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The US Senate and House of Representatives passed last week three separate free-trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama. The Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America both issued statements expressing support for the legislation.

When I run a small production batch of a particular formulation with the same tablet press used to develop it, I get compressibility and disintegration issues. What am I doing wrong?

Recent recalls have contributed to the pharmaceutical industry?s heightened awareness of glass delamination (i.e., the formation of glass flakes in a vial), which could affect drug quality and patient safety. To confront this growing problem effectively, drugmakers must understand its causes.

The European Commission has adopted revised proposals clarifying the information that industry can supply to the public on prescription-only medicines, while maintaining a strict ban on direct-to-consumer advertising.

In response to concerns about the sustainability of US drug-development efforts, FDA has released a report that outlines several steps that FDA will take to spur biomedical innovation and ensure that such innovation can be quickly translated into safe and effective therapies.

The CRO Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD) will be acquired by the Carlyle Group and Hellman and Friedman in a deal valued at approximately $3.9 billion. PPD shareholders will receive $33.25 per share in cash, and PPD will become a privately held company after completion of the transaction.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company has completed its acquisition of Nycomed for EUR 9.6 billion ($12.9 billion) on a cash-free, debt-free basis. In addition, Takeda has named Frank Morich, Takeda's executive vice-president of internal operations (Americas/Europe), as Nycomed's CEO.

Servier and the Belgium-based biotechnology company Galapagos are embarking on a multiyear strategic alliance to develop new cancer therapies. As a result of the alliance, Galapagos could receive milestone payments of more than EUR 250 million ($332 million).

Report from India

In an effort to balance bilateral trade, India is urging China to increase Indian pharmaceutical imports.

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.

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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.