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New inhaler launched with a bang

25-Sep-2006 - Bang & Olufsen Medicom has unveiled a new disposal breath-actuated inhaler which uses a reservoir technology that reduces the daily cost of pulmonary drug delivery.

India's largest packaging services firm sets up in UK

25-Sep-2006 - Bilcare, India's largest research-based pharmaceuticals packaging company, has bought UK-based clinical trials services (CTS) provider DHP in a bid to build itself up to be one of the few players in this sector with global servicing capability.

Reaxa scavenges for contaminants

19-Sep-2006 - Catalyst specialist Reaxa has launched the latest flight of additions to its range of metal scavenging products for pharma process applications which can be used in both batch and continuous processing.

Securing pre-press workflow

18-Sep-2006 - New workflow technology can go a long way in ensuring security and traceability of data transfer prior to print in the pharmaceutical industry, avoiding errors that can potentially lead to life-threatening misinformation.

Manufacturers dodge EU wrath over counterfeits

14-Sep-2006 - European parliamentarians have come up with a long list of measures that the EU needs to take to combat counterfeit drugs, yet track and trace technologies were noticeably absent from their calls for action.

Boehringer sees alternative to Spiriva inhaler device

11-Sep-2006 - The world's most prescribed product for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) could soon be formulated with a new propellant-free device following an observational study on a soft mist inhaler (SMI) that Boehringer Ingelheim plans to use with its blockbuster drug Spiriva (tiotropium bromide).

IDTechEx conference takes on RFID

07-Sep-2006 - Branding itself as Europe's most established and important radiofrequency identification (RFID) show, the seventh annual event RFID Smart Labels Europe will take place on September 19 and 20 in London.

RFID penetration in pharmaceuticals 'rapid'

05-Sep-2006 - The market for radiofrequency identification (RFID) tags in healthcare is set to explode from $90m (€70m) in 2006 to $2.1bn in 2016, driven by the item level tagging of drugs and the growing appeal of "smart packaging."

IMA's order book packs in more sales

31-Aug-2006 - The recovery that has taken packaging and processing machinery company IMA to profitability in 2006 has continued, helped by new opportunities in the biotech sector and a strong growth in generics.

Rexam's Indian pharma packaging dreams come true

23-Aug-2006 - Rexam, the world's largest beverage can maker, has bought Indian pharmaceutical packaging firm Truepack for £5m (€7.3m), hungry for a slice of the country's growing pharma market.

Merck offers first glimpse of $300m vaccine plant

23-Aug-2006 - For the first time Merck has opened the doors of its under-construction manufacturing plant in North Carolina to public officials, boasting it will eventually contribute about two-thirds of its annual live-virus vaccine production.

Byetta supply recovers on the back of Baxter production

21-Aug-2006 - A cartridge shortage that forced Amylin and Eli Lilly to ask 40,000 physicians in the US to stop prescribing their injectable diabetes drug Byetta to new patients has come to an end thanks to a boost in production by contract manufacturer Baxter.

Packaging belongs to manufacturers says trade body

16-Aug-2006 - US manufacturers must stop shipping prescription drugs in bulk containers, leaving pharmacies to repackage them, as this practice makes the supply chain more vulnerable and leads to medication errors, the Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council (HCPC) has warned.

FDA cracks down on the unauthorised production of inhalation drugs

14-Aug-2006 - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has censured three American national pharmacies for using the traditional practice of compounding as a ruse in order to operate as drug manufacturers, producing thousands of unapproved copies of commercially available nebuliser medications that do not meet good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards.

Genzyme given green light to make kidney drug at Irish plant

14-Aug-2006 - US biotech firm Genzyme has been given a green light by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin manufacturing its kidney drug at its Waterford facility in Ireland.

First steps forward in electronic ordering of controlled substances

31-Jul-2006 - Purdue Pharma is the first drug manufacturer to implement a new software program that allows firms to order all Schedule I & II controlled substance purchases on a single electronic form - potentially saving up to 90 per cent on ordering costs.

Anderson acquisition signals another contract packaging expansion

27-Jul-2006 - Anderson Packaging has bought 12 acres of land next to its existing US headquarters and now plans to build another new facility to expand its contract pharma packaging capacity by 20 per cent.

Japanese firm to make modified Tamiflu dry syrup

25-Jul-2006 - Chugai Pharmaceutical has decided to manufacture a modified version of Roche's Tamiflu (oseltamivir) in a dry syrup formulation which can be stored at room temperature after the bottle is opened, allowing for more storage capacity as fears of a possible bird flu pandemic spread.

Fake Lipitor lingers in supply chain

24-Jul-2006 - Pfizer has issued another recall for packs of its blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor after UK regulators found evidence of more counterfeit product in the legitimate supply chain from a batch whose withdrawal was supposed to have been completed a year ago.

Pharmagraphics Guy the same good Guy

20-Jul-2006 - Irish pharmaceutical specialist Guy & Co has been strengthened by the recent acquisition of leading US-based pharmaceutical packaging specialist Pharmagraphics according to its parent company and will now be known as Pharmagraphics Guy.

Advanced Dynamics labels packs with the special touch

19-Jul-2006 - Labelling and packaging equipment company Advanced Dynamics has unveiled a new machine to label the outer packaging of pharmaceutical products in Braille, allowing companies to comply with EU regulations.

Wrong tablets in azathioprine bottle trigger recall

18-Jul-2006 - In an incident Roxane Laboratories warns could have life-threatening consequences, a manufacturing lot of azathioprine tablets has been recalled in the US and Puerto Rico following the discovery of methotrexate tablets in one of its bottles.

Axway, Cyclone and McKesson join to fight fake drugs

13-Jul-2006 - French-owned software firms Axway and Cyclone Commerce have joined forces with US drug distribution firm McKesson to develop new and cost-effective IT to support the pharma industry in its venture to introduce item-level tracking to fight fake drugs.

Videojet simplifies coding operations

11-Jul-2006 - The Videojet 1310 ink jet printer from Videojet Technologies is now available in North America with a simpler user interface, similar to its popular Videojet Excel ink jet printer.

New generation bar codes adopted by 2010

06-Jul-2006 - GS1, the global not-profit organisation, that designs and implements barcode standards, has announced a global adoption date of 1 January 2010 for a new bar code with Reduced Space Symbology (RSS), which can store more data in half the amount of space and offers a temporary alternative to radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology.

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