Spurred on by the frustration of drug manufacturers, governors from
four US states have petitioned the US Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) for clarity in their requirements for the production of
generic versions of insulin and human...
In an incident that state and federal environmental regulators are
treating as "serious," Merck released 25 gallons of a
cyanide-containing chemical from its West Point facility in
Pennsylvania to the sewer, killing hundreds...
As demand for protein-based drugs increases, Pall has introduced a
new type of mixed-mode chromatography sorbents that make protein
purification faster and cheaper.
Life sciences firm Cambrex has agreed a contract for the production
of clinical trial quantities of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals'
recombinant immunomodulatory serum protein, as its experience in
the downstream purification of proteins...
A new drug discovery technique, which uses mixed-mode sorbents in
process chromatography, has the potential to significantly reduce
costs and environmental burdens, especially in the protein
purification process.
Swiss biopharmaceutical firm Biopartners has got the thumbs up from
the European Commission for its biosimilar drug Valtropin, making
it only the second biogeneric drug to have been approved in Europe
after Sandoz's Omnitrope...
In its second acquisition in less than a month, Millipore has
acquired bioprocessing products firm Serologicals for around $1.4bn
(€1bn) in cash, as it tries to boost its growth by expanding in
potentially lucrative market segments.
As the threat of new viruses like avian influenza have heightened
the need for greater speed and safety in vaccine production, single
use technologies are proving far more safe and economic than
traditional cleaning techniques, according...
Thanks to a £2.7m (€3.9m) access fund from the UK's National
Biomanufacturing Centre (NBC), biotech firm Onyvax has hired
contract manufacturer organisation (CMO) Eden Biodesign to supply
it with clinical current good manufacturing...
Nilfisk used Interphex, New York, to showcase its new vacuum
designed to collect sub-micron particles and bring the cleanliness
and hygiene standards required in cleanrooms into a compact
machine.
Responding to surging demand for its flu drug Tamiflu, Roche has
announced it is expanding its external contractors to fifteen in
nine different countries, as its needs for intermediates and
finished product increase.
Filtration systems specialist Pall's net profit barely moved in Q2
compared to the similar period last year, up only $400,000
(€331,328) to $32.4m, still its Biopharmaceuticals business, driven
by a steady demand in consumables,...
Kreatech has launched the first complete miRNA isolation and
labelling kit, which combines the upstream isolation of small RNA
and the reagents necessary to label these DNA samples for
microarray analysis, offering a more complete...
Swiss custom manufacturing firm Lonza has entered into a joint
venture with investment management company Bio*One Capital to built
a $250m (€210m) large-scale mammalian cell culture plant in
Singapore, underlying Lonza's confidence...
A new laboratory method for distinguishing pathogens from harmless
relatives has been developed by scientists in the US. The
high-throughput technique will enable the quick identification of
pathogens, which could be used for bioterror...
Life sciences firm Cambrex has reported a $140.3m (€116.7m) loss in
Q4 as opposed to a profit of $4.9m in Q4 last year, hit by lower
long-term profitability projections for its Biopharma unit, as
biotech companies seem to lose their...
GE Healthcare has announced the introduction of Ettan nanoLC, a
fully bio-inert, robust, nanoscale peptide separation system that
delivers highly reproducible performance and is ideal for 1D-liquid
chromatography (LC) proteomics applications...
French firms PCAS and Proteus have decided to pool their expertise
to create a new biotech company which will provide APIs and
intermediates on a large scale, looking to offer new products and
also capitalise on the growing demand...
A new easy-to-use laser microdissection system from Olympus is set
to shake up the isolation technology market by reducing sample
handling and contamination when isolating cells for downstream
analysis and making the process routine.
Oxygen therapeutics company Biopure has announced another $3
million (€2.5 million) public offering to boost its working
capital, despite its major drug for humans, Hemopure, an artificial
blood product, being licensed only in South...
MiraiBio has released software for the statistical analysis of
multiplexed data generated on its liquid array detection system, a
platform that is designed for immunoassay, enzyme function, and
receptor-ligand interaction applications,...
Invitrogen has created three new business divisions in a move to
strengthen its position in the growing biotechnology industry and
drive growth through improving links between its product
development cycle and customer base.
Gentra Systems has introduced its new versaGene DNA Cell
Purification Kit, which responds to the growing need for
high-quality DNA for sensitive downstream applications. The kit
uses chemistry and column design to purify DNA with...
Doctors and cancer researchers have pleaded with EU politicians to
support a strong REACH chemicals regulation in order to halt an
increase in cancer rates, congenital malformations and asthma.
GE Healthcare has recently launched a number of diverse and
transformational medical technologies aimed at improving
productivity across the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector.
Arsenal Capital Partners has acquired a majority stake in Reilly
Industries for €209 million and Velsicol Chemical for an
undisclosed fee. The purchases continue a rich vein of activity for
the private equity firm, which now hold...
Drug packaging maker West Pharmaceutical Services release its 3Q
results, which indicate a rise in profits but fell short of analyst
estimates, due to slow sales in some segments and high raw material
and energy costs.
EU environment ministers met on Monday to further debate key issues
related to the chemical substances review, which has become one of
the fiercest political battlegrounds ever in the history of EU
policy definition.
The production capacity for biopharmaceutical manufacturing will
expand an average of 48 per cent over the next five years for
mammalian and microbial production systems, according to an
industry survey.
Two novel technologies, designed to check water supplies for
toxins, is set to provide a new on-site monitoring approach,
enhancing current utility monitoring systems that require water
samples to be sent to laboratories for analysis.
PerkinElmer and Invitrogen enter into a strategic agreement to
streamline drug development in which the collaboration will combine
PerkinElmer's technology for ion channel drug discovery and
Invitrogen's voltage sensor probe...
Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly looking to retain their
internal focus on research and development (R&D) and marketing
while outsourcing their manufacturing processes, thus fueling a
growing demand for the manufacturing...
Regulatory obstacles to the development of the market for
biogeneric drugs are falling down, and the first products are set
to reach the markets of North America and Europe in 2006-7,
according to consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.
The Hovione Group revealed its yearly figures for 2005, which
revealed that sales grew by 8 per cent. The company's performance
is in contrast to the pharma fine chemicals sector, which between
2002 and 2004 had an average 14...
Cambrex has recorded a gain in the second quarter of this year,
with growth in its Bioproducts and Human Health segments. The
performances overshadow the company's troublesome BioPharma
division, indicative of a market for outsourced...
Swiss chemicals firm and contract manufacturer Lonza fulfilled its
promise of stronger financial results in the first half of 2005,
with profits coming in at the lower end of the forecast range, but
still on target, reports Phil Taylor.
A disposable flask bioreactor designed by Swiss company Integra
Biosciences has been shown to boost cell densities in mammalian
cell culture by a factor of 10 in a study.
A recent study designed to assess biopharmaceutical innovation in
the member states of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development has found that, in terms of innovation and
biotechnology industry development, Belgium...
Hamilton launches two new products, which are set to aid the
facilitation of automation in laboratories, placing tedious and
time-consuming processes in the hands of cutting edge and
cost-effective technology for automation.
US scientists have shown that microRNA (miRNA) plays an essential
role in the development of the fruit fly. The discovery means that
miRNA could emerge as a new target for interventions aimed at
treating disease, or as a therapeutic...
Lonza has started a SF 14 million (€9m) expansion of its biologics
manufacturing facility in Slough, UK, in response to what it said
was increasing demand for mammalian cell production for clinical
trials, reports Phil Taylor.
Dynal Biotech has announced two product releases from its new
proteomic preparation range, which use magnetic bead chromatography
technology to prepare for mass spectrum analysis without the
requirement of columns.
The use of DNA as a vaccine has been an exciting but elusive
prospect in drug development for many years, held back by problems
with effectivness and difficulties in production. But this could be
about to change, reports Phil Taylor.
According to a recent report, the global bioinformatics market is
currently estimated at about $1.4 billion (€1.1 billion). It is
expected to grow at an average annual growth rate of 15.8 per cent
to reach nearly $3 billion by 2010,...
Qiagen has released two protein purification kits that provide
affordable automation as a way to increase throughput and free up
valuable manpower for less routine tasks.
BioProgress has appointed Richard Trevillion as chief
executive, bolstering its executive management just over a month
after the dosage film specialist issued a trading statement that
sparked a 40 per cent slump in its UK-listed shares,...
Biosample management firm, GenVault announced an exclusive
agreement to acquire the full rights to a DNA labelling
intellectual property, which allows researchers to identify the
sample through its complete downstream analysis to...
