Pfizer Global Engineering and Manufacturing has been working with students and faculty from Rowan University’s chemical engineering department to investigate green approaches to drug manufacturing, according to a July Rowan press release. The partnership is aimed at analyzing and quantifying the economic viability and environmental benefit, respectively, of investing in a small solvent-recovery system. Such a system provides an alternative to incineration for small volumes of waste.   Read more »

A new clinical trial for an AIDS vaccine will take place in Africa and the United States. The program, announced this week, is a collaboration between the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), which will lead the trial, biopharmaceutical company Crucell (Leiden, Netherlands), Harvard Medical School’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and the Ragon Institute, an organization dedicated to HIV/AIDS research. Read more »

In the current economic slump, generic versions of branded drugs have become a bigger thorn in innovators’ sides than before. To safeguard their profits for just a bit longer, many companies have paid generic-drug manufacturers to delay the introduction of their products to the market. US and European authorities have called these arrangements anticompetitive, though, and events on Capitol Hill last week indicate that they might not be tolerated much longer. Read more »

The US Food and Drug Administration approved the first generic version of the anticoagulant drug enoxaprin sodium injection on last Friday, July 23. Lovenox is the drug’s brand name, and it’s manufacturer, sanofi Aventis (Paris), was not happy about FDA’s decision. Read more »

There is no secret that China’s role in the current and future global pharmaceutical market is and will be substantial, but the mindset for Western pharmaceutical companies has largely focused on the opportunity in that country. In looking at recent investment trends, however, perhaps the bio/pharmaceutical industry needs to more fully consider the potential competition from domestic Chinese pharmaceutical companies. Read more »

Merck & Co.’s (Whitehouse Station, NJ) announcement last week that it plans to cut 15% of its workforce and cease operations at eight manufacturing sites and eight research sites as part of an integration plan following its 2009 acquisition of Schering-Plough (Kenilworth, NJ) is yet another sobering statistic regarding the employment patterns in the pharmaceutical industry. So in light of this news, where does the pharma industry stand in recent job losses? Read more »

Management at Novartis (Basel) may be looking for a pill to combat employee-induced headaches. Not even two months after the company lost a class-action lawsuit that alleged discrimination against female workers, a federal appeals court ruled that the company’s sales representatives are entitled to overtime pay. Read more »

When it comes to promotion of marketed products via Web 2.0 and social media, the pharmaceutical and device industries seem compelled (at least until regulatory guidance becomes public) to continue finding their way by trial and error. But the current state of affairs should not dissuade life sciences companies from engaging in one of the most promising and mutually beneficial online marketing activities: leveraging social media networks to drive clinical trial patient recruitment. Read more »

The investment community is speculating that sanofi-aventis is interested in making a US-based acquisition, according to a July 2 Bloomberg News article, with possible acquisition targets being Allergan (Irvine, CA), Biogen Idec (Cambridge, MA), or Genzyme (Cambridge, MA). In a July 4 Wall Street Journal article, sanofi-aventis would not confirm such plans, stating that it does not respond to speculation. Only time will tell if such reports are accurate as information becomes available, but as the waiting game begins, would an acquisition be a good move for sanofi aventis? Read more »

Colorado is the country’s only state with an adult obesity rate below 20%. (Its rate is 19.1%.) More than two-thirds of states (38) have adult obesity rates above 25%, and rates increased in 28 states in the past year. These statistics were released this week in F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2010, a report from the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This sobering news comes just in time for America’s 234th birthday, when millions of us will head to cookouts and celebrate with family, friends, and food. Read more »