Pharmaceutical Technology Europe-05-01-2009

The CRO market is experiencing two-tiered growth: firstly from pharmaceutical companies seeking to lower fixed costs by outsourcing clinical research to CROs; and secondly, from biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical companies that lack the infrastructure to conduct trials.

With a new head of the FDA expected to be announced imminently, the pharmaceutical industry waits to witness the changes that will inevitably accompany the new appointment. These changes could, however, also impact the rest of the world's pharmaceutical markets.

Based on formulation simplicity and blinding capability, hard gelatin capsules are preferrable compared with other oral solid dosage forms, including tablets, in the early clinical phases of drug development.

Orally disintegrating tablets offer numerous advantages compared with traditional tablets and capsules, and can be an effective solution for developing line extensions of currently marketed therapies.

With pressure to cut costs, shorten the pipeline life cycle and maximize return on investment, pharmaceutical manufacturers need tools that help them improve enterprise-wide communications, reach critical decisions faster and produce timely, accurate reports on how compounds are progressing.

This month, Frankfurt readies itself for the descent of more than 27000 additional visitors, as it plays host to the world's largest chemical engineering exhibition and congress - Achema 2009.

The identification of an increasing number of drug targets coupled with advances in manufacturing technology could lead to many more blockbuster therapeutic antibodies.