As of next year, electronics manufacturers in Europe will be
required to take back and partially recycle old equipment.
Beginning in 2006, electronics must be completely lead-free. An
industry conference starting in Berlin, Germany...
The European Commission has started a discussion on its strategy
for developing Europe's nanotechnology industry, and is seeking
comments on its proposals put forward in June.
Cobra Biomanufacturing has received approval from the UK regulatory
authorities for its new clinical trial manufacturing facilities in
Oxford as well as its established unit in Keele.
US firm Altair Nanotechnologies has filed two new patent
applications on its TiNano Spheres drug delivery system, which it
claims can deliver a large amount of drug, improving reaction
rates.
Swiss fine chemicals company Siegfried has been insulated from the
general downturn in the chemicals industry, but has finally
succumbed and been forced to lose staff and cut back production,
writes Phil Taylor.
A group of research directors of leading pharmaceutical companies
met this week to agree a framework for working together on research
in a bid to make the European industry more competitive.
The European Union has awarded funding worth €2.2 million to the
group of academic institutes behind the 3DGENOME research
programme, which is exploring how the genome functions in health
and disease.
In Norway, the Supreme Court has concluded that the packaging
designused by the local subsidiary of parallel importer Paranova
does notinfringe Merck & Co's trademarks.
Swiss active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) company Siegfried
believes it has found a shortcut on the path to market for generic
drugs in the European Union, allowing it to launch drugs
immediately after their patents expire.
Ministers at the Council of the European Union dashed hopes that an
EU-wide 'Community Patent' might be in the offing by voting against
the measure at last week's EU Competitiveness Council meeting.
The European Commission has mapped out its strategy to keep the
European Union at the forefront of research into nanotechnology, a
position that is in danger of being eroded, and plans to double its
funding in the sector writes Phil...
Signalling its continued commitment to the emerging economies of
the recently expanded European Union, Switzerland's Novartis has
unveiled a €70 million overall investment in a new generics
production and logistics facility in...
The structure and remit of the European Medicines Evaluation Agency
(EMEA) will be overhauled from 20 May to give it a stronger
advisory role to industry, the healthcare profession and patients.
Two leading central and eastern European pharma firms - both
producing both generic and branded drugs and active pharmaceuticals
- post results this week. Their results suggest CEE firms should
focus on foreign markets as pricing...
The number of animals tests needed for new chemicals could be
reduced significantly by the use of assays tests developed by
researchers at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. And
this should be welcome news for companies...
Italy's Recordati has sold off Sophartex, a French subsidiary
specialising in the contract manufacture of finished pharmaceutical
dosage forms, continuing its strategy of divesting businesses
outside its core focus of developing...
The impact on the French chemicals industry of implementing the
European Union's REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation
of Chemicals) proposals could be as high €800 million in testing
alone and lead to the loss of...
The European Commission has reported on its progress in building up
Europe's competitiveness in the biotechnology and concludes that
while positive steps have been taken, there is still much to be
done, particularly with regard...
Leaving aside the safety concerns surrounding nanotechnology set
out in In-Pharmatechnologist.com's lead article today, a
report commissioned by the UK government has claimed that a lack of
foresight by both policy makers and...
A number of countries set to join the European Union in May,
including Hungary, have signed a petition against new EU
legislation that they claim would significantly raise the cost of
providing healthcare, reports Phil Taylor.
The enlargement of the European Union to include 10 new countries
has raised fears about the impact this could have on issues such as
parallel imports and intellectual property protection, but it could
reinvigorate the industry in...
Proposals to introduce a 'scientific visa' to facilitate movement
of third country researchers to and within the EU have been adopted
by the European Commission, writes Wai Lang Chu.
The European Union's Competitiveness Council has adopted the
legislation comprising the new framework for pharmaceuticals, but
its failure to agree on a pan-EU patent system has undermined the
progress made in the reform package,...
The European Parliament has adopted new measures to control the
trade in two compounds used for both legitimate pharmaceutical
applications and the manufacture of illicit drugs, writes Phil
Taylor.
Companies involved in the parallel trade of pharmaceuticals have
been boosted by a court ruling which gives them the right to re-box
products shipped into the UK from another country in the European
Union.
The expansion of the European Union to include 25 member states
after May 2004 presents significant opportunities for the
pharmaceutical industry to tap new markets, but companies should
think twice before launching new products there.
Sir Tom McKillop, chief executive of AstraZeneca, has delivered a
stinging attack on parallel trade in pharmaceuticals as a factor
that is contributing to the ground lost by European pharmaceutical
companies to their US peers over...
UK chemical sector growth, including pharmaceuticals, is forecast
at 3.6 per cent for 2004, outperforming the 2.3 per cent growth
estimated for Europe as a whole, according to a study presented at
the Chemical Industry Association's...
General Electric's €8.1 billion acquisition of the UK's Amersham
was approved by the European Union yesterday, after it concluded
that the deal would not create a monopoly in Europe's medical
imaging market.
European clinical researchers have launched a campaign calling on
the European Parliament and Commission to repeal a new Directive on
Good Clinical Practice (GCP) on the grounds that it will hinder the
conduct of non-commercial trials.
The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg has thrown out
allegations by the European Commission that Bayer, the German
pharmaceutical firm, had established a cartel agreement with its
wholesalers to restrict the trade flow of its...
The European Court of Justice has ruled that Internet sales of
prescription drugs should not be permitted in European Union member
states but that over-the-counter drugs may be sold on-line and
through mail-order.
The innovation gap between the EU and the US will not be closed
before 2010 if the present rate of progress continues, according to
new figures contained in the Commission's European innovation
scoreboard for 2003.
A pilot study supported by the European Commission has concluded
that a lack of access to scientific equipment and technology, and
not salaries, is one of the main factors causing the 'brain drain'
of scientists, often from...
The European Parliament's Environment Committee takes a vote
tomorrow on the review of the EU medicinal product directive, set
to define the boundary between dietary supplements and
pharmaceuticals. Europe's pharmaceutical...
The European Research Council Expert Group (ERCEG), set up under
the Danish presidency to investigate the creation of a new European
body for the support of basic research, has delivered a provisional
verdict in favour of the idea,...
Rhodia has revealed the extent of job cuts that will take place in
the wake of its restructuring exercise, initiated in response to
the financial pressures facing the chemicals group.
The European Commission has launched a five-year €11.7 project to
identify brain mechanisms affecting obesity and seek new treatments
to treat the condition.
Avecia has scored a world first with the certification by all
European Union member states of its DNA medicines production
facility at Grangemouth, Scotland.
The globalisation of the marketplace for pharmaceuticals means that
it is becoming more common for medicines destined for consumption
in the European Union to be manufactured in distant lands. As a
consequence, the EMEA has started...
Degussa sees no signs of any let-up in the difficulties facing the
chemicals industry in the third quarter, with both sales and pretax
earnings continuing to slide.
The REACH framework for chemicals will contrary to the industry's
view, actually improve conditions for innovation in Europe,
according to EU Commissioner Erkki Liikanen.
Franco-German drugmaker Aventis has confirmed that it is seeking to
delay the divestment of its stake in the loss-making chemicals
major Rhodia, on the grounds that this willwreak havoc on the
latter's restructuring drive.
An EU project has launched the first ever European virtual
microencapsulation institute, aimed at turning technologies in this
field into viable business products.
The European Commission has stepped back from requiring the
industry to test thousands of chemicals already used and sold in
Europe, according to an environmental group.
