Chemical Business Newsbase articles from August 2008

Chemical Business Newsbase archives from August 2008

Hybrigenics and Dualsystems enter into strategic partnership for yeast two-hybrid screens of full membrane proteins.
August 31, 2008... Hybrigenics and Dualsystems have entered into a co-marketing agreement for Dualmembrane yeast two-hybrid screens. The technology is designed for full membrane proteins. Hybrigenics is involved in anticancer research and development. It...

Nexavar approved for liver cancer in China.
August 31, 2008... Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals have obtained Chinese marketing approval for Nexavar (sorafenib) as a treatment for unresectable or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer).

Eisai's proposed sedative gets not-approvable letter from FDA.
August 31, 2008... The US FDA has sent a not approvable letter to Eisai for its sedative candidate.

Depomed's Proquin XR achieves first marketing authorization in Europe.
August 31, 2008... Depomed Inc and Rottapharm/Madaus have obtained marketing approval from the Swedish Medical Products Agency for ProQuin XR.

Allergan closes purchase of Aczone Gel for $150 M.
August 31, 2008... Allergan Sales has completed the acquisition of Aczone Gel 5% from QLT USA. Aczone Gel is a topical treatment for acne vulgaris.

ViroPharma to buy Lev for up to $617.5 M.
August 31, 2008... ViroPharma is acquiring the biopharmaceutical firm Lev Pharmaceuticals. Lev specializes in the development of antiinflammatory disease treatments. ViroPharma will pay up to $617.5 M in cash and stock.

Biocon launches Abraxane drug.
August 31, 2008... Biocon Ltd has teamed up with the US firm Abraxis Bio Science for the launch of the breast cancer treatment Abraxane in India.

MacroGenics buys California-based Raven Biotechnologies.
August 31, 2008... MacroGenics has acquired Raven Biotechnologies. Raven specializes in stem cell cancer treatments. It is based in S San Francisco, CA. No financial details on the all-stock transaction have been revealed. The deal expands anticancer activities.

Xanodyne's Zipsor on track for FDA approval.
August 31, 2008... Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals has received an approvable letter from the US FDA for the analgesic Zipsor.

FDA approves Shire's Vyvanse for adult ADHD sufferers.
August 31, 2008... The US FDA has given its approval to Shire to market Vyvanse to adult patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Shire has commenced marketing of the drug.

Lonza and Osiris Therapeutics enter strategic product supply agreement.
August 31, 2008... Lonza has signed a clinical and commercial production agreement with Osiris Therapeutics Inc for their adult stem cell therapy. In addition, Lonza plans to build new production facilities. These will include the first commercial-scale...

GlaxoSmithKline teams up with Aspen to drive generic drugs.
August 31, 2008... GlaxoSmithKline is collaborating with the S African generic drug firm Aspen. The move will allow the UK group to expand into emerging markets.

Dendreon initiates Phase II trial of Provenge.
August 31, 2008... Dendreon Corporation has begun a Phase II trial on Provenge (sipuleucel-T) as a treatment for prostate cancer.

MDS to cut 210 jobs, take $10 M charge.
August 31, 2008... MDS Inc has announced that it will reduce its workforce by around 210 at the MDS Analytical Technologies division. It will write down the value of a Canadian facility. This will result in a $10 M charge.

CSL submits BLA for the treatment of congenital bleeding.
August 31, 2008... CSL Behring has submitted as biologics licence application to the US FDA for its human fibrinogen concentrate as a treatment for the rare bleeding disorder congenital fibrinogen deficiency.

Ranbaxy wins UK Serious Fraud Office case.
August 31, 2008... Ranbaxy Laboratory's subsidiary Ranbaxy UK has won a case involving the UK's Serious Fraud Office. The lawsuit was quashed by the Crown Court.

Company seeking FDA approval of medicine for rare genetic disease: Chenofalk/Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals.
August 31, 2008... Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals is acquiring Chenofalk. It will also acquire the necessary clinical and regulatory documentation to submit a New Drug Application to the US FDA for chenodeoxycholic acid as a treatment for Cerebrotendinous...

BioMarin, Summit sign agreement for muscular dystrophy programme.
August 31, 2008... BioMarin Pharmaceutical has signed an exclusive worldwide distribution agreement with Summit for the potential Duchenne muscular dystrophy treatment SMT C1100 and all follow-on compounds.

Averion expands clinical research operations to Ukraine.
August 31, 2008... The contract research organization Averion International has opened an office in the Ukraine. Averion carries out clinical trials on behalf of its clients.

Piramal Healthcare acquires Haemaccel plasma products.
August 31, 2008... Plasma Selects polygeline based blood plasma products under the brand name Haemaccel will be acquired by Piramal Healthcare Ltd according to an agreement signed between Germany based Plasma Select AG and Piramal Healthcare Ltd. The product,...

Stempeutics begins pilot studies for dilated cardiomyopathy in India.
August 31, 2008... Bangalore based Stempeutics Research Pvt Ltd (SRPL) has initiated pilot studies for finding out new therapeutic approaches for the cure of dilated cardiomyopathy in India. SRPL is engaged in research, therapeutics and therapy in the field of...

Ahead with inorganic growth.
August 31, 2008... A supplier of analytical technologies, scientific and laboratory products like integrated reagents, and consumables, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TFS) is the aftermath of the merger of Thermo Electron and Fisher Scientific in 2006. With total...

Realising opportunities: Labindia Life Sciences.
August 31, 2008... Labindia Life Sciences Pvt Ltds (Labindia) revenues from its life sciences business stand at Rup 2.745 bn in 2007-2008, a rise of 26.7%. The company has reagents, instruments, software, and training businesses. In 2007, Labindia introduced...

Offering right choices: HiMedia Laboratories.
August 31, 2008... Having started in 1976, HiMedia Laboratories (HiMedia) manufactures products for microbiology, parasitology, immunology, serology and virology. The company supplies culture media to scientists, researchers and small companies, which can be...

Performance unrivalled.
August 31, 2008... Imperial Life Sciences Pvt Ltd (ILS) earned revenues of Rup 0.8873 bn in the fiscal year 2007-2008 (Rup 0.3925 bn in the fiscal year 2006-2007), a rise of 126%. Started in 1992, ILS supplies reagents and products used in biotechnology and...

Putting reliability in labs.
August 31, 2008... Engaged in the manufacturing and marketing of fine chemicals and lab kits, RCFL achieved revenues worth Rup 0.3404 from its laboratory solutions business in 2007-2008 (Rup 0.2260 bn in 2006-2007). The revenue earned from separation techniques...

NYLIM Jacob Ballas India Fund buys stake of Rup 900 M in Themis Laboratories.
August 31, 2008... A Private Equity investor based in Mauritius, NYLIM Jacob Ballas India Fund III, LLC, has bought stake worth Rup 900 M in Themis Laboratories. Themis Laboratories is a pharmaceutical company, which makes use of novel drug delivery systems...

Shasun's 1Q 2008 results affected by exchange loss.
August 31, 2008... The revenue of Shasun Chemicals & Drugs Ltd recorded an increase of 6.64% at Rup 1.0323 bn for the quarter ended 30 Jun 2008 while the revenue was Rup 0.0968 bn in the 1Q of the fiscal year 2008. The loss suffered in the same period was...

Glenmark posts 29.78% growth.
August 31, 2008... Glenmark Pharmaceuticals ltd (GPL) reported a rise of 29.78% in the consolidated revenue of Rup 4.6645 bn in the 1Q of the fiscal year 2009 (Rup 3.5942 bn in the 1Q of the fiscal year 2008). The consolidated net profit recorded a growth of...

SUVEN registers 11.43% growth.
August 31, 2008... SUVEN Life Sciences reported revenues of Rup 0.3229 bn for the quarter ended 30 Jun 2008 (Rup 0.2898 bn in the quarter ended 30 Jun 2007). A fall of 49% in the profit after tax at Rup 0.0160 bn for the quarter ended 30 Jun 2008 was witnessed...

Jubilant record 72% growth in life sciences revenues.
August 31, 2008... Jubilant Organosys posted 53.1% increase in revenues for the 1Q ended 30 Jun 2008 against revenues in 1Q of the fiscal year 2007. A 74% rise in the revenue from international business at Rup 4.846 bn was observed owing to volume growth in...

GSK's AMJ profits up by 19%.
August 31, 2008... For the quarter ended 30 Jun 2008, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd's profit before tax augmented by 19% and sales by 11% against the quarter ended 30 Jun 2007. The achievements of the company during the quarter were introduction of...

Wockhardt's sales up by 48.3%.
August 31, 2008... Wockhardt Ltd's consolidated sales revenues for the quarter ended 30 Jun 2008 stood at Rup 9.35 bn, a rise of 48.3%. The company also posted an escalation of 51.6% at Rup 2.308 bn in the operating profits. The net profit posted was Rup 0.959...

GACL 1Q net profit at Rup 545 M; plans to invest Rup 17 bn on debottlenecking.
August 31, 2008... Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Ltd (GACL) has recorded 7.91% increase in the net profit to Rup 544.6 M in 1Q 2008 (Rup 504.7 M in 1Q 2007) and the profit before tax was Rup 710 M in 1Q 2008 (Rup 570.5 M in 1Q 2007). The company's production...

Tata Chem 1Q net dips 22%.
August 31, 2008... Tata Chemicals Ltd has recorded a consolidated profit after tax of Rup 1.07 bn in 1Q 2008 (Rup 1.37 bn in 1Q 2007). The company is a second largest producer of soda ash and third largest producer of sodium bicarbonate in the world.

Lanxess sales growth up 40%.
August 31, 2008... Lanxess, a speciality chemicals company, has recorded a sales growth of 40% in 2Q 2008. The performance polymers recorded 83% sales growth, advanced intermediates recorded 89% and performance chemicals recorded 31% in 2Q 2008. The company...

Tata Chemicals plans Rup 7 bn investment.
August 31, 2008... Tata Chemicals Ltd is planning to invest Rup 7 bn to improve the top-line growth. The company is investing Rup 2 bn to expand Mithapur chemical plants and Rup 2 bn to increase the urea production capacity to 1.2 M tonnes from 0.865 M tonnes...

Otsuka Chemical to acquire American Peptide.
August 31, 2008... Otsuka Chemicals will acquire Ito Life Sciences, a parent company of American Peptide Company and the acquisition will be effective from 1 Sep 2008. American Peptide Company is planning to expand its peptide production in Vista, Sunnyvale and...

Technip bags services contract for the Horizon Project.
August 31, 2008... Canadian Natural Resources Ltd has given a EP contract to Technip for expanding heavy oil unit to lighter synthetic crude converter unit in Canada. The cost of engineering, procurement, supply of equipment and materials activities will be EUR...

Engineering and supply contract for fired heaters for Tatarstan Refinery.
August 31, 2008... TANECO, a unit of Tatneft has given a contract to Foster Wheeler Italiana SpA, a Milan based subsidiary of Foster Wheeler Ltd to provide fired heaters for Nizhnekamsk integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex in the Republic of...

BASF 2Q sales up 11%.
August 31, 2008... BASF sales hiked by 11% to EUR 16.3 bn and EBIT before special items increased nearly 19% to EUR 2.4 bn in 2Q 2008. The sales in 1H 2008 increased by 10% to EUR 32.2 bn and EBIT before special items increased by 15% to EUR 4.8 bn.

Ashland reports fiscal third quarter net income of $72 M.
August 31, 2008... Ashland Inc recorded a preliminary net income of $72 M or $1.13/share in 3Q ended 30 Jun 2008 ($100 M or $1.58/share in 3Q ended 30 Jun 2007). The company recorded an income of $66 M or $1.03/share from continuing operations during 3Q ended...

Dow Corning 2Q earnings up 6%.
August 31, 2008... Dow Corning Corp, a Midland-based company established by Dow Chemical Company and Corning Inc to produce silicon based products, has increased its income by 6% in 2Q 2008. The company recorded a net income of $187.7 M in 2Q 2008 ($176.7 M in...

Eastman 2Q net sales rises 4%.
August 31, 2008... Eastman Chemical Company has recorded earnings of $1.48/diluted share in 2Q 2008 from continuing operations ($1.19/dilute share in 2Q 2007). The company recorded sales revenue of $1.8 bn and operating earnings of $172 M for 2Q 2008 ($160 M...

Rohm and Haas sales up 17%.
August 31, 2008... Rohm and Haas Company recorded earnings from continuing operations of $147 M or 0.75/share for 2Q 2008 ($161 M or $0.75/share for 2Q 2008). The company recorded 17% increase in sales to $2,567 M. The actual growth was 7% that includes 4%...

ExxonMobil completes halobutyl expansion.
August 31, 2008... ExxonMobil Chemical has increased the capacity of Exxon Bromobutyl rubber (brominated butyl rubber) plant by 60% by additional equipments and modification of the unit at Texas. The company has invested more than $400 M from the year 2000.

AkzoNobel opens new protective coatings site in China.
August 31, 2008... AkzoNobel has started a new site for production and sales of protective coatings at a cost of Eur 23 M in Suzhou, China. The company is targeting $2 bn revenue by 2012 and 50 M l production level over the next ten years.

Lanxess to move Group headquarters to Cologne.
August 31, 2008... Lanxess AG, a company that produces speciality chemicals, is planning to relocate its headquarters to Cologne from Leverkusen. The company will be investing Eur 200 M in the years 2008 and 2009.

IOC to invest Rup 7.61 bn for SBR project.
August 31, 2008... Indian Oil Corp (IOC) is investing Rup 7.61 bn to put up maiden styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) plant at Panipat. IOC is investing Rup 3.07 bn for butadiene extraction unit. The butadiene will be supplied from Panipat refinery and styrene will...

Nahar invests Rup 2000 M in BOPP unit.
August 31, 2008... Nahar Polyfilms is investing Rup 2000 M to construct Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) film production unit of capacity 30,000 tonnes/y and is scheduled to be completed by 4Q 2009.

Vacmet packagings plans for expansions.
August 31, 2008... Vacmet Packagings is investing Rup 1000 M to increase the capacity of plastic film plant to 60,000 tonnes/y from 20,000 tonnes/y at Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.

Promtech introduces zinc metal spray and zinc aluminium metal spray text.
August 31, 2008... Promtech Chemicals Pvt Ltd introduces a range of aerosol maintenance products that includes zinc metal spray for cold galvanizing. The spray will form a light grey finish and is good for old galvanised substrates. The company also introduces...

Pradeep introduces general metal cleaners.
August 31, 2008... Pradeep Metallurgical Products Pvt Ltd introduces M-Three that includes degreasing, derusting and phosphating chemical. M-Three is used to pre-treat mould steel sheet metal components. M-K-81, an acidic pre-dip solution that includes acids,...

Sumitron introduces PTFE tubing.
August 31, 2008... Sumitron Marketing introduces PTFE tubing. The FE tubing is produced from extruded polytetrafluoroethylene. This tubing gives good chemical resistance and temperature resistance.

Aluminium: Softening demand, rising stocks impact prices.
August 31, 2008... The decreasing aluminium demand and increasing stocks may result in the decrease of aluminium prices. The aluminium smelter spends 45% of the production cost on power and increasing energy costs will also support in price increase of...

Copper: Red metal in consolidation mode but more upside likely.
August 31, 2008... Copper price has changed up to 25% in 1H 2008 but now, it is trading at $8000/tonne in London Metal Exchange (LME). The demand for copper in US is 13% of the total world's demand. The yearly demand for copper has increased on an average of...

Zinc: Bearish trend continues despite minor gains.
August 31, 2008... Zinc prices remained low at $1,740/tonne on 4 Jul 2008 at LME, it hiked to $2,204/tonne on 11 Jul 2008 and decreased to $1,800/tonne on 16 Jul 2008 because of weak demand. Zinc's demand may decrease further during Jul-Aug 2008. The fall of...

Lead: Prices surge on supply concerns.
August 31, 2008... Lead prices increased because of short supply and decrease of production in China by 10% to support prices. The decrease in exports of refined lead metal and fall in stockpiles by 11% to 90,725 tonnes also supported the prices. According to...

Nickel: Price decline continues on poor SS sector demand.
August 31, 2008... The weak demand for stainless steel has weakened the demand for nickel. Nickel has declined nearly 50% from Mar 2008 and prices dropped 8%. The steel customers waiting for price decrease is also a reason for decline of nickel prices. Jinchuan...

Tin: Prices decline on slowing demand.
August 31, 2008... The sluggish demand has decreased the price of tin. China has hiked its tin production by 4.5%. According to statistics from China Nonferrous Metals Association (CNIA), production increased to 10,353 tonnes in Mar and China's production hiked...

Gold softens on strengthening dollar.
August 31, 2008... The decrease in Oil price by 16% after it had reached $147.27/bbl on 11 Jul 2008 and the increase in dollar by 2.3% against the euro are the reasons for decline in gold price. The investment for gold is prevailing even during global economic...

Prospects of Indian aluminium industry.
August 31, 2008... Aluminium is consumed in transportation, packaging, construction, consumer durables, machinery, cooking utensils, electrical transmission lines and other industries. The per capita income for the metal is progressive with 36.2 kg in US, 26.6...

Aluminium: Global consumption to increase by 10%.
August 31, 2008... According to the International Aluminium Institute (IAI), construction, transportation and packaging segments have nearly used 66% of aluminium and 34% is consumed by consumer and capital goods and electricity transmission instruments....

Aluminium: Orissa luring massive investments.
August 31, 2008... Aluminium demand is very high and Orissa is getting proposals to put up alumina and aluminium plants. National Aluminium Company Ltd is expanding bauxite mining capacity to 6.3 M tonnes from 4.8 M tonnes, two private companies are building...

Past, present and future of plastics in the automotive industry.
August 31, 2008... For some time, plastics have played an important role in automotive components applications. Benefits offered by plastics include chemical resistance; provision of thermal insulation, electrical insulation and acoustic insulation; flexibility...

Brussels positively welcomes the aim of the EU to increase plastics recycling.
August 31, 2008... Provisions in the revised European Waste Framework Directive, to increase plastics recycling, have been welcomed by the European Plastics Recyclers' organisation (EuPR), based in Brussels. A target of recycling 50% of plastic wastes from...

Dow to build a central, global water technology development centre in Spain.
August 31, 2008... Dow Water Solutions is investing $15 M in the construction of a centre of global development in water desalination technology and wastewater recycling in Tarragona, Spain. The centre should be in operation by the end of 2009 and will include...

Four companies create Replastec SL.
August 31, 2008... In Spain, Replastec SL is a new plastics recycling company established by Indumetal Recycling SA, Corporacion Cromoduro, Maier and Gaiker. The new company will focus on recovering and recycling waste plastics obtained from scrap cars, old...

DuPont prizes acknowledge sustainable development.
August 31, 2008... DuPont's Innovation Awards 2008 have highlighted characteristics such as responsible resource use, energy optimisation and recovery, and sustainability. The awards acknowledge new developments in packaging materials, processes, technologies...

New ISO in the area of plastics recovery.
August 31, 2008... A new International Standard, ISO 15270:2008, Plastics - Guidelines for the Recovery and Recycling of Plastics Waste, has been introduced. The new ISO will provide guidance and assistance regarding the establishment of a sustainable market...

Playing with Adidas: Bayer MaterialScience has the ball.
August 31, 2008... In Jun 2008, at the European Cup, the EUROPASS football was the star. Bayer MaterialScience's Impranil synthetic leather coating was used to manufacture the top five layers of the ball, developed by Bayer and Adidas. The ball offered improved...

Tobacco plants for medicine production.
August 31, 2008... Bayer and its Icon Genetics subsidiary have jointly developed a new production process to produce biotechnology drugs from tobacco plants. A new therapeutic proteins unit was inaugurated in Halle, Germany, on 16 Jun 2008.

Trespa presents new wood designs.
August 31, 2008... The Dutch firm Trespa International has enlarged its range of Meteon panels with the introduction of seven new designs based on natural wood. The panels are utilised in facades for buildings, and designers and architects now have 23 designs...

Films that protect touch screens.
August 31, 2008... In the UK, Clue Trader Ltd is using MacDermid Autotype's Autoflex hard-coated polyester film to give additional protection to the touch screens of its hand-held point-of-sale devices. The film offers excellent optical clarity, impact...

Fuel under pressure: new pressure sensors for Bosch fuel tans made with BASF's Ultramid.
August 31, 2008... In Germany, Robert Bosch GmbH is using BASF's Ultramid T KR 4355 G7, a partially aromatic polyamide, in the production of a new pressure sensor for automotive fuel tanks. The polyamide meets new requirements for materials used in electronics...

SABIC adds pharmaceutical grades to its European polyolefins portfolio.
August 31, 2008... In Europe, SABIC is introducing a new line of speciality polyethylenes for use in pharmaceutical packaging applications. The new range includes 7 new LDPE grades and 2 new HDPE grades. The materials are very pure and are used in injection...

New textile covering for the upholstering of spaces and furniture.
August 31, 2008... The new range of Stamskin Top textile coverings for seating and movable partitions has been introduced by Ferrari of France for the creation of original interiors in public spaces. The coverings offer functionality, comfort, resistance to...

TEP based on new olefin block copolymers are very superior to conventional TPO grades and offer many other advantages.
August 31, 2008... Telcar OBC (olefin block copolymer) compounds with INFUSE OBC from The Dow Chemical Co provide better performance, versatility and ease of processing than conventional thermoplastic olefin grades. Teknor Apex has recently signed a contract...

Telcar OBC range with INFUSE grades and applications is potentially very large.
August 31, 2008... Teknor Apex recommends Dow's Telcar OBC thermoplastic elastomers for various applications, such as food and drink packaging, office products, medical devices, consumer products and industrial items. The materials meet US FDA requirements in...

Voveran emerges best selling drug in May even as pharma takes to brand-extension in a big way.
August 31, 2008... According to the ORG-IMS research data, painkiller produced by Novartis, Voveran has recorded maximum sales of Rup 142.8 M for the 12-month ended May 2008 in India. Furthermore, ORG-IMS also reported that the sales of anti-infectives...

Plethico Pharma 2Q 2008 revenue grows by 15%.
August 31, 2008... Plethico Pharmaceuticals (Plethico) has recorded revenue of Rup 1.4103 bn in 2Q ended 30 Jun 2008 (revenue of Rup 1.2263 bn in 2Q 2007). The net profit showed a rise of 13% and increased to Rup 370.2 M (Rup 326.6 M in 2Q 2007). Plethico is...

Dow AgroSciences wins US 'Green Chemistry' award.
August 31, 2008... The 2008 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award has been presented to Dow AgroSciences for its novel insect control technology, spinetoram. Promoting green chemistry principles, spinetoram is made through a combination of natural...

New Zealand ponders methyl bromide.
August 31, 2008... New Zealand's Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) has announced that methyl bromide (MB), a fumigant commonly used for logs and other export goods, will be re-evaluated on its continued use. The ERMA determined that both the...

Insecticide misuse killing Kenyan wildlife.
August 31, 2008... A recent study from the National Museums of Kenya's (NMK) Ornithological Section bolsters anecdotal evidence of increasing incidences of carbofuran poisoning and killing in Kenya's wildlife. The study found that there is extensive misuse of...