Novartis has confirmed that the ashes of CEO Daniel Vasella's mother have been stolen and his holiday home set fire to.

South Africa was the first country on the African continent to become a PIC/S member. The country's Director of Inspectorate and Law Enforcement describes the 10-year process.

Big Pharma entered biotech too late. That same mistake can be avoided in personalized medicine.

The author of an ambitious book about quality control falls short of reaching his goals.

The author of a book about biopharmaceutical production includes irrelevant information.

Individuals and companies at the top seem to have no problem short-circuiting their success.

Determined to prevent further supply-chain breaches, industry takes charge, offers proposals.

An ounce of contamination usually leads to a mountain of investigation.

A Q&A with Pfizer CentreSource, moderated by Jim Miller.

A summary of recent changes to European regulatory requirements for pediatric formulations.

On July 18 in Mumbai, Hillary Rodham Clinton's private, cosy tete-a-tete with 10 of India Inc's most sought-after billionaires, was a power breakfast the likes of which the city's corporate czars had not seen in a long time.

Researchers working on extending the shelf life of antibody drugs may find help in a computer model developed by a research team at MIT (Cambridge, MA).

This week, Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi aventis (Paris), acquired the ShanH subsidiary of Mérieux Alliance, a holding company.

The number of alliances between diagnostics companies and pharmaceutical companies is set to rise because of the growth of personalized medicine, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In a move to strengthen development of its biologics portfolio, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS, New York) has agreed to acquire the biopharmaceutical company Medarex (Princeton, NJ) for $16 per share or approximately $2.4 billion.

Also, Isogen completes sterile facility; Dishman appoints head of generic API business; FDA releases final rule on authorized generic drugs and NDA submissions; more...

The United Kingdom's pharmaceutical sector sector will soon have its own organizational body to help employers drive the key skills agenda of the industry.

China's State Food and Drug Administration has completed a new draft of GMP guidelines, but after a series of quality-control events, it will take time for the country to regain the global pharmaceutical industry's trust.

Last week, Rep. George Miller (D-CA), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), introduced the America's Affordable Health Choices Act (H.R. 3200) to reform the nation's healthcare system.

A new report from the European Commission show a significant increase in the amount of intellectual property rights (IPR) infringements between 2007 and 2008, including a 57% increase in the number of counterfeit medicine cases between the two years.

The US Food and Drug Administration last week posted the final version of its Guidance for Industry, ANDAs: Impurities in Drug Substances.

Two years ago, the US Food and Drug Administration's Office of Generic Drugs (OGD) developed and implemented a program to test question-based reviews for abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs). OGD is reviewing the benefits and challenges faced by pharmaceutical firms involved in the initiative to see what changes need to be made going forward.

Also, Gilead and Tibotec form agreement; FDA approves 2009-2010 flu vaccine; Catalent appoints VP in packaging unit; more...

Devices that measure relative humidity (e.g., sensors and transmitters) play a relatively small role in cleanroom management, but their failure can cause significant problems. Operators should bear several factors in mind to ensure that sensors function properly and maintain the appropriate humidity.

Drugmakers have the common goal of manufacturing safe and sterile pharmaceutical products and understand that the filtration process is a critical means of achieving this goal. Preuse filter-integrity testing provides evidence that a filter will perform correctly, has the right pore size, and has been installed correctly.

PharmTech's monthly newsletter, Equipment & Processing Report, reviews the Editor's Picks for the July 2009 edition from Mettler Toledo Safeline and Munters.

Also, Lonza and Medarex sign agreement; Covance appoints VP and chief scientific officer of global analytical services; more...

In the wake of Dow Chemical?s announcement that it is to close facilities in the UK, the country?s biggest union, Unite, has called for urgent intervention from the Government to avert, what it believes, could be a crisis in the UK chemical sector.