Business news – Page 105
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Business
Business roundup: July 2008
Squeezed margins push up prices Rising energy, feedstock and transportation costs are squeezing the chemical sector’s profit margins - and triggering some dramatic price rises as companies try to pass the costs on. On 28 May US chemicals giant Dow announced it would raise price across its entire product portfolio ...
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Opinion
Divided by a common language
Derek Lowe dreams of the day when chemists and biologists can understand each other
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Business
Business roundup: June 2008
Bisphenol A studies spark mixed messages As bottle makers and retailers move to pull products made with bisphenol A (BPA), law makers and health regulators continue to argue over the compound’s safety. Source: © GETTY IMAGES Do polycarbonate bottles pose a health risk? On 18 April, ...
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Business
Business roundup: May 2008
Experts’ damning Vytorin verdict Already troubled by disappointing clinical trial results and an ongoing investigation, US drug giants Merck and Schering Plough’s combined cholesterol treatment Vytorin has now received a damning review from leading cardiologists. Source: © MERCK / SCHERING-PLOUGH PHARMACEUTICALS Trials show Vytorin’s dual action works ...
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Opinion
A dose of realism
The recent row over antidepressants reminds us how little we know about the brain, says Derek Lowe
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Business
Business roundup: April 2008
Declining dollar yet to bite The chemicals industry has yet to feel the impact of the slowing US economy, and rising costs of energy and feedstocks (see Chemistry World, March 2008, p19). Some of the biggest players in the industry, including the world’s largest chemical company BASF, have now added ...
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Business
Business roundup: March 2008
Can biologics go generic? US President George Bush has called for legislation to enable the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve generic versions of biologic (typically protein-based) drugs (see also Chemistry World, January 2008, p16). But a key lawmaker, Representative John Dingell, chairman of the House Energy and ...
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Business
Business roundup: February 2008
Chemical blasts A spate of accidents in chemical plants around the world in the last two months - including in the US and Japan - has caused the deaths of 20 plant employees, and left dozens more injured. On 19 December a blast and fire in the US ...
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Opinion
A notable year for closures and layoffs
It's been a rough year, but the future looks bright, says Derek Lowe
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Business
Business roundup: January 2008
Manufacturing chemists face worldwide job cuts Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) has become the latest pharmaceutical company to announce a cost-saving restructuring plan that will slash manufacturing jobs. The US drug maker will scale down in its manufacturing operations, cutting its workforce by 4800 - about 10 per cent - ...
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Business
Business roundup: December 2007
Price fight over HIV drug GlaxoSmithKline has filed a lawsuit against Abbott Laboratories, claiming that its 2003 decision to increase the price of its HIV drug Norvir by 400 per cent was anticompetitive. GSK is the latest in a growing list of claimants to sue its US competitor, including four ...
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Business
Business roundup: November 2007
Drug marketing case sees $500m settlement Bristol-Myers Squibb will pay over half a billion dollars to settle allegations of illegal drug marketing and pricing. The ruling, announced by the US Department of justice in late September, related to accusations that BMS had inflated its drug prices, paid kickbacks ...
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Opinion
The hidden benefit of higher energy bills
The high cost of energy has an unexpected benefit, says Derek Lowe - it forces us to be more efficient
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Business
Business roundup: October 2007
UK pharma shifts manufacturing overseas Anglo-Swedish drug firm AstraZeneca has restated its intention to outsource drug manufacturing ’where there is a sound business case’. The statement follows the publication of an interview with David Smith, AstraZeneca’s executive vice-president of operations, in The Times on 17 September. The newspaper ...
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Opinion
Zero justification
Will Phase Zero trials actually help drug development, wonders Derek Lowe