Ingredients

Excipients industry faces bioterrorism law deadline

02-Feb-2004 - Manufacturers of pharmaceutical excipients that are imported into the US must step up their compliance with new legislation or risk having shipments turned back at the border.

Cambridge primate testing facility scrapped

02-Feb-2004 - The UK's Cambridge University has scrapped plans to build a primate research centre to conduct research into neurological disorders which caught the attention of the scientific press late last year.

Algry planning pharma charge

30-Jan-2004 - Spanish manufacturer of choline salts Algry Quimica has signed several new research agreements to develop active ingredients for pharma and food applications.

Tetrionics ramps up potent API business

28-Jan-2004 - Active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturer Tetrionics is planning to double the capacity at a facility in the US to hike its ability to make highly potent compounds.

Tackling side effects with drug delivery

28-Jan-2004 - A small US company has developed an encapsulation technology for pharmaceuticals that promises to overcome a major healthcare problem - deaths and illness caused by aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

UK chemicals body gears up for REACH

27-Jan-2004 - The Chemical Industries Association in the UK has unveiled plans to develop a database of chemicals marketed in the UK as part of the industry's preparations for the adoption of the proposed Registration, Evaluation & Authorisation of CHemicals (REACH) regulations.

New venture to tackle oral film delivery

27-Jan-2004 - MonoSol has set up a new venture, called MonoSolRx, aimed at developing oral film strip technologies for use in the delivery of drugs.

New team in chiral alcohols

26-Jan-2004 - 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.

India set to dominate generic API market?

26-Jan-2004 - Last year, pharmaceutical companies from India submitted a third of all the Drug Master Files for active pharma ingredients (APIs) received in the US, outstripping their international rivals by a wide margin.

Male contraceptive trials get underway

22-Jan-2004 - Germany's Schering and Organon of the Netherlands have started a Phase II trial of a hormonal implant designed to block fertility in men.

AstraZeneca extends oral profiling deal

22-Jan-2004 - AstraZeneca has extended an agreement with UK-based Cyprotex to bulk screen whether its drug candidates for suitable for oral administration.

Avantium broadens chiral technologies

21-Jan-2004 - Avantium Technologies has taken out a license to use Chiral Quest's array of catalysts in its process R&D activities, designed to discover novel ways of making chemicals used in the biopharmaceutical and fine chemical industries.

Girindus posts first profit since IPO

21-Jan-2004 - German contract ingredient manufacturer Girindus posted its first profit since it was floated on the stock exchange in 2000 in the last quarter of 2003, as sales rose 16 per cent to €32 million.

Dr Reddy's extols benefit of shift to drug discovery

19-Jan-2004 - Dr Reddy's Laboratories has developed a new class of therapeutic that could make it the first pharmaceutical company in India to develop a proprietary blockbuster product.

Roche makes R&D investment in China

16-Jan-2004 - Switzerland's Roche is setting up an R&D centre in Shanghai in a move which reflects the growing importance of the country as both a market for pharmaceutical products and a site for drug research.

Swallowing an underestimated problem in adults, says survey

16-Jan-2004 - A survey has found that difficulties in swallowing pills is widespread among adults, but is rarely discussed with doctors and can prevent some people from taking their medicine. The findings suggest that pharmaceutical companies should devote more resources to developing user-friendly dosage forms.

Study slams single-isomer antidepressant

16-Jan-2004 - A recent trend in drug development has been the re-invigoration of older pharmaceuticals by developing new versions based on just one of the two optical isomers of the active compound, a process known as racemic switching. But critics suggest that this often does not improve the properties of the drug enough to justify a premium price.

German firms swap antibody tech

16-Jan-2004 - MorphoSys has entered into a cross-licensing deal with fellow German company Bayer Healthcare for technologies used in the development and production of antibody-based drugs.

Rapid-response vaccines from Dow

15-Jan-2004 - Dow Chemical has started a new research product, with the support of the US government, that could hasten the time it takes to make vaccines in response to a new epidemic or biological attack.

Asthma: much more than one disease

15-Jan-2004 - A study which has found significant differences between the adult and childhood forms of asthma suggests that pharmaceutical companies may have to rethink their approach to developing new drugs for the disease.

Breathing new life into old asthma drug

13-Jan-2004 - An ageing drug for asthma marketed by Abbott Laboratories could get a new lease of life from a revamp using drug delivery technology developed by SkyePharma of the UK.

Aprotinin from plants could end supply shortage

13-Jan-2004 - Large Scale Biology Corp has solved the problem of supplying large quantities of aprotinin - widely used in the manufacture of biologic drugs - by developing a recombinant form that is made in tobacco plants.

New route to epoxides from Bayer

12-Jan-2004 - Bayer Fine Chemicals has developed a new way to make chiral epoxides that could shorten reaction times and reduce the amount of expensive catalysts used in the process.

Blocking tumour repair could improve therapy

12-Jan-2004 - Researchers in the UK have discovered a protein that seems to play a key role in repairing the DNA of cells. The discovery could lead to a way of inhibiting malignant cells from repairing themselves after treatment, potentially improving cancer therapy.

Small is beautiful for Genentech

12-Jan-2004 - 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.