effects on cardiac function.
Two big players in the early stage contract research organisation
(CRO) arena have announced this week they are expanding their
preclinical capabilities in Canada as demand for preclinical
testing is rising.
Novartis is to pull millions of planned investment dollars out of
India in reaction to intellectual property (IP) fears. The decision
may leave China as the cat that got the cream.
Through a new service partnership, Applied Biosystems is helping
scientists study genetic variations - even if they can't access or
afford the necessary lab equipment.
The often cited decline in R&D productivity and dwindling
innovation within the pharma industry is actually a thing of the
past, according to Wyeth's head of business development.
MDS Pharma Services has announced it is expanding its development
and regulatory services (DRS) business in Europe while its
bioanalytical operations are still struggling.
UK-based microdosing specialist Xceleron has announced its
expansion with the takeover of a new facility in the US, two years
after setting up a business base in the region.
The UK government has been ordered to review the assessment system
it uses to classify and grant permission for animal experiments
following a court ruling handed down last week.
As pharma firms disclose their financial results for the second
quarter of the year, AstraZeneca (AZ) and Bristol-Myers Squibb
(BMS) have announced more job cuts.
WuXi PharmaTech, the biggest Chinese contract research organisation
(CRO), has put an end to weeks of speculation by officially
announcing it plans an initial public offering (IPO) on the New
York Stock Exchange.
Danish firm Novozymes has been honoured by animal rights
organisation PETA for its efforts to provide animal-free
bioprocessing methods aimed at cutting animal testing during drug
development.
Covance is again at the centre of controversy as opponents of the contract research organisation (CRO) filed a lawsuit against a city in Arizona, aimed at stopping the firm from building a new drug-testing facility there.
UK-based NanoBioDesign has received further investment to aid in
its commercialisation of a tool for testing drugs on P450 liver
enzymes, which could dramatically speed up drug toxicity testing.
India's Reliance Life Sciences (RLS) is planning an acquisition in
Europe or in the US joining the slow infiltration of Indian firms
cementing themselves in Western markets.
Aptuit Laurus, the newly formed joint venture between Aptuit and
Laurus Labs in India, will focus on an expected rise in the demand
for preclinical and Phase I research and development services as
part of its growth plan in India.
Asterand said it is to slash 10 per cent of its total workforce in
a cost-cutting strategy although it is not a knock-on effect of the
recent ban on export of human samples from Russia.
In this week's review of recent activity within the preclinical
research services arena, news has emerged involving Gendata,
Achaogen, NiKem Research and Verona Pharma.
Roche has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to an
early-phase rheumatoid arthritis drug, a move that is indicative of
big pharma's increasing tendency to license earlier phase
compounds.
Thermo Fisher Scientific has opened a new RNAi Discovery and
Therapeutics Services Laboratory to help pharmaceutical companies
in their quest for new drugs.
Pfizer is to plough $300m (€226m) into South Korean research and development over the next five years, while it's CEO is planning to visit North Korea tomorrow.
BioFocus DPI has released a new informatics system that can combine
chemical and biological data from various sources to optimise
protein kinase inhibitor candidate selection.
Just as the clinical trials sector in Russia is
starting to take off, the industry has been dealt a severe
blow with the sudden and indefinite banning of biological sample
exports.
The pharmaceutical and healthcare industries will help to push
trade between India and the United Kingdom up by 60 per cent within
three years, claims a soon-to-be released report.
Veeda Clinical Research, an Anglo-Indian contract research
organisation (CRO) formed two years ago, said it will soon enter
the US market with a new acquisition - the fourth since the
company's creation.
The first contract research service alliance (CROSA) in China has
been formed between three leading local firms to provide a more
exhaustive range of drug development services to pharma companies.
A non-invasive technique that uses hair plucked from cancer
patients to guide the development of new chemotherapy drugs has
attracted the attention of UK pharma giant AstraZeneca.
Anglo-German firm Evotec is taking its fragment-based drug
discovery (FBDD) services a step further with the launch today of a
new innovation centre for FBDD.
US-base firm Quest Pharmaceutical Services (QPS) has announced that
its Taiwan testing facility can now provide bioanalytical services
managed directly from the US.
US-based firm Goodwin Biotechnology said it is about to complete
the expansion of its biomanufacturing facility as the number of
contracts with biotech companies has jumped in the past two years.
In this week's review of activity within the preclinical research
services arena, new deals have emerged involving Gene Bridges,
Panacos Pharmaceuticals, and GenScript.
Charles River has posted first quarter results that beat analysts
expectations after seeing renewed growth in its research models and
services segment.
This week Covance has paid PETA Europe's court costs relating back
to a failed legal bid to prevent the broadcast of video footage
taken during a covert investigation of its US animal laboratory.
Meanwhile, GSK has had a positive...
Clinical trial sponsors are outsourcing the majority of clinical
work in Phase I and gradually bringing functions back in-house as
compounds move through the development stages.
Pharma firms can now follow US regulator's recommendations for
testing the cardiac safety of drug candidates more fully - thanks
to a new addition to Millipore's services.
BioFocus DPI is developing a drug screening service that will use
primary cells in an attempt to improve pharma productivity,
although first it must persuade the industry that the technique is
reliable.
Australian politicians begin their first round of votes this week
to decide the fate of a controversial new law that could legalise
therapeutic embryonic cloning in the country for the first time.
The use of internal standards (IS) is essential for developing and applying liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) quantitative bioanalytical...
Global regulatory standards govern bioanalytical method development, validation and the subsequent assays. When those standards are updated, industry stakeholders...
Understanding pharmacokinetic behaviors ahead of later-stage development means making informed decisions earlier. This enhanced capability helps your drug...