Chemical industry – Page 106
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Business
Business roundup: March 2007
Novartis contests India’s patent law Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis is suing the Indian government for contravening international patent agreements. The company accuses the Indian government of failing to comply with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules after it refused to grant the company a patent on its cancer drug ...
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Business
Business roundup: February 2007
New chief to lead safety drive Will the arrival of Lord Browne’s replacement mean an end to BP’s troubles? This month marked the climax of a tough period for the UK oil giant. An independent panel, led by former US Secretary of State James Baker, published the findings ...
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Opinion
Science's secret recipe
Derek Lowe wonders whether the secret recipe for scientific breakthroughs can be taught – and how much indigestion that recipe would cause in the boardroom
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Opinion
Learning from pharma failures
Derek Lowe looks at the recent failure of Pfizer's cholesterol drug, torcetrapib, and asks what it means for the future of pharmaceutical research
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Business
Business roundup: January 2007
BASF juggles hot potatoes German chemicals giant BASF has been courting controversy with two types of genetically modified potato. The Department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) has granted permission for the company to grow its GM blight-resistant potatoes at field sites in the UK, while the European Commission ...
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Opinion
Global pharma investment
Derek Lowe looks at the story behind the growing investment by western companies in medicinal chemistry research in China
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Business
Business roundup: December 2006
The drugs don’t work Third quarter results from the pharmaceutical industry were marred by simultaneous admissions that promising new treatments had been withdrawn and delayed. British giants GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and AstraZeneca, which both reported a boost in third quarter sales, have been forced to abandon new treatments ...
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Opinion
Time to let go
Derek Lowe wonders how to kill off bad drug candidates before companies invest valuable time and money in them
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Business
Business roundup: November 2006
Chemical security criticised Explosions at a chemical plant near the town of Apex, North Carolina, US, forced more than 17 000 people to evacuate their homes, in early October sparking further criticism that the government has not seriously addressed the issue of chemical plant security. The incident came ...
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Business
Business roundup: October 2006
Ivory Coast’s toxic disaster Source: © REUTERS Waste material Waste material - known as slops - unloaded by a ship in the Ivory Coast city port of Abidjan has led to the deaths of seven people, widespread sickness, and dismissal of the entire government. Ships ...
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Business
Business roundup: September 2006
Alaskan oilfield in hot water Crude oil prices suffered a roller coaster ride in August alongside a drama unfolding at BP’s Alaskan oilfield, the largest in North America. Attention has focused on the oil company since March, when up to 270,000 gallons of crude leaked from its transit line in ...
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Business
Business roundup: August 2006
BASF makes record spend German chemical giant BASF rounded off its second quarter with an unprecedented spending spree. In just over four weeks, the company has made three major acquisitions, at a total cost of over £5 billion. At the beginning of June, BASF bought the pigment and catalyst ...
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Business
Business roundup: June 2006
Leading lab suppliers merge Analytical instrument firm Thermo Electron and chemical manufacturer Fisher Scientific have agreed a merger deal, aiming to become ’the leading provider of laboratory products and services in the high-growth life, laboratory and health sciences industry’. Thermo, the smaller of the two US companies, will acquire ...
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Business
Business roundup: May 2006
Budget brings UK science to the fore Science and technology in the UK was prioritised in the country’s annual budget announcement, which also suggests that the way science is funded though the research assessment exercise (RAE) is about to be scrapped. The chancellor said an extra £1 ...
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Business
Business roundup: April 2006
Chemicals firms plead guilty to price-fixing conspiracy A total of more than $72 million (?41 million) in fines faces Belgian chemicals company Solvay, and Dutch company Akzo Nobel Chemicals International, following the admission that they participated in international price-fixing cartels in the chemicals industry, the US department of industry has ...
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Business
Business roundup: March 2006
Akzo Nobel to spin off pharmaceuticals business Dutch drugs, paints and chemicals group Akzo Nobel is to split into two independent companies by spinning off its pharmaceuticals business. The first step will be a minority initial public offering (IPO) of its pharmaceuticals business, including Organon and Intervet, to ...
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Business
Business roundup: February 2006
Gazprom looks to UK Russian joint-stock company Gazprom’s chief executive Alexander Medvedev has announced ambitious plans to supply 20 per cent of the UK’s gas by 2015. One way to do this would be to buy an existing supplier, such as Scottish Power, he hinted in an interview with ...
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Business
Business roundup: January 2006
Explosion at UK oil terminal Reports of an explosion that tore through an oil storage terminal jointly owned by Total and Texaco could be overlooking significant health risks, says a leading combustion engineer. There were 36 reported casualties, only two of which were serious, and no reported deaths following the ...
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Business
Business roundup: December 2005
European parliament approves Reach The European parliament has secured backing for the long-awaited regulatory regime for Europe’s chemicals industry: registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (Reach). Reach was today approved in Strasbourg after a marathon vote on 1038 amendments. It was first published by the European Commission ...
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Business
Business roundup: November 2005
BASF: Asian shift won’t slow European growth Katharine Sanderson/ Ludwigshafen, Germany German chemicals giant BASF has announced plans to focus on expansion in Europe until 2015, and aims to double eastern European sales by 2010. The announcement came just days after the official opening of BASF’s ...