The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) urged the World
Health Organization (WHO) to change its International
Nonproprietary Names (INN) policy for biological products at a
meeting last week in Geneva.
MedImmune has embarked on an expansion of its biologics
manufacturing facility in Frederick, Maryland, to ramp up its cell
culture production capacity, as several of its monoclonal
antibodies (MAbs) approach commercialisation.
The European Union (EU) has been criticised for being more
favourable to big biotech companies, at the expense of smaller
firms, according to consultants within the industry.
As the bio-outsourcing market hits boom time, the number of
contract biomanufacturing organisations (CBMOs) that specialise in
the production of biopharma products, is rapidly expanding.
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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.
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.
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.
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 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...
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,...
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,...
As the US Food and Drug Administration continues its deliberations
on generic biopharmaceuticals, the industry body representing
generic drug manufacturers has said that the time has now come for
the agency to make some hard decisions,...
A second market research report has found evidence that production
capacity in the market for contract manufacturing of
biopharmaceuticals is now in excess, in contrast to the hitherto
prevailing wisdom that the sector has been suffering...
The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries in the 'new' EU
countries are rapidly expanding, presenting considerable potential,
although parallel imports remain a challenge.
Construction of the UK National Biomanufacturing Centre, an
ambitious project aimed at helping biotechnology start-ups get
their product ideas into clinical trials, is progressing on
schedule and should be ready to start production...
US chemicals company Aceto has broken cover and is now racing to
develop a leading player in the market for generic versions of
biologic drugs, even though the regulatory route to approval of
these products is far from established.
The predicted deficit in manufacturing capacity for biologic drugs
that has been tipped to impede the development of the market has
not materialised, with capacity exceeding demand, according to new
market research.
Switzerland-based BioPartners has submitted a second Marketing
Authorisation Application in Europe for a generic copy of a
biologic drug under the recently agreed European Union framework
for so-called 'biosimilar' drugs.
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...
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...
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.
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...
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.
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...
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.
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.
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...
