Dutch biotech firm Qiagen has announced the acquisition of key
assets of Molecular Staging (MSI), which includes the Whole Genome
Amplification (WGA) technology, designed to eliminate limitations
created by scarce quantities of DNA...
Representatives of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries
presented strong opposition to the concept of biogenerics at a
recent meeting convened by the US Food and Drug Administration. As
expected, their argument centred...
Italy's Marchesini has introduced a new packaging system that can
handle safety syringes, which are underused in Europe compared to
the US despite their proven benefits in reducing needlestick
injuries, reports Phil Taylor. It...
The European Union is sponsoring a new initiative aimed at
producing pharmaceuticals in genetically modified crop plants such
as maize, and hopes to start the first clinical trials of a product
by 2009. But the news has been met with...
Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim has completed the validation process
for its new biopharmaceutical production plant in Biberach with a
positive inspection by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Germany's Icon Genetics and Israeli firm Protalix are to
collaborate on a way of hiking protein expression in plant cells to
improve their use a production vehicle for recombinant proteins.
In an unusual move, Finnish science park Medipolis has set up a new
Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) pilot plant to take advantage of
the growing demand for biopharmaceutical production capacity.
The company Evotec OAI, a drug discovery and development solution
provider to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries has
announced the successful expansion of their in vitro and in silico
ADMET (Adsorption, Distribution,...
Germany's Icon Genetics has published details of its proprietary
expression technology, designed to improve the production of
biopharmaceuticals and other proteins in genetically-modified
plants.
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...
Researchers in Finland and the US have identified a gene that
predisposes people to one of the most common causes of coronary
heart disease, raising the hope that it could represent a new
target for drug treatment.
Two France-based companies have pooled their resources to set up a
new venture specialising in the contract development and
manufacturing of biologicals drugs.
Earlier this week, the US Food and Drug Administration suspended
the approval of a generic version of Pfizer's high blood pressure
drug Norvasc (amlodipine besylate) developed by India's Dr Reddy's
Laboratories. The...
Novartis' generic drugs subsidiary Sandoz has opened two new
manufacturing plants in Austria and Slovenia that mark its entry
into the contract manufacture of biopharmaceuticals using mammalian
cell culture.
Tablet-coating specialist BioProgress formalised its agreement with
US chemicals and machinery group FMC in deal that could be worth up
to $160 million (€128m) in revenues in the first six years.
The pharmaceutical industry must cut the time its drugs linger in
development and terminate less promising projects earlier if it is
to improve the efficiency and productivity of its R&D
programmes.
US chemicals firm Aceto has bought the German Pharma Waldhof
business from Switzerland's Roche, making its first foray into the
market for biologically-derived active pharmaceutical ingredients
(APIs).
DFB Pharmaceuticals has acquired fellow US company Phyton to gain
access to the latter's plant cell fermentation technology for the
manufacture of pharmaceuticals.
UK encapsulation company BioProgress yesterday unveiled plans to
raise £6.6 million (€9.4m) through a placement of shares in order
to build a new pharmaceutical production plant.
The new agreement between BioProgress and an unnamed US
over-the-counter pharmaceuticals firm could double the UK company's
capacity to manufacture cellulose films for drug encapsulation,
according to chief executive Graham Hind.
Funding shortfalls and a capacity gap are threatening to hamper the
European biopharmaceutical industry's progress and could lead to a
reduction in its global market share, according to new market
research.
Merck KGaA drops plans to build a €300m biomanufacturing plant in
Jena, Germany, on the grounds that late-stage product failures have
left plenty of free capacity in the contract sector. The company's
move suggests that the often-repeated...
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.
The recently-formed Advanced Biosciences unit of Rohm and Haas has
introduced the first product in a new line of functionalised resin
systems for the immobilisation of biocatalytic enzymes at the CphI
meeting in Frankfurt, Germany.
Boehringer Ingelheim doubles its biopharmaceutical production
capacity at a stroke with the completion of a new plant at its site
in Biberach, Germany; a similar expansion in Austria is also
underway.
A team of researchers at Switzerland's Novartis and Rigel
Pharmaceuticals in the USA have created a method for discovering
molecules that are involved in signalling pathways, according to a
report in the Journal of Biology.
Capsule technology company BioProgress has reported its first set
of interim results since becoming an AIM-listed company, as well as
a distribution deal with Hoefliger.
The genomics industry is already separating into two tiers; the
winners are those focused on targets and drug development and which
have products in or near the clinic, as well as strong
partnerships, says analyst
Alfa Laval and Millipore are to work together to supply tools for
the recovery of biopharmaceutical proteins generated by cell
culture and fermentation.
Ultrasound monitoring of process column chromatography can lead to
significant improvements in productivity, lower costs and greater
drug purity, says study
KS Avicenna, the Canadian unit of KS Biomedix of the UK, launched a
newly expanded contract biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in
Canada, to service both North American and European clients, at the
start of the BIO 2003 meeting,...
DSM Biologics has dissolved its relationship with Qiagen and
Valentis regarding the pAlliance, a consortium supplying
ultra-pure, stable DNA plasmids and formulated DNA
Speciality chemical company Rohm and Haas has created a new
business unit, Advanced Biosciences, that specialises in the
production and purification of biopharmaceuticals. The new unit is
well placed to address the shortfall in production...
Spotlight on the home of the celebrated pork pie in England, with
the annoucement this week that Melton Mowbray-based Bridgehead
Technologies and Pharmalicensing - two biopharmaceutical business
development companies - are to merge.
US Neuro Bioscience has signed an agreement to acquire a minimum of
75 per cent of the issued and outstanding share capital of CLL
Pharma, a French company engaged in the business of reformulating
drugs using its proprietary drug...
The European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB) is setting up a
trade office in Aarhus, Denmark for its activities in innovation
and functional genomics, reports Biotech Denmark on its website.
Two British firms, De Novo Pharmaceuticals and Peakdale Molecular,
are to enter into a joint collaboration to exploit their respective
skills in molecular design and chemistry synthesis, writes market
analysts Datamonitor this week.
The bulk of biotech companies are firmly rooted towards the foot of
the ladder of corporate evolution. Precious few can realistically
claim to be at the top end of the evolutionary scale with full
R&D capabilities, global reach...
UK Science Minister Lord Sainsbury this week announced a new
initiative to develop 'a strategic approach' to the future of the
bioscience industry in the UK and to encourage growth in the
sector.
Swiss life-science company Lonza announced on Tuesday that it is to
strengthen the production of oligonucleotides - an emerging new
class of therapeutics consisting of short nucleic acid chains
interfering in the processing of genetic...
Nabi Biopharmaceuticals saw biopharmaceutical product sales -
driven by strong growth in sales of Nabi-HB - reaching record
levels of $89.5 million (€83m) in 2002, a 22 per cent increase from
2001 levels.
