Pharmaceutical Technology Europe-10-01-2011

With the Western world recovering slowly from a recession, and tighter restrictions for medical products being applied by the FDA and other regulatory authorities, more medical device R&D is being located in Asia.

Where are the new excipients, the new solubilisers and sustained release excipients?

The contract services industry is a crowded market and it's important for companies to differentiate themselves to stand out.

The past year has seen significant consolidation of mid-size CROs, with many of them being bought or put up for sale. In particular, the top six or seven CROs seem to be signing more preferred partner deals, such as Pfizer teaming with Parexel and ICON, and Takeda?s deals with Covance and Quintiles, which is driving mid-size CROs growth through major acquisitions.

Giving contamination time to build up can cause headaches for more than just your company.

Electronic prescribing has grown strongly in the US but its future as a European-wide approach in healthcare has been uncertain; new regulatory interest could change the playing field.

Although the European market is approximately 50% smaller than the US in terms of landmass, the population of Europe is approximately 50% larger and this presents a huge market opportunity.

Oriol Prat, Marketing Manager, and Marga Viñes Senior Product Manager, from Grifols give us a quick rundown of how business is changing and what challenges the company faces.

As editor of Pharmaceutical Technology Europe, I often have the opportunity to visit the sites of a wide variety of companies within the industry. Though differing vastly in the technologies and staff they employ, they all share one thing in common for me: the "you learn something new every day!" factor.

Pharmacovigilance: have your say

In a quick-fire interview, Dr Stephen Taylor, Vice President & Commercial Director at Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, looks at some of the challenges facing biologics outsourcing.