Responding to surging demand for its flu drug Tamiflu, Roche has
announced it is expanding its external contractors to fifteen in
nine different countries, as its needs for intermediates and
finished product increase.
A new easy-to-use laser microdissection system from Olympus is set
to shake up the isolation technology market by reducing sample
handling and contamination when isolating cells for downstream
analysis and making the process routine.
MiraiBio has released software for the statistical analysis of
multiplexed data generated on its liquid array detection system, a
platform that is designed for immunoassay, enzyme function, and
receptor-ligand interaction applications,...
Gentra Systems has introduced its new versaGene DNA Cell
Purification Kit, which responds to the growing need for
high-quality DNA for sensitive downstream applications. The kit
uses chemistry and column design to purify DNA with...
Doctors and cancer researchers have pleaded with EU politicians to
support a strong REACH chemicals regulation in order to halt an
increase in cancer rates, congenital malformations and asthma.
GE Healthcare has recently launched a number of diverse and
transformational medical technologies aimed at improving
productivity across the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector.
Arsenal Capital Partners has acquired a majority stake in Reilly
Industries for €209 million and Velsicol Chemical for an
undisclosed fee. The purchases continue a rich vein of activity for
the private equity firm, which now hold...
Drug packaging maker West Pharmaceutical Services release its 3Q
results, which indicate a rise in profits but fell short of analyst
estimates, due to slow sales in some segments and high raw material
and energy costs.
EU environment ministers met on Monday to further debate key issues
related to the chemical substances review, which has become one of
the fiercest political battlegrounds ever in the history of EU
policy definition.
Two novel technologies, designed to check water supplies for
toxins, is set to provide a new on-site monitoring approach,
enhancing current utility monitoring systems that require water
samples to be sent to laboratories for analysis.
PerkinElmer and Invitrogen enter into a strategic agreement to
streamline drug development in which the collaboration will combine
PerkinElmer's technology for ion channel drug discovery and
Invitrogen's voltage sensor probe...
The Hovione Group revealed its yearly figures for 2005, which
revealed that sales grew by 8 per cent. The company's performance
is in contrast to the pharma fine chemicals sector, which between
2002 and 2004 had an average 14...
A disposable flask bioreactor designed by Swiss company Integra
Biosciences has been shown to boost cell densities in mammalian
cell culture by a factor of 10 in a study.
Lonza has started a SF 14 million (€9m) expansion of its biologics
manufacturing facility in Slough, UK, in response to what it said
was increasing demand for mammalian cell production for clinical
trials, reports Phil Taylor.
Dynal Biotech has announced two product releases from its new
proteomic preparation range, which use magnetic bead chromatography
technology to prepare for mass spectrum analysis without the
requirement of columns.
Qiagen has released two protein purification kits that provide
affordable automation as a way to increase throughput and free up
valuable manpower for less routine tasks.
Biosample management firm, GenVault announced an exclusive
agreement to acquire the full rights to a DNA labelling
intellectual property, which allows researchers to identify the
sample through its complete downstream analysis to...
Celera Genomics have filed an Investigational New Drug (IND)
application for a novel histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor that
has proved effective in inhibiting cancer cell proliferation. The
filing also signifies Celera's transformation...
The contract manufacturing sector lagged behind the rest of the
outsourcing industry serving the pharmaceutical sector in 2004, but
there are encouraging signs for the future, reports Phil
Taylor.
Researchers in the US have found that blocking the COX-1, not COX-2
enzyme, might lead the way to prevent and treat the most common and
fatal form of ovarian cancer.
Boehringer Ingelheim and Slovenian company BIA Separations have
collaborated on a new separation and purification system that
should improve the production of plasmid DNA.
A study suggesting combination therapy could stop the spread and
halt the growth of skin melanomas could pave the way for a better
understanding of the disease, and thus, the development of more
effective long-term treatment options...
A second market research report has found evidence that production
capacity in the market for contract manufacturing of
biopharmaceuticals is now in excess, in contrast to the hitherto
prevailing wisdom that the sector has been suffering...
Hamilton Life Science Robotics has taken Invitrogen's Gateway
Technology one step further by creating an automated cloning system
that monitors and tracks each plate undergoing various processes.
The system aims to further refine...
Integra Biosciences has launched the CELLine disposable flask,
which harnesses membrane technology that is suitable for
recombinant protein expression and high yield monoclonal antibody
production.
Genetix Limited has launched the ClonePixFL, a mammalian cell
imaging and picking instrument that builds upon the success of the
ClonePix adding fluorescent capabilities to its clone picking
abilities.
GE Healthcare has launched the first in a new family of
chromatography media designed specifically to handle the high
volumes used in the bioprocessing sector.
Despite burgeoning demand for biopharmaceutical drugs, little
progress is being made toward the improving efficiency and reducing
costs in conventional biomanufacturing processes using microbial or
mammalian fermentation systems.
Qiagen has announced a new product line for the separation,
purification and handling of nucleic acids, an essential process in
drug discovery, which aims to improve over current applied methods,
which suffer from decreased sensitivity...
Qiagen has launched an automated viral DNA and RNA purification
solution that provides improved sensitivity in purification and
detection of viral DNA and RNA from serum, plasma, and cell-free
body fluids.
Canada's SemBioSys Genetics has been granted a US patent on a
vaccine production system that uses genetically modified seeds as
biological factories of vaccine antigens.
Invitrogen, which supplies reagents, services and software for the
life science market, has continued its acquisitive streak with the
announcement that it is paying $35 million (€27.5m) for a UK firm -
DNA Research Innovations - specialising...
The contract manufacturing market for biologicals will more than
double over the next six years, but production costs are higher
than necessary because 'downstream' processing is being ignored.
A study performed at Tufts University in the US, commissioned by
the Nordic Council of Ministers, has downplayed the impact of the
controversial REACH legislation on the European chemicals industry.
Filtration separation specialist Pall has introduced a new filter
technology that improves the effectiveness of bioburden reduction
in pharmaceutical production and cuts costs.
Invitrogen, a provider of life science technologies, has entered
into new licensing agreements to supply its Gateway Technology and
clones to worldwide genomic research centres. This will allow
scientists and laboratories to share...
Dutch biotech firm Qiagen has announced the acquisition of key
assets of Molecular Staging (MSI), which includes the Whole Genome
Amplification (WGA) technology, designed to eliminate limitations
created by scarce quantities of DNA...
Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim has completed the validation process
for its new biopharmaceutical production plant in Biberach with a
positive inspection by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Germany's Icon Genetics and Israeli firm Protalix are to
collaborate on a way of hiking protein expression in plant cells to
improve their use a production vehicle for recombinant proteins.
In an unusual move, Finnish science park Medipolis has set up a new
Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) pilot plant to take advantage of
the growing demand for biopharmaceutical production capacity.
The company Evotec OAI, a drug discovery and development solution
provider to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries has
announced the successful expansion of their in vitro and in silico
ADMET (Adsorption, Distribution,...
Germany's Icon Genetics has published details of its proprietary
expression technology, designed to improve the production of
biopharmaceuticals and other proteins in genetically-modified
plants.
The impact on the French chemicals industry of implementing the
European Union's REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation
of Chemicals) proposals could be as high €800 million in testing
alone and lead to the loss of...