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Smopex scavenges for metal

22-Feb-2007 - Johnson Matthey's metal scavenging system, Smopex, is designed to remove precious metals at high speed from solutions and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

Codex panels seek out enzymes

20-Feb-2007 - Biotechnology firm Codexis has launched its Codex biocatalyst panels, which promise to increase R&D and manufacturing productivity while reducing cost.

Heavy brines serve as 'green' solvent

20-Feb-2007 - Israeli-based Chemada has announced that heavy brines can be used as solvent in pharmaceutical applications to cut waste and costs. The company made the announcement at last week's InformexUSA show in San Francisco.

Pharma continue to go 'green' with Materia's catalysts

15-Feb-2007 - Materia's metathesis platform continues to excite the pharmaceutical industry as they follow their recent license to Merck with a license to Aileron Therapeutics.

BioProgress taps TabWrap potential

07-Feb-2007 - UK-based firm BioProgress has developed novel tablet cores that mean pills which were previously very difficult to coat can be reformulated and easily coated using the company's innovative TabWrap technology.

FDA to settle Citizen's Petitions against Wyeth

06-Feb-2007 - US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has until April 2007 to reply to a Citizen's Petition (CP) filed by Orchid Chemicals in response to accusations of 'evergreening' related to Wyeth's re-formulated Zosyn (piperacillin/tazobactam), an injectable antibacterial drug.

Democrats determined to see 'biogeneric' bill through

06-Feb-2007 - US Democrats spearheaded by Henry Waxman intend to re-table a stalled piece of legislation that would allow US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of generic biodrugs, which they claim would result in cost savings for patients and healthcare payers.

Pfizer plans to double drug production outsourcing

02-Feb-2007 - Pfizer's latest cutbacks will provide a new outsourcing opportunity for contract manufacturing organisations (CMOs) in low-cost destinations as the drug giant announces plans to double its amount of drug production outsourcing.

MorphoSys beefs up antibody research biz

01-Feb-2007 - MorphoSys has just opened new UK headquarters for its antibody-focused business unit, giving the company expanded capacity for its antibody production - a rapidly growing market in the UK.

Big pharma backs pollen-based drug delivery

31-Jan-2007 - A team of researchers in the UK have come up with a novel drug delivery system using pollen-based microcapsules to encapsulate the active ingredients, opening up whole new avenues for oral delivery of injection-based drugs.

New growth medium product to ease pharma QC

31-Jan-2007 - Microbiology specialists Oxoid have added a new growth medium product to their catalogue of microbiological culture media, for use in aseptic process simulations.

Breakthrough in controlled release drug delivery

22-Jan-2007 - New French research into biodegradable polymers is opening up the door to controlled release treatments for a broader range of drugs, potentially doing away with traditional delivery methods of a variety of drugs.

Senopsys offers 'mouth-watering' services to pharma industry

18-Jan-2007 - A new player has entered the pharma formulation development services arena, offering technologies used in the food industry to improve drug palatability.

Novel extraction method promises ecological low-cost cardiac digoxin production

16-Jan-2007 - Russian researchers have developed a new way of sourcing a widely used cardiovascular drug using an ecologically friendly and water-based extraction method, which could yield three-fold cost savings over conventional approaches.

Cost-cutting plant-based insulin to hit market by 2010

15-Jan-2007 - Canadian firm SemBioSys Genetics last week announced that its proprietary plant-produced insulin has been shown to be indistinguishable from human insulin, opening up a whole new potential source of the hormone.

Biopharma facing 2007 talent tug-of war

10-Jan-2007 - 2007 will be a tough year for pharmaceutical employers as the industry struggles to find enough staff with specialised technical skills and industry experience, says new research.

Janssen's Invega approved for schizophrenia

08-Jan-2007 - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Janssen's new drug Invega (paliperidone); the first new prescription drug for the treatment of schizophrenia since 2003.

New Hep C drug means treatment for the masses

04-Jan-2007 - Philanthropic researchers in the UK have developed a brand new drug for Hepatitis C that dodges restrictive patents held by pharma heavyweights.

Adenovirus patent awarded to Introgen

19-Dec-2006 - Introgen Therapeutics last week announced that it has been granted a European patent for the commercial production of adenoviral compositions.

Evolving enzymes - increasing efficiency for drug makers

18-Dec-2006 - The directed evolution of enzymes can lead to more efficient tools for the synthesis of drug molecules.

Antisense drugs stop making sense?

18-Dec-2006 - The once hyped antisense sector of the pharmaceutical industry has again proved a disappointment after one drug in development was refused approval and another was scrapped.

Dr Reddy's increases its manufacturing capacity

18-Dec-2006 - Dr Reddy's Laboratories has boosted its ability to serve Western pharmaceutical markets with an increase in its manufacturing capacity for drug formulations.

Roche invests in new 'molecular machete' drug delivery enhancer

13-Dec-2006 - Roche has invested $20m in a new technology that has the potential to dramatically enhance the delivery of subcutaneous drugs by acting like a 'molecular machete'.

AstraZeneca opens first manufacturing plant in the Middle East

13-Dec-2006 - Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has invested in a tablet manufacturing plant in Egypt, which could form a launching pad for an expansion into emerging markets.

More jobs cuts at BASF as Asian API market closes in

12-Dec-2006 - Almost 130 jobs will be lost at BASF's Minden site as the company succumbs to growing pressure from the Asian generic active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) market.

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