Canadian company MIV Therapeutics has been awarded a US patent for
a coating technology for medical devices and drug encapsulation
based on hydroxyapatite, one of the major constituents of bone.
Belgium's Opperbas Holding has started a mid-stage clinical trial
of a new formulation of factor VIII - used to treat haemophilia A -
that should cut the number of injections that sufferers of the
bleeding disease need to endure.
Applied Biosystems has unveiled a family of reagents that speeds up
proteomics and biomarker discovery experiments by allowing up to
four peptides to be analysed in single sample, writes Wai Lang
Chu.
RNA interference is a promising new treatment approach for a range
of diseases, but delivering the RNAi compounds to the right
location has been a major obstacle to their development. Now, US
researchers have succeeded in getting...
Swedish drug discovery technology company Cellectricon has raised a
total of SEK 53 million (€5.8 million) following the completion of
its latest Series B financing round, writes Wai Lang Chu.
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.
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.
Germany's atugen, a specialist in RNA interference technologies for
switching off genes, has demonstrated the feasiblity of delivering
a small interfering RNA (siRNA)-based drug and achieving a
physiological response in animals.
A US company is gearing up to start trials of a novel drug that
could provide the first orally-active treatment for a range of
genetic disorders, including cystic fibrosis and muscular
dystrophy, writes Phil Taylor.
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.
A new range of vertical gel units which have been designed for DNA
sequencing and large format vertical gel electrophoresis
applications, have been introduced by UK firm Scie-Plas, a
subsidiary of Biochrom.
A new technique for engineering protein crystals is helping
scientistsfigure out the three-dimensional structures of some
important biological molecules, including a key plague protein
whose structure has eluded researchers until...
Scientists have started to develop what could be a biosynthetic
route to producing compounds that serve as precursors to a range of
industrial chemicals, including pharmaceuticals.
UK-based Lonza Biologics has extended its agreement with Chromos
Molecular Systems for non-exclusive access to the Canadian firm's
ACE System, technology that speeds up the time researchers need to
isolate cell lines.
A US partnership is hoping that rights to a new gene delivery
system will help it to develop avian transgenic technology as an
efficient and cost-effective biomanufacturing platform for the
production of human therapeutic protein...
Access Pharmaceuticals has signed an agreement with an unnamed US
partner for a drug delivery system based on nanoparticle aggregates
that can be used to formulate proteins that are degraded by
solvents.
An analysis technology developed by Viscotek can slice days off the
time it takes to carry out research and quality control into drug
delivery systems based on polymers.
Researchers at Max Planck Institute in Germany have used a
nano-sized imaging tool to capture the first-ever movies of cells
transmitting the messages that control genes. The breakthrough is
expected to help pharmaceutical companies...
Scientists in the US have developed a new software package that can
predict the activity of enzymes, potentially improving the design
of new drugs and industrial reagents.
Dow Chemical has taken a step forward in its plans to build up a
strong franchise in plant-based pharmaceutical production with the
signing of a contract to manufacture a new appetite suppressant.
In its last set of annual results before being acquired by General
Electric, Amersham of the UK reported lower profits last year as
currency effects bit into the company's bottom line, but saw its
drug discovery unit move into...
Shares in Cobra Biomanufacturing of the UK fell 30 per cent
yesterday after the contract manufacturer of proteins, DNA and
viruses gave a warning on profits.
A cell culture vessel designed by Taiwanese company CESCO
Bioengineering can produce the same amount of cells in a single
500ml bottle as would be made in 20 or more conventional roller
bottles, according to the company which is introducing...
UK-headquartered NextGen Sciences has formed an alliance with
Germany's Protagen aimed at developing 'biochips' that can contain
thousands of functional proteins for use in drug discovery.
A microarray developed by Protometrix has been used to characterise
the interactions between an antibody-based drug and the proteome -
a snapshot of all the proteins produced by a cell.
Genentech's strategy of expanding beyond its traditional territory
of protein-based drugs and into small molecules was reinforced
earlier this week by its new agreement with Array BioPharma.
The Automation Partnership has launched a new robotic system
designed to take the legwork out of extracting proteins made in
microbial or insect cells.
A Scottish life sciences company specialising in the development of
bioinformatics software has been sold to QbioCom, a rival firm
based in England, for £1 million.
A protein that forms part of the cytoskeleton of cells could be a
new target for medicines that prevent the spread of tumour cells
around the body, according to new research published on Nature's
website.
Many drugs cannot be administered orally since they cannot be taken
up in the gastrointestinal tract. All attempts to solve this
problem have thus far resulted in unacceptable risks of side
effects, mainly because the intestinal wall...
It is already well established that microwave energy can be used to
speed up the breakdown of protein molecules by enzymes, the first
stage in protein identification. Now, a collaboration between two
companies is looking to incorporate...
Denmark's Novo Nordisk has signed a €47m deal with Neose to develop
long-acting versions of three protein drugs using a proprietary
PEGylation technology.
Medarex of the USA, a specialist in producing fully-human
antibodies, has entered into two new agreements aimed at improving
the properties of its drug candidates.
Waters has launched a new MALDI-TOF (time of flight) mass
spectrometer, along with a line of porous silicon-coated target
plates and new reference standards,
Sidec Technologies has entered into a contract research
collaboration with a US research institute to study a receptor
involved in the regulation of blood pressure.
The lead compound in Merck and Karo Bio's selective oestrogen
receptor modulator collaboration has been dropped after toxicity
emerged preclinical tests.
Agilent launches two new products at the ongoing Drug Discovery
Technology meeting, including an LC column to remove high-abundance
proteins from serum and an oligonucleotide mouse microarray to aid
in toxicogenomics research.
Amersham trimmed its 2003 profit forecast by £40 million (€57m), or
4.1 pence per share, after reporting lower sales and pre-tax
profits for the first half of 2003.
Switzerland's Tecan has forged a co-marketing alliance with EMD
Biosciences in the area of automated systems for medium- to
high-throughput protein extraction, screening and purification. The
collaboration will focus on companies...
Amersham Biosciences has added to its range of CyDye mono-reactive
fluor dyes with two products used for labelling proteins or
antibodies in protein array experiments.
A deal with Vaccinex has taken Lonza Biologics beyond its primary
focus of mammalian cell culture-based manufacturing and into the
area of antibody drug discovery.
