News

Princeton, NJ (Nov. 30)-Rockwood Holdings, Inc. agreed to sell its Group Novasep subsidiary for EUR 425 million ($567 million) to a consortium of buyers consisting of Glide Buyout Partners BV, Banexi Capital, and Group Novasep management.

Rockville, MD ( Dec. 4)-The U.S. Pharmacopeia plans to open a 10,500-square-foot site in Shanghai in February 2007. The facility, in Shanghai's Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, will support collaborative testing, technical assistance, customer service, and training.

Whitehouse Station, NJ, (Dec. 6)-Merck & Co., Inc. expects the initial phase of its cost-reduction program, first announced in 2005, to yield cumulative pretax savings of $4.5?5.0 billion from 2006 through 2010, with roughly $2 billion of that coming from implementing its manufacturing supply strategy.

3M, Actavis, Kos, Abbott, more

Dublin, OH (Nov. 30)-Cardinal Health has announced plans to divest its Pharmaceutical Technologies and Services (PTS) segment, "a business that manufactures or packages 100 billion doses of medication every year for pharmaceutical and biotech firms, employs approximately 10,000 at more than 30 facilities worldwide and generates $1.8 billion in revenue," according to a company statement.

London (Dec. 8)-GlaxoSmithKline PLC agreed to acquire Domantis Ltd., a developer of antibodies for £230 million ($454 million) in cash.

Washington, DC (Dec. 7)-One of the last acts of outgoing Senate majority leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn) was to push through confirmation of Andrew von Eschenbach as the official head of the Food and Drug Administration.

The integrated services model is the "next big thing" in CMC and early development services.

Proof of concept is a new development paradigm.

London (Nov. 22)-The European Medicines Agency reports a defect in some vials of Herceptin (trastuzumab), the anticancer treatment by Roche, which have been distributed in Europe. As a result, The EMEA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use outlined a plan, formulated in conjunction with Roche, for the visually reinspecting and replacing defective vials.

Ann Arbor, MI (Nov.15)-Scientists at University of Michigan?s Comprehensive Cancer Center have devised a nanoparticle system that delivers a photodynamic drug directly to brain-cancer tumors

AAI, Mallinckrodt, ATMI LifeSciences, More

Basel, Switzerland (Nov. 17)-Novartis plans to submit additional information to the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency on manufacturing issues to support the approval of its antifungal drug "Mycograb." The CHMP issued a negative recommendation for the drug.

Washington, DC (Nov. 13)-The Biotechnology Industry Organization is urging the World Health Organization to assign a distinct international nonproprietary name (INN) to each unique biological product, including follow-on biologics or biosimilars.

Argonne, IL (Nov. 9)-Researchers from Argonne National Laboratory?s Chemistry Division and Xradia have developed a novel X-ray microscopy technique that allows molecular observations of the reactivity of solid surfaces at the nanometer scale, including interfacial reactions such as ion adsorption and catalytic reactions.

Actavis, Altus Pharmaceuticals, Covance, more

Washington, DC (Nov. 20)-The US Department of Health and Human Services awarded contracts totaling $199.45 million to Sanofi Pasteur, Novartis, and GlaxoSmithKline PLC to manufacture 5.3 million 90-?g doses of influenza vaccine designed to protect against the H5N1 influenza virus strain.

Alcan, China Biopharma, US FDA, MedImmune, more

Alcan, China BioPharma, Illumina, Solexa, more

Leverkusen, Germany (Nov. 9)?Bayer AG outlined its strategy for integrating Schering AG (Berlin) into the newly formed company, Bayer Schering Pharma. These moves follow Bayer's acquisition of Schering AG earlier this year.

Over-the-counter drug maker Perrigo Company issued a voluntary recall of certain lots of store-brand acetaminophen 500-mg caplets that could contain trace amounts of metal particulate. Approximately 11 million bottles of acetaminophen are affected by the recall.

South San Francisco, CA (Nov. 9)?Genentech, Inc. has agreed to acquire Tanox, Inc., for $20 per share, a total cash value of roughly $919 million. Tanox is a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery and development of biotherapeutics based on monoclonal antibody technology.

Mystic, CT (Oct. 26)-Kenneth G. Chapman died at his home here on Oct. 26. He was 79. The cause was pancreatic cancer

Research Triangle Park, NC (Nov. 13)-Eisai Inc. broke ground here for a new pharmaceutical production and formulation research and development facility for parenteral oncology drugs.

Dublin, OH (Nov. 14)-A half-year Cardinal Health study of radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags "under real-world conditions has demonstrated that the technology has real promise to provide an added layer of safety," according Renard Jackson, the company's vice-president and general manager of global packaging services, in a prepared statement.

Abitec, Distek, Hanson Research Corporation

Abbott Park, IL (Nov. 6)-Abbott Laboratories agreed to acquire the specialty pharmaceutical company Kos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for $3.7 billion.

AAPS, San Antonio (Oct. 31-The advantages of ultra-performance liquid chromatography over traditional high-performance liquid chromatographic were the center of the presentation, ?Strategies for Rapid Chromatographic Method Development from Preclinical to Phase 3,? by Charanjeet Jassal of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

Geneva, Switzerland (Oct. 23)-Aiming to increase capacity for producing influenza pandemic vaccines, the World Health Organization has identified strategies and practical solutions for reducing the anticipated gap in the global vaccine supply.

Dublin, Ireland (Nov. 6)-Merck Sharp & Dohme (Ireland) Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck & Co, Inc. plans to establish a formulation-research-and-development and manufacturing facility at its plant in Ballydine, Ireland, according to the Industrial Development Agency Ireland.