The Challenge of Change - Managing Excipients Control
Colorcon
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Scientists have discovered a new mechanism that dictates how many new blood vessels grow in the body, opening up the possibility of a new class of powerful anti-cancer drugs that could be as important as those targetting VEGF.
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.
Hospira, Laureate Pharma, QSV Biologics and Cook Pharmacia all bagged new contract manufacturing deals this week.
Microbiology specialists Oxoid have added a new growth medium product to their catalogue of microbiological culture media, for use in aseptic process simulations.
Software provider Pharsight has launched an add-on for its graphical drug modelling method to serve in bioequivalence testing, promising to reduce test failure.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released updated guidelines on clinical trial reporting requirements in the US.
Johnson Matthey has announced a reassuring business update ahead of its 31 March year-end, suggesting that Adderall is the driving force behind a recovery in its pharmaceutical materials business.
Viral vector manufacturer Lentigen has entered into a collaboration with Wave Biotech to gain access to disposable process and equipment expertise, which ties in with a shift in the bioprocess manufacturing sector towards using disposable systems.
Merck-Serono today announced the launch of easypod, the first electronic growth hormone injection device.
Two companies have teamed-up to create what they claim is one of the world's fastest robotic packagers.
US-based firm Xcellerex yesterday announced it has completed the second half of a $20m (€15.4m) financing deal, raising $11m to speed up commercialisation of its innovative disposable manufacturing technology for vaccines and biotherapeutics.
UK biotech company Verona Pharma has contracted fellow UK firm Onyx to manufacture supplies of its new hay fever drug candidate for forthcoming preclinical and clinical studies.
France-based Rexam Pharma is gearing up to launch a safety add-on device that fits on to prefilled syringes to help drugmakers comply with recent legislations designed to prevent needlestick injuries.
Researchers have managed to successfully express human interferon alpha-2a in the egg whites of eggs laid by their flock of transgenic hens.
BioProgress are set to speed up commercialisation of NRobe, their solid oral dose system, following completion of a restructuring agreement with Magenta Oral Dose Design.
UK based researchers have added another dimension to anti-counterfeiting with an alternative Raman imaging method that is powerful enough to detect fake drugs without opening the package.
Cardinal Health is about to sell its drug manufacturing arm to an international private investment firm, only two months after announcing its decision to divest the segment, while its second quarter earnings doubled as a result.
Scientists have discovered a new strategy for fighting cancer that makes the genes responsible for tumour growth get lost in translation.
Increased research and development (R&D) spending masks strong revenue growth by PerkinElmer's life and analytical sciences division.
Scientists have published a website that could aid the quest for personalised medicine by predicting which genetic mutations make an individual susceptible to disease.
Waters posted an 11 per cent yearly sales increase on the back of increasing demand from the pharmaceutical industry, generic houses and outsourcing laboratories.
Swiss chemicals firm and contract manufacturer Lonza has announced 18 per cent rise in net profit in 2006 rising to CHF 222m (€137.4), fuelled by its strategic move into biopharmaceuticals.
Packaging giant Rexam has fixed a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip in pharmaceutical bottles in response to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommendations to make use of the technology to track products through the supply chain.
Finnish company DelSitech has signed a license agreement with Bayer Innovation, a subsidiary of the Germany's Bayer group, in a deal that could lead to the creation of a new generation of wound care products.
Germany's Vetter Pharma-Fertigung has announced it has obtained a manufacturing license for its new facility which will expand its services by adding vial filling for lyophilised (freeze-dried) products to its portfolio, in addition to dual-chamber syringes and cartridges filling.
Russian researchers have developed an intranasal influenza vaccine using a novel adjuvant technology, with plans to develop what could become the first tablet flu vaccine formulation.
In a turbulent year, Whatman has failed to meet its projected revenue target by 1-3 per cent and changed its management but resolved litigation that has been hanging over the firm since 2003.
Canadian contract manufacturer QSV Biologics has signed two manufacturing deals in as many weeks, strengthening its position in the Phase II and III clinical supplies arena.
US-based researchers have developed a transdermal vaccine for Alzheimers disease which has been shown to clear brain-damaging amyloid plaques in preclinical studies, offering hope to millions of sufferers worldwide.
Rexam has introduced two new desiccant caps - Evipharm & Secupharm - that use a filled in-line silica gel as a desiccant to improve shelf life of the drug.
German fine chemicals company Saltigo is benefiting from a cash injection from its parent company, Lanxess. The German firm is earmarking €30m for plant modernisation at its subsidiary, and a €10m brand new multi-purpose facility is already under construction.
Pfizer has announced it will axe 10,000 jobs and close facilities in a further effort to save on costs; the move comes in the face of patent expiries for their biggest drugs and the failure of a late-stage pipeline project.
US-based researchers have proven that 'large' nanoparticles can pass through human mucus, which means that they could serve as sustained-release carriers for drugs treating diseases affecting the mucous membranes, such as cervical cancer.
UK contract manufacturer Cobra will use its antibiotic-free technology to bring a start-up's new RNAi-based bowel tumour treatment to the clinic up to three months ahead of schedule.
Novel transdermal patch products for two protein drugs could be on the horizon as Altea Therapeutics announces research agreements with two 'large' pharmaceutical companies.
Agilent Technologies has signed an agreement with Groton Biosystems to co-market measuring solutions for the pharmaceutical industry, as the Process Analytical Technology (PAT) initiative gains popularity among drug manufacturers constantly looking for ways to improve processing efficiencies and costs.
Biopharmaceutical firm SciGen has invested $30m (€23.2m) in a hepatitis B vaccine manufacturing plant in Israel, expecting to capture up to 15 per cent of the global market during a three year period.
Researchers at the University of Leeds have genetically modified a common gut bacterium to respond to a sugar and produce a treatment for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).
Dutch biotech Crucell last week announced it had signed a research licence agreement with Novo Nordisk for the company's STAR technology.
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.
Oxford Gene Technology and Agilent are to collaborate to develop a global centre of microarray excellence focused on new and emerging applications.
Agilent, Illumina, NimbleGen and Oxford Gene Technology have stepped into the breach caused by GE Healthcare's decision to scrap its CodeLink arrays.
US-based Blue Mountain has launched an integrated, comprehensive software package to help life sciences companies manage their assets, cutting out the need for individual software.
More cattle-derived materials used in the production of medical products are due to be banned in the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) latest steps to protect against mad cow disease.
A new player has entered the pharma formulation development services arena, offering technologies used in the food industry to improve drug palatability.
Drug giants Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have been awarded contracts with the US government to develop adjuvant technology for pandemic influenza, to potentially increase the number of doses to be distributed among US citizens.
Researchers in Belgium have succeeded in using plant seeds to produce high yields of proteins that bear a strong resemblance to human antibodies, thus bringing the possibility of using plant systems as an inexpensive alternative to current drug production methods a step closer.
A federal court judge has imposed a temporary injunction against the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the organisation's drug 'pedigree' requirements, on the basis that the regulations leave sections of the supply chain unguarded and threaten the survival of smaller drug distributors.
More and more drug makers are turning to reformulation to prolong the lifecycle of their top sellers and protect precious revenue from generic copies, as well as supplement dwindling pipelines.
The world's largest glass container manufacturer is considering hiving off its plastics packaging business as it reviews strategic options for the division.
The US Food and Drug Administration has accepted two Celsis drug master files (DMFs) that could increase the adoption of its rapid microbiological detection technology among pharmaceutical manufacturers.
The rapidly growing market for oral drug delivery is forecast to increase 48 per cent to reach a $52.1 billion in revenues by 2010, with an annual growth rate of 10 per cent, according to a new study by Kalorama Information.
Researchers in Scotland have successfully bred five generations of transgenic hens producing therapeutic proteins in the whites of their eggs. This latest news takes the field a step closer to establishing transgenic flocks that could conceivably serve as natural biomanufacturing plants supplying the pharmaceutical industry.
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.
A number of small to medium sized firms are unaware of how to use their resources effectively to comply with hazardous waste regulations, opening up an opportunity for online advice to address problems facing these companies.
The power of sound waves could aid the pharmaceutical industry in carrying out routine quality control of solid dosage forms, according to the company behind the technology.
The booming pharmaceutical contract research market sees a new player enter the arena as analytical lab Eno River Labs separates into two independent divisions to create a new business that will provide analytical and formulation services to the pharmaceutical industry.
A new radio frequency identification (RFID) chip has been developed by Pliant and IBM that can not only track drug products through the supply chain but also identify when a product has been tampered with.
Giant drug manufacturer Eli Lilly last week announced a reshuffle in its global manufacturing operations to reflect the company's focus on its current product portfolio and drug pipeline.
UK-based company ProMinent Fluid Controls has launched an on-line sensor targeting the regulation of peracetic acid, a key disinfectant used in the pharmaceutical industry.
Aspectric's industrial infrared spectroscopy analyser, recently launched into a market valued at $1.6 billion, has been granted a new US patent.
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.
PerkinElmer (PE) has continued its growth in the advanced cellular sciences sector, with the completed acquisitions of Euroscreen Products and Evotec Technologies.
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has started the first human clinical trials to evaluate a new antiviral drug against respiratory synytial virus (RSV) - the major cause of pneumonia and bronchiolitis in children.
US-based researchers have stepped up anticancer drug usage as dendrimer-encapsulated technology improves camptothecin solubility 10 times and accelerates drug accumulation 16 times in cell culture studies.
Drug manufacturers have moved towards centralised data and information management, following a trend to prevent human errors and time-consuming tasks in response to increasing regulatory requirements.
A new report out this week suggests the pharma industry is losing the trust of its key stakeholders. The report, compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), concludes that the growing decline in the pharmaceutical industry's reputation poses a serious threat to the long-term success of the sector unless steps are taken to address the problem sooner rather than later.
Qualicaps Group is due to complete the acquisition of Ontario-based firm Pharmaphil by the beginning of next week.
Millipore has introduced a new disposable product - NovaSeal - that ties in with a shift in the bioprocess manufacturing market to the use of disposable assemblies to shorten production cycles for drugs.
UK-based SkyePharma has found a buyer for its ailing injectable business in a deal that could be worth over $82m (€63m).
Radiofrequency identification (RFID) tag adoption will be hampered by a lack of a skilled labour force that is adequately trained to handle this new technology, research reveals.
Cellexus has introduced a technology - CellMaker Lite - that satisfies the appetite for disposable bioreactors, grows bacterial and mammalian cells efficiently and cuts production costs.
Although US spending on healthcare rose by 6.9 per cent in 2005, taking it to almost $2 trillion (€1.5 trillion), it's the smallest increase since 1999, down from 7.2 per cent in 2004 and 8.1 per cent in 2003.
Helix BioPharma and BioVectra have signed a deal for the manufacture of Helix's new lung cancer drug for clinical trials - a move that strengthens the already existing relationship between the two Canadian firms.
A new anti-cancer drug delivery system which allows more targeted treatment and helps avoid the unsafe and unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy is due to enter clinical trials in Europe and the US for use with anti-cancer drug paclitaxel.
MedImmune's latest version of their inhalable flu vaccine, FluMist, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The new formulation can now be stored in a refrigerator rather than frozen, which proved a major disadvantage of the company's previous form of the drug.
India's drug manufacturing industry is tipped to grow 10 per cent over the next three years as more pharma firms shift operations there to cut costs, says a research report.
New US legislation governing the security of chemical production plants will come into force on 4 April 2007, with non-compliers risking daily fines or plant shutdown.
Merck KGaA last week confirmed that it is considering selling off its generics division, prompting mass speculation over potential buyers within the industry.
US researchers have been awarded a patent for their new manufacturing technology which enables the quick and cheap production of nanoparticles used to formulate and deliver drugs - good news for NanoMed who has an exclusive licence for the technology.
Drug maker Merck & Co has entered an expansion phase, to boost global manufacturing capacity for vaccines, adding $100 million to its facilities in Durham.
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.
Melbourn Scientific has invested in a light obscuration particle counter to size and count particles in liquid samples using light microscopy, to expand the company's capacity in stability testing and to increase throughput and efficiency.
Applera's Applied Biosystems group has filed a law suit seeking rights to Solexa's 'sequencing-by-ligation' patents.
A mass spectrometric (MS) technique allows rapid detection and identification of bacteria with no need for time consuming pre-treatments.
German technology group Sartorius have acquired all shares in plastics manufacturer Toha Plast.
German packaging firm Gerresheimer has acquired Wilden, the European market leader for medical drug-delivery plastic systems, in a move that will show worldwide presence through targeted acquisitions.
Philanthropic researchers in the UK have developed a brand new drug for Hepatitis C that dodges restrictive patents held by pharma heavyweights.
US researchers have combined cancer drug-carrying liposomes and heat, which accelerates drug release and delivers 30 times more drug to tumours, as visualised in vivo using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Solid oral dose product specialist Almac Pharma has announced it has expanded its formulation facilities located at its UK headquarters to provide a wider range of services to pharma and biotech companies.
India's Dishman Pharmaceuticals & Chemicals is planning to snap up biotech and nanotech contract research organisation (CRO) companies in Europe and in the US within drug conjugates to expand their biologics capability.
PerkinElmer has announced its acquisition of a line of Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) products from UK-based firm Triton Technology in its latest move following a busy year of purchases during 2006.
A new radio frequency identification (RFID) tag for temperature-monitoring purposes has been developed for pharmaceutical products during transportation, where fluctuations in temperature can alert the logistics chain of impending disasters.
The pharmaceutical industry's first fully portable drug anti-counterfeiting device will be presented in Baltimore later this month at IFPAC, the International Forum on Process Analytical Chemistry.
A US pharmaceutical last month introduced a spearmint-flavoured chewable contraceptive pill as a 'more convenient' option for women 'on-the-go'.
US drug packaging manufacturer Brady has bought a Brazilian label maker in a bid to expand its operations not only in Brazil but throughout Latin America - an area considered by analysts to have a great business potential.
Icelandic pharmaceutical Actavis has snapped up an Indian manufacturing plant in a move to take advantage of lower manufacturing costs for exports to the US and Europe.
A number of executives and technical staff at small to medium size pharmaceutical firms are unaware of how to use their resources effectively to comply with new EMEA guidelines, designed to minimise the environmental impact of compounds, according to consultancy firm Gradient.
Giant drug maker Eli Lilly has confirmed that it will be closing its manufacturing facility in Basingstoke, England, resulting in $85m to $95m in restructuring costs for the company.
Pfizer has entered a capacity expansion phase, to meet requirements of global manufacturing of Genotropin (somatropin), a top-selling human growth hormone.
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