Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Roche plans new plant to meet Tamiflu demand

read the last paragraph...new plant...North America...2nd half of 2005...

31/05/2005 - International concerns over the threat of a new influenza pandemic is hiking demand for Roche’s Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate) product to the extent that the Swiss company may have to build another production plant to meet demand, reports Phil Taylor.

link from in-pharma-tech

didn't Phil Taylor used to play for Motorhead?

Pfizer signs up for Chromos cell engineering system

maybe this technology will replace MAB production techniques...

anybody know anything about it?


31/05/2005 - Chromos Molecular Systems won another customer for its cell line engineering technology yesterday, when world number one drugmaker Pfizer took out a license for its ACE system, reports Phil Taylor.

link from in-pharm-tech

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Personnel Trends

The other day I heard of yet another experienced engineer making the move to the Client/ Operations side of the industry...mostly from the process side...going in to run/ oversee projects...

Maybe there is always a certain level of cross-pollination going on, but lately it seems more than usual. Do OPs companies really need additional people with execution experience in-house? Hopefully, it means they have more project work in the pipeline!

Or is this coming from the other side...a desire to move to the side of the industry that is considered more stable...although lately, it doesn't always seem that way.

I don't know, but a few companies are missing their process capabilities...

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Another Interphex review

[Update 17Jun05]more Inteprhex news...

Novo Nordisk A/S Named Inaugural Facility of the Year Award Winner

link from deltavnews

link to delta v news blog


with better writing!!!

article link from Pharmacuetical Online

another interphex review from mesa labs blog

link

Big Blue aims to modernise pharma production

25/05/2005 - Information technology giant IBM has developed a software architecture that promises to modernise the pharmaceutical industry’s manufacturing processes, often accused of lagging behind those of other industries such as chemicals and foods, reports Phil Taylor.

link from in-pharma-tech.com

Biotech to outpace pharma, says Deloitte

25/05/2005 - The boundary between the pharma and biotech industries will become incresingly blurred over the next 10 years, with the latter enjoying stronger growth, writes Phil Taylor.

link from in-pharma-tech.com

'Sarcasm' brain areas discovered

well, at least one portion of my brain works...

link from bbc.com


Scientists say they have located the parts of the brain that comprehend sarcasm - honestly.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Designing the laboratory of the future

24/05/2005 - The primary difficulty facing anyone given the task of designing a state-of-the-art laboratory is that they generally don’t have access to a crystal ball to tell them exactly what will be at the leading edge of technology in two to three years time – the average time it takes to design and construct a facility, reports Phil Taylor.

lab design tips and emerging trends

Able Laboratories (ABRX) Suspends Manufacturing Operations, Announces Product Recall

"Quality is free...it's the non-conformances that cost money"...Phil Crosby

GMP issues come home to roost...

link from AP

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Nanocoatings could keep labs clean

19/05/2005 - Nanotechnology has the potential to radically alter the quality and cleanliness of laboratory and pharmaceutical workplaces.

link to nanotechnology story

from in-pharma-tech

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Top 10- 20 Biotech

so here the list for the Biotech side...

yahoo finance Biotech Leaders/ Laggards based on revenue

as of 18May05...

Leaders in Total Revenue (ttm)

1- CARDINAL HEALTH INC [CAH]........ $72.4 B
2- AMERISOURCEBERGEN CP [ABC]..... $53.3 B
3- SANOFI-AVENTIS SA [SNY]........... $19.0 B
4- AMGEN [AMGN]....................... $11.0 B
5- GENENTECH INC [DNA]................ $5.1 B
6- TEVA PHARM INDS AD [TEVA]........ $5.1 B
7- NOVO NORDISK A S [NVO]............. $5.0 B
8- ALTANA AG ADS [AAA]................ $3.8 B
9- FOREST LABS CL A [FRX].............. $3.2 B
10- D & K HEALTHCARE [DKHR].......... $3.2 B

Laggards in Total Revenue (ttm)

CORAUTUS GENETICS [VEGF]............... $83.0 K
STEMCELLS INC [STEM]...................... $82.0 K
SOLEXA, INC. [SLXA]......................... $79.0 K
XCYTE THERAPIES, INC [XCYT].............. $66.0 K
TITAN PHARMA INC [TTP].................... $44.0 K
PROVECTUS PHARMA [PVCT.OB]............ $32.0 K
BIOTECH HOLDINGS LTD [BIOHF.OB]....... $23.0 K
SANGUINE CORPORATION [SGNC.OB]...... $20.0 K
BIONUTRICS INC [BNRX.PK]................. $11.0 K
LORUS THERAPEUTICS [LRP]............... $6,000


Some of the companies in the leader list are not included on the "Major Drug" Index...but would make the list using revenue as criteria...

I don't see the same overlap between the Leaders/ Laggards that shows up on the "Major Drug" list, either...the revenue gap really shows up in this grouping...

Monday, May 16, 2005

Vaccine decline must be halted, says opinion leader

16/05/2005 - During the past 50 years, the number of pharmaceutical companies making vaccines has decreased dramatically, and those that still make them have reduced resources to produce new ones, writes Phil Taylor.

link to story from in-pharma-tech

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Top 10- 20 Big Pharma

yahoo finance Big Pharma Leaders/ Laggards based on revenue
as of 15May05...

Top 10 Big Pharma based on revenue...

1- PFIZER INC [PFE]...................................$53.1 B
2- JOHNSON AND JOHNS DC [JNJ]...................$48.6 B
3- GLAXOSMITHKLINE PLC [GSK] ....................$37.9 B
4- BAYER AKTIENGES ADS [BAY] ....................$36.8 B
5- NOVARTIS AG ADS [NVS] ..........................$29.0 B
6- ROCHE HLDG LTD SPONS [RHHBY.PK] ..........$25.6 B
7- MERCK CO INC [MRK] .............................$22.7 B
8- ASTRAZENECA PLC ADS [AZN] ...................$22.1 B
9- ABBOTT LABORATORIES [ABT] ..................$20.4 B
10- BRISTOL MYERS SQIBB [BMY] ...................$19.3 B


Laggards in Total Revenue (ttm)

9- ABBOTT LABORATORIES [ABT] ...................$20.4 B
10- BRISTOL MYERS SQIBB [BMY] ...................$19.3 B
11- WYETH [WYE] ....................................$17.9 B
12- LILLY ELI CO [LLY] ..............................$14.0 B
13- SCHERING PLOUGH CP [SGP] ...................$8.7 B
14- SCHERING AKTIENGESEL [SHR] .................$6.3 B
15- ALCON INC [ACL] .................................$4.0 B
16- PRESTIGE BRAND HLGS [PBH] ................$303.3 M
17- NOVADEL PHARMA INC [NVD] .................$685.0 K
18- APPLIED NEUROSOLUTNS [APNS.OB] .........$253.0 K

I guess I'm surprised to see the overlap between the Top 10 Leaders and the Laggards...only to the extent that it shows 15 companies measure revenue in the billions...and it falls off rapidly after that.

How do we get from the largest drug companies in the world to over the counter trading in 18 spots on this list?

and we didn't stretch it to a full 20 companies...

Saturday, May 14, 2005

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Thursday, May 12, 2005

Anybody checking out these stock prices???

the big boys are currently trading at:

FLR- $57.25 ,JEC- $52.96 WGII- $45.94


and the following link is a story about how the sector may move higher!!!
story link for construction sector

Anybody remember when the cuurent wisdom was an E&C stock was worth $40- buy below, sell above, go home happy...

What's going on???

Mass. Governor Sends Back Stem-Cell Bill

[UPDATE 20May05] Mass. Lawmakers Reject Stem Cell Ban

I wonder if politics may begin to impact the Boston area as one of the centers for biotech research...

story link from AP

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Pharma should eye Latin America, says PwC

I noticed this at Interphex...

Latin America shows considerable and untapped business potential for the pharmaceutical industry, according to new research conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Latin America is going pharma!!!

from in-pharma-tech

San Francisco Wins Bid To Host Stem Cell Research Headquarters

from sfgate.com

link

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Merck Names Richard Clark CEO, President

Merck & Co. Names Richard Clark As Its CEO, President to Succeed Raymond Gilmartin


I can think of at least one person who predicted this would happen...

Gilmartin retiring...

link

or was he ousted?

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Major advance made on DNA structure

for those of us who didn't know...

link

they're still working on DNA...

Monday, May 02, 2005

FDA Warning Letter Report 2004 Published

GMP News by way of the ECA...


Link