Cedarburg Hauser Pharmaceuticals, the Grafton, WI-based contract developer and manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) for the drug industry, will be acquired for $41 million by Albany Molecular Research Inc. (AMRI), the two companies announced today. Read more...
CONTACT:
Andrew Cohen
acohen@kbibiopharma.com
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NORTH CAROLINA – May 12, 2014
KBI Biopharma, Inc. (KBI) has signed an agreement with Merck & Co., Inc. (known as Merck in the United States and Canada) to acquire Merck’s microbial process development and manufacturing operations in Boulder, Colorado, effective May 1, 2014. Under the agreement, KBI will provide ongoing development and manufacturing services to Merck, as well as to third party customers.
Provence Technologies, a French chemical developer, has acquired the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) maker Synprosis, a specialist in synthesising long-chain peptides. Read more...
Gardner, MA (PRWEB) June 11, 2014
Today, New England Peptide, Inc. (NEP) and SISCAPA Assay Technologies, Inc. (SAT) announced a collaboration for the manufacture and sale of Stable Isotope Standard (SIS) peptides for use in SISCAPA® protein quantification assays. Read more...
CEM Corporation, a leading global provider of microwave laboratory instrumentation, has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with SpheriTech Ltd, UK to manufacture and sell their range of SpheriTide -based resins. The initial applications for these resins will focus on peptide synthesis. Read more...
Peptides are an intriguing class of drugs. They are made of amino acids, just as humans are, and because of their intimate relationship with our own biological molecules, they have the potential to fight some of the most intractable diseases, including cancer.
But they can be difficult and expensive to make. A year's worth of the anti-HIV peptide drug enfuvirtide costs $25,000. Now a chemist at Michigan Technological University has overcome an important hurdle in the manufacturing process by developing a quicker, simpler purification method. As a bonus, his technique also works on DNA.
The new technology separates perfect peptides from those that do not make the grade, says Shiyue Fang. During production, amino acids attach to each other in chains to form the desired peptide, but some of the chains are never completed. To separate these truncated peptides, Fang's team adds a polymerizable group of atoms to the mix.
These atoms bind to either the perfect peptides or the unfinished ones, but not to both. The polymerized peptides become insoluble and precipitate out of the solution. "Just take the solution out, and the peptides are separated," said Fang.
Shiyue Fang, an associate professor of chemistry at Michigan Technological University, has developed a new purification technique for peptide drugs and other biomolecules. The discovery could help pave the way for less expensive cures for intractable diseases such as HIV and cancer.
(Photo Credit: Sarah Bird/Michigan Technological University)
The method works in about two hours, much faster than a similar process Fang developed a few years ago. And it works equally well for DNA sequences.
The process has other advantages. It is cheaper and requires less labor than existing peptide purification methods, it can handle large batches of peptides at a time, and it generates less waste. "Other methods use a large amount of organic solvents, with a waste-to-product ratio of about 1,000:1. Our waste-to-product ratio is 50:1, maximum," said Fang. "And it takes less time."
Fang has been issued a patent for his discovery and is exploring its commercial potential. "I'm excited about the progress we've made," he said. "Peptide drugs are used to fight cancer, inflammation, diseases of the central nervous system, viral diseases like HIV... This gives us a chance to make a difference in people's lives."
Axcellerate Pharma establishes CMO/CRO and API manufacturing facility in New Jersey,
US. Focus will be small molecule and biologics PR&D, innovative technology platforms,
filling vial and bag operations, peptide synthesis, oligonucleotide production and related
areas. Read more...
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SAFEBRIDGE® CONSULTANTS, INC. (SafeBridge), headquartered in Mountain View, California, has announced that Corden Pharma Colorado in Boulder, Colorado has met the criteria established under the SafeBridge program for "Potent Compound Safety Certification" and has been deemed competent and proficient in the safe handling of potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and compounds of unknown toxicity and potency. The SafeBridge Potent Compound Safety Certification of Corden Pharma Colorado applies only to specific laboratory and manufacturing areas involved in the manufacture of APIs and synthetic intermediates. Read more...