Hovione adds particle design capabilities to API offering

27-Sep-2012 - API maker Hovione has added particle design to its drug delivery and formulation development offering citing pharma demand.

People on the move: jobs in pharma

27-Sep-2012 - in-PharmaTechnologist.com presents its weekly round-up of the lates new appointments in the pharmaceutical world, including news from Capsugel, Shire and Savient.

BASF focuses on topical formulations to solve skin delivery challenges

27-Sep-2012 - BASF has opened a topical formulations lab in a bid to solve skin delivery challenges.

Cedarburg Hauser boosts API production capacity

26-Sep-2012 - Cedarburg Hauser Pharmaceuticals (CHP) has expanded its API plant in a bid to meet client demand.

Could oral testosterone replacement therapy come in a capsule?

26-Sep-2012 - Clarus Therapeutics believes it has solved the oral availability problem for testosterone replacement therapy.

Thermo Fisher targets Eastern Europe’s pharmas with new R&D site

26-Sep-2012 - Thermo Fisher Scientific has set up a unit for molecular biology techs at its site in Lithuania, citing pharmaceutical R&D labs in Eastern Europe as a target.

News in brief

Fercy receives FDA warning letter

25-Sep-2012 - Fercy Personal Care Products received an FDA warning letter after quality staff handed inspectors just two pages from a notebook as ingredient records.

Could laser-focused microjets mean pain-free injections?

25-Sep-2012 - A laser which pushes a stream of medication into the skin could be a “pain-free” replacement to needle injections.

Alchem ups sennoside production in face of pharma demand

25-Sep-2012 - Alchem International has expanded its sennosides production facility in India in a bid to meet pharma demand.

POLL RESULTS

Health Canada must be clearer in its documents: reader poll

24-Sep-2012 - in-PharmaTechnologist.com readers have urged Health Canada to ensure all of its updates are “crystal clear” following a recent ambiguous update.

Pall sets up systems 'proving ground'; signs India deal with Avacta

24-Sep-2012 - Pall has opened a life science services centre to allow drugmakers to test its filtration, processing and purification technologies.

Generics firms could pay €20m a year for pharmacovigilance says EGA

24-Sep-2012 - Proposed EMA pharmacovigilance fees are too high and place a disproportionate burden on generics firms according to the European Generic Medicines Association (EGA).

Merck Millipore introduces 'open source' development at new plant

20-Sep-2012 - CMOs and Pharmas will own the manufacturing processes developed at a new facility as part of an ‘open source’ ethos Merck Millipore has introduced.

GM corn could soon be used to make drugs

20-Sep-2012 - Genetically modified corn could soon be used to mass-produce the enzymes used in rare-disease therapies, according to new research.

Arkema rejigs to grow specialty chem business

20-Sep-2012 - Arkema has restructured its business as part of its bid to generate €8bn ($10.3bn) in 2015 and become a world leader in the specialty chemicals sector.

Monsanto's plant protection team taps Complix NV for drug targeting knowhow

20-Sep-2012 - Agricultural technology firm Monsanto has partnered with Complix NV to develop the latter’s protein therapeutic targeting technology for crop protection applications.

More patient-centric formulations for the elderly, experts urge

19-Sep-2012 - New formulations and easier drug delivery methods could help elderly patients comply with treatments, experts say.

Lundbeck to stop making Elspar citing cost of securing API supply

19-Sep-2012 - Lundbeck has decided to stop making a cancer drug deeming the cost of securing API supplies too big and the likelihood to regulatory acceptance too small. 

Generic manufacturing JV with Hisun will also do R&D says Pfizer

19-Sep-2012 - Pfizer and manufacturing partner Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceuticals will set up a dedicated research centre to develop drugs for the Chinese market.

People on the move: jobs in pharma

18-Sep-2012 - in-PharmaTechnologist.com presents its weekly low-down of the latest movers and shakers in the world of pharmaceuticals, including news from Teva, Valeant and AcelRx.

Is Health Canada's guidance "update" responsible?: Poll

18-Sep-2012 - Health Canada’s latest update of its risk classification document is actually no more than a change of font.

WHO never claimed 20 per cent of Indian drugs are fake, says CDSCO

18-Sep-2012 - Reports citing WHO data on the number of fake drugs produced and sold in India are wrong according to the CDSCO.

News in brief

Tasi buys Bonfiglioli to create global leak testing tech firm

18-Sep-2012 - Tasi Group has bought Bonfiglioli Engineering, creating what it claims is the largest leak testing and quality inspection technology firm in the world.

India to set up ‘competent authority’ to oversee APIs shipped to EU

17-Sep-2012 - The Indian Government will appoint a 'competent authority' to make sure API exporters comply with EU import regulations.

EU animal welfare means pricier gelatine: Rousselot

17-Sep-2012 - Rousselot says EU animal welfare regulations are to blame for its hiked gelatine prices.

Health Canada rubbishes Cassels comments through IPT

17-Sep-2012 - Health Canada has hit back at claims it is “secretive” about its overseas supply chain because it is unsafe.

EMA calls for feedback on patch and modified release delivery techs

17-Sep-2012 - Delivery speed and accurate dissolution testing are top priorities in new EMA draft guidance for tablet and patch developers.

People on the move: jobs in pharma

13-Sep-2012 - in-PharmaTechnologist.com presents its weekly round-up of the new job appointments in the industry, including news from Sucampo, Circassia and Shire.

SFDA says global pharmacopoeias must develop rigorous testing methods

13-Sep-2012 - Pharmacopoeial standards authorities must cooperate to develop rigorous quality standards for drugs in an increasingly globalised market, according to the SFDA.

Greater Mekong regulators form anti-counterfiting collaboration

13-Sep-2012 - Healthcare agencies from across Southeast Asia will collaborate to combat fake and substandard medicines under a new agreement reached at a meeting in Thailand. 

Continued biopharma growth for Pall

13-Sep-2012 - Pall Corporation has once again hailed its biopharma consumables business a key factor in its sales growth.

Sartorius opens new bioreactor plant to boost capacity

13-Sep-2012 - Sartorius has opened a new bioreactor production facility to boost capacity for single-use technologies.

UPDATE

Health Canada launches risk-based inspection classification system

12-Sep-2012 - Since the publication of this article, in-PharmaTechnologist.com has been in touch with Health Canada to find out that the "updates" to the guidance document were actually to the font, not to the...

News in brief

Qualitest pulls out-of-spec pain drug

12-Sep-2012 - Generic drugmaker Qualitest Pharmaceuticals has pulled a lot of hydrocodone tablets over concerns they may be out of spec.

Non-stick nano-coating could solve delivery challenges in the brain

12-Sep-2012 - The answer to the brain drug delivery riddle could soon be solved thanks to new nanoparticles designed by researchers at John Hopkins University.

EC revises GMP guidelines to align them with ICH Q10

12-Sep-2012 - The European Commission (EC) has made changes to its GMP guidelines in order to align them more closely with the pharmaceutical quality system described in ICH Q10 . 

Asthma sufferers could ditch daily inhalers, says UTMB

12-Sep-2012 - Asthma sufferers could soon ditch their daily steroid inhalers after scientists found it unnecessary.

Takeda plans to dominate thriving Russian pharma market, starting with a new plant

11-Sep-2012 - Takeda has opened a new $96m (€75m) pharma facility in Russia as part of its bid to “outgrow” the already thriving local market.

Hermes partners to develop taste masking, particle coating tech

10-Sep-2012 - Hermes Pharma says it can solve the stability challenges that held back development of lipid-based particle coating techs.

Novartis on track to resume shipments from troubled Nebraska plant

10-Sep-2012 - Novartis expects to resume shipping drugs made at its Nebraska, US plant by the end of the year and is on track to fix other quality issues at Sandoz sites...

Genetically modified camels could produce pharma proteins in their milk

10-Sep-2012 - Genetically modified (GM) camels could be used as a cheap way to produce the pharmaceutical proteins used in drugs – through their milk.

News in brief

US OKs cancer drugs faster than Europe, Tufts

10-Sep-2012 - US regulators approve cancer drugs faster than other medications and much faster than their European counterparts according to a new survey by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug...

HIV "test and treat" in South Africa a no-go for the WHO

06-Sep-2012 - The WHO has rubbished claims by the UCLA that it is planning launch a “test and treat” strategy in South Africa.

Codexis cuts will affect pharma business

06-Sep-2012 - Codexis says job cuts will affect pharma business, but is confident that Merck & Co deal and enzyme tech IP will drive growth.

Is the male contraceptive pill coming soon?

06-Sep-2012 - A male version of the contraceptive pill could be just around the corner, according to researchers at Texas A&M University.

West teams with J&J unit on self-injection device

05-Sep-2012 - US manufacturer West Pharmaceutical Services has teamed up with Janssen Biotech to develop a self-injection device.

EXCLUSIVE (updated)

Could the new WHO initiative put too much strain on ARV production in SA? UCLA and Aspen speak

05-Sep-2012 - Researchers from UCLA say the WHO’s latest proposal to “test and treat” the entire population of South Africa for HIV every year is unrealistic.

Pii named as manufacturer of drug withdrawn by Sun Pharma

05-Sep-2012 - US CMO Pharmaceutics International (Pii) has been named as the manufacturer of the cranial bleeding treatment voluntarily withdrawn by India’s Sun Pharmaceutical Industries earlier this week.

GE launches range of 'off the shelf' MAb facilities

04-Sep-2012 - GE Healthcare has launched an ‘off-the-shelf’ range of modular biomanufacturing facilities that it claims can be designed, constructed and operational in under two years.

New protein imaging tech could open drug delivery doors, say Arizona State

04-Sep-2012 - A new simplified analysis technique of the binding kinetics of membrane proteins could solve a host of drug delivery problems, according to scientists from the Arizona State University.

Danish regulators remove expiry dates from company authorisations

04-Sep-2012 - Company authorisations issued to drugmakers in Denmark will not feature expiry dates under new measures designed to reduce regulators admin.

Substandard APIs will be made as long as Pharmas keep buying them, says WHO

03-Sep-2012 - Substandard APIs will be made as long as drugmakers continue to buy them according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Big Pharma signs up for speedy E.coli protein production tech

03-Sep-2012 - A new non-glycosolated protein production method using E.coli can cut manufacturing costs by up to 50 per cent as well as speeding up the process, according to researchers at the...

Chinese drugmaker accused of using cooking oil in antibiotic production

03-Sep-2012 - Chinese manufacturer Joincare Pharmaceutical Group has been accused of using reprocessed cooking oil in the manufacture of an antibiotic intermediate.

People on the move: jobs in pharma

03-Sep-2012 - in-PharmaTechnologist.com presents its weekly round-up of pharmaceutical career climbers, including news from Eli Lilly, Hovione and Galectin.