A formulation of the steroid drug budesonide, made using a
solubility technology developed by US company CyDex, has
outperformed one of the leading drugs for asthma on the market in a
preclinical study.
Novartis Consumer Health has launched two of its OTC flu remedies
in portable dissolvable strips, thought to be the first such
products to use the novel delivery format.
Israeli press reports say US generics company IVAX is close to
finalising a merger with local firm Agis, which manufactures
generics and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
The pharmaceutical packaging market plays David to the Goliath of
the food and beverage sector, but is one of several sectors that
has the packaging industry interested, reports Phil Taylor,
who spoke with Rolf Borjesson the chief...
Pharmaceutical packaging demand in the US is forecast to rise 4.7
per cent per year to $6.8 billion in 2008, driven by new Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) regulations that will require unit dose
containers for a range of drugs,...
The US Food and Drug Administration issued its final report on ways
to combat pharmaceutical counterfeiting and identifies
radiofrequency identification (RFID) as a primary means of tackling
the problem.
Asthma is now one of the world's most common long-term conditions,
according to figures released today during the World Asthma Meeting
in Bangkok, Thailand, and the UK has the highest rate in the world.
UK-based Avecia, Europe's largest privately owned chemicals
company, has teamed up with Germany's IEP to develop new synthetic
routes for pharmaceutical intermediates using biocatalysis.
Spanish manufacturer of choline salts Algry Quimica has signed
several new research agreements to develop active ingredients for
pharma and food applications.
Germany's Wacker Specialties has signed an R&D agreement with
Finland's Prokaria to bolster its activities in chiral alcohols,
used as chemical building blocks by the pharmaceutical industry.
Israel's Teva has moved a step closer to consolidating its position
as the world's biggest generics manufacturer with the $3.4 billion
(€2.7bn) acquisition of US-based SICOR, which makes active
pharmaceutical ingredients...
Cypak, a Swedish company specialising in novel forms of packaging,
has signed what promises to be a major new deal for a 'smart'
blister pack system that can detect if patient is taking medication
as prescribed.
Japan has said that it intends to require all prescription drugs to
carry bar codes in a bid to prevent medication mix-ups, but
hospitals are worried about the cost implications of the move.
Akzo Nobel unit Diosynth has unveiled plans to cut 70 jobs at its
UK subsidiary based in Fife, Scotland, because strong competition
from Asian competitors is hitting the business.
CCL Label, a US firm specialising in the packaging and labelling of
pharmaceutical and consumer products, has forged an alliance that
could see so-called 'track and trace' technologies more widely
applied to the healthcare...
The restructuring activity that has features this year in the
European pharmachem industry continued yesterday with the news that
Germany's Merck KGaA had sold off BioMer, a joint venture focusing
on orthopaedic products.
Bar code scanning systems, which scan medications and patient
identification bracelets at hospital bedsides to verify patients
are receiving the correct medications, were voted the top choice
for preventing medication errors in a...
A new low-calorie sweetener which tastes just like table sugar and
is suitable for use in pharmaceuticals and other health care
products is now available from Biospherix, a subsidiary of US firm
Spherix Incorporated.
Pierre Fabre shuts down a facility manufacturing over-the-counter
pharmaceutical products at its Veyron & Froment subsidiary in
Marseille, blaming the move on France's de-reimbursement strategy.
Particle testing specialist Malvern Instruments has acquired
Bohlin, which focuses on the development and manufacture of
rheology systems; also sells PharmaVision 380 system to Altana.
After a difficult period which has seen the departure of its chief
executive and first-half loss of €150 million, Rhodia took the
opportunity presented by the CphI meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, to
reassert its commitment to the pharmaceutical...
Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis is planning to shut its only
manufacturing facility in India, at Mahad in Maharashtra, because
of increasing competition.
Germany's Schott Glas has been granted a US patent on a glass
container for storing medicines that incorporates an anti-adherent
coating on its inner surface.
Italy's Recordati has said that it plans to sell off its
pharmaceutical chemical activities over the next few months in
order to concentrate on pharmaceuticals.
LipoCore's Galacticle delivery technology is to be the subject of a
feasibility study at one of the largest multinational drug
manufacturers in the autumn
Akzo Nobel received a knock-back from the US Food and Drug
Administration after the agency asked for more information before
approving a ready-to-use version of the firm's fertility drug
Follistim.
A conference on 1 July will provide an update on the UK Medicines
and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency Best Practice Guidance on
the Labelling and Packaging of Medicines
Schering-Plough has reached an agreement with the US Food and Drug
Administration to correct the firm's manufacturing compliance
problems, which led to a $500 million fine last year.
Aldo Magnini has been appointed managing director of Clariant's
pharmaceuticals ingredients manufacturing business in Italy, based
around the company's two manufacturing plants in Origgio and Isso.
Netherlands-based drugs, coatings and chemical maker Akzo Nobel has
announced a €500 million divestment program and suggested that it
is unlikely to remain a player in all three of these sectors in the
long term.
For years, it has been common wisdom in the pharmaceutical industry
that delivery of drugs via the nose only really works if the
compound can be presented in liquid form. One company begging to
differ is Britannia Pharmaceuticals...
The UK Medicines Control Agency has published a new guidance on
best practice in drug labelling and packaging which is part of a
broader Department of Health programme aimed at achieving a 40 per
cent cut in medication errors by 2005....
The US Food and Drug Administration announced this week that it has
accomplished the initial objectives outlined in its ongoing
initiative to modernise the agency's regulation of pharmaceutical
manufacturing and product quality.
