18-Oct-2004 - The US Food and Drug Administration this week approved the first implantable radiofrequency identification microchip for human use, elevating RFID from a tool for supply chain management into an enabling technology for improving healthcare delivery to patients.
12-Oct-2004 - Software manufacturers The Wercs has announced the launch of an automated approval process module to streamline formal chemical requests and approvals for manufacturers using and storing chemicals.
11-Oct-2004 - Despite the protestations of suppliers, the cost of passive tags used for radiofrequency identification (RFID) will not fall as low as 5 cents per unit, and is more likely to be at the 16 cent level, according to a recently published report by ARC Advisory Group.
06-Oct-2004 - The US Food and Drug Administration will start using a risk-based approach for prioritising site inspections for certain pharmaceutical products, the agency has announced in a final report on its current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) initiative.
29-Sep-2004 - France-based ProSim has introduced a comprehensive database of the thermo-physicial properties of close to 2,000 pure compounds that should be valuable for researchers working in process simulation.
28-Sep-2004 - IBM has announced a $250 million (€203m) investment programme in radiofrequency identification (RFID) and will boost the number of employees working in this area by 1,000.
23-Sep-2004 - Labelling giant Avery Dennison has formed a new business unit to manufacture and sell low-cost radiofrequency identification (RFID) inlays and tags, putting its weight behind a technology that to date has mostly been pushed forward by smaller companies.
14-Sep-2004 - Analytical instruments company Thermo Electron has completed the acquisition of InnaPhase, a supplier of Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology markets, for approximately $65 million in cash.
24-Aug-2004 - Swedish packaging technology company Cypak has raised SEK30 million (€3.3m) in its fourth major round of funding, and says it will use the proceeds to accelerate its product development efforts.
10-Aug-2004 - Calling the next six months 'a critical period', the US Food and Drug Administration's Acting Commissioner Lester Crawford has unveiled a lengthy list of agency priorities, including continued work on Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards.
06-Aug-2004 - Sensitech of the US has made another foray into the European market for cold chain monitoring technologies with the acquisition of Netherlands-based Temperature Data Systems.
30-Jun-2004 - The market for generic drugs is going to expand from its present level of $35 billion (€29bn) to $80 billion in 2008, as cash-strapped healthcare payors turn increasingly to cheaper options.
25-May-2004 - IBM has launched a new software package designed to make it easier for small and medium-sized pharmaceutical and biotecnology companies to cope with the compliance requirements of the US Food and Drug Administration.
11-May-2004 - Computer giant IBM claims to have identified seven key technologies that will drive innovation in the pharmaceutical industry over the next decade, raise the quality of development and manufacturing processes and slash the pre-launch development costs of new drugs, reports Phil Taylor.
21-Apr-2004 - IntelliChem, a developer of electronic laboratory notebooks (ELN) for the drug discovery and development industry, has launched a new ELN platform that can be used right across any pharmaceutical or biotechnology company.
19-Apr-2004 - The Internet search engine Google has launched a pilot project with 17 universities around the world, including institutes in Italy and the UK, aimed at improving access to research papers.
15-Apr-2004 - 3M has launched an updated version of its Integrated Packaging Tool software that brings it into compliance with the US Food and Drug Administration's 21 CFR Part 11 regulations on electronic record-keeping, used to generate audit trails in the drug and food industries.
13-Apr-2004 - The US Food and Drug Administration is planning to hold a meeting in June to re-examine its regulations on electronic records and signatures, used to generate the audit trail in the food and drug industries, to examine whether some elements are putting an unnecessary burden on industry.
18-Feb-2004 - UK laboratory equipment specialist Lab-Plant says it can bring process automation within the reach of the majority of laboratories, pilot plants and mini-production facilities with the launch of its Lab Manager process control computer system.
17-Feb-2004 - Newly formed UK company Structure Vision has launched a software package designed to analyse the behaviour of particulate material - including powders and tablets - in enclosed spaces.
20-Jan-2004 - Stable Micro Systems will introduce an improved security module for its Exponent software, used in conjunction with its Powder Flow Analyser and other texture analysis instrumentation, designed to make it easier to comply with regulatory audits.
12-Jan-2004 - BASF IT Services, one of the first units of the German chemical major to be spun out into a separate unit, has signed an agreement with Merck KGaA that confirms its ability to win major contracts from companies other than its parent.
06-Jan-2004 - 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.
16-Dec-2003 - Ultrasonic Scientific will debut a new ultrasonic analyser for titration measurements and analysing small-volume chemical reactions at next year's Pittcon exhibition.
28-Nov-2003 - Determining the molecular structure of drugs is one of the foundations of the discovery and development of new medicines and underpins the synthesis of novel drugs. But will the new generation of computer-based models for this supplant traditional, analytical approaches?