Healthcare industry

Article - 18/03/2010

Giant becomes even bigger: Teva acquires ratiopharm

As it turned out, the deal went through quicker than expected. The world’s biggest generic pharmaceuticals producer Teva Pharmaceuticals is set to acquire the Ulm-based competitor ratiopharm for around 3.6 billion euros. Representatives from both companies and other parties involved in the bidding process announced the signing of the purchase agreement in Cologne on 18th March.

Article - 12/12/2011

Comprehensive Biomarker Center GmbH – next-generation biomarkers

Biomarker research has moved on from proteins to nucleic acids where one of the main priorities is the use of microRNA expression profiles. The Heidelberg-based biotech company Comprehensive Biomarker Center GmbH (CBC, formerly febit) has state-of-the-art technologies and the skills and knowledge to advance the development of new nucleic acid biomarkers for complex diseases in cooperation with partners from research and industry.

Press release - 24/05/2012

Jiangsu Life Science and Technology Innovation Park

The park is still under construction (first construction phase finished in autumn 2012). Located in Xianlin University Town, East of Nanjing Center, it is in the immediate neighborhood of the new campuses of Nanjing University, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and China Pharmaceutical University.

Dossier - 04/11/2013

Biotechnology – driver of innovation in the pharmaceutical industry

The biotech industry is the innovative driver for a pharmaceutical industry that, due to the shift from blockbluster products to personalised medicine, now depends on new concepts. The production of new drugs using genetic engineering relies on knowledge gained from genomics, proteomics and systems biology and creates new treatment strategies that combine therapy and diagnostics (i.e. companion diagnostics) to provide a specific individualised…

Article - 29/04/2010

The biopharmaceutical industry remained stable in times of crisis

The German biopharmaceutical industry has come through 2009 without experiencing too many major slumps. The roaring growth of the biopharmaceutical industry in previous years has been replaced by more moderate growth. This is the result published by the 4th Medical Biotechnology report in 2010 compiled on behalf of the biotech interest group of the vfa bio Association of Research-Oriented Pharmaceutical Companies by the Boston Consulting Group.

Press release - 30/05/2012

Valuable Discussions at the Third International DDI Workshop

The organisation team of the Third International DDI (drug-drug interactions) Workshop has expressed great satisfaction with the course of the scientific meeting. The participants of the DDI Workshop commended the very high scientific level of the presentations and valuable and inspiring discussions of the different topics. Without a doubt, the DDI Workshop at Marbach Castle is a well established platform for the annual exchange between experts,…

Guest article - 31/01/2014

Experience report: internship at Boehringer Ingelheim in Shanghai

A scholarship from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts enabled Henrik Baran to do an internship at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH and Co. KG in Shanghai. From March to August 2013, Henrik worked in the company's Global Biopharma Engineering & Technology department where he was involved in cleanroom planning. He was also project coordinator in charge of redeveloping company premises. Here he summarises his…

Press release - 08/08/2012

Apogenix: APG101 Exceeds Expectations with Controlled Phase II Clinical Trial

The biopharmaceutical company Apogenix GmbH announced today that the phase II clinical proof of concept trial with APG101 as treatment of recurrent glioblastoma has met and exceeded expectations in the final analysis of the data. In this randomized controlled clinical study the patients were treated either with a combination of APG101 plus radiotherapy (APG101+RT group) or radiotherapy alone (RT group). The primary objective of the trial was to…

Germans like natural solutions and show a marked preference for medicines made from St. John’s wort, valerian, devil’s claw or Marian Thistle. However, when taking herbal medicines people are well advised to be cautious: "herbal" does not automatically mean safe, warns Thomas Simmet, pharmacologist from the University Hospital of Ulm.

Article - 15/03/2010

Campaign to eradicate malaria

After many decades, efforts to develop an effective vaccine against malaria have finally brought researchers closer to their goal. However, the goal of eradicating malaria completely can only be reached through a complex strategy, to which researchers from Heidelberg are making intensive contributions.

Organisers and more than 300 participants were very enthusiastic about the European BioFine life sciences congress recently held in Freiburg. Four different life sciences conferences were organised . Freiburg will also host BioFine 2009.

The new drug screening and safety pharmacology laboratory at NMI Technologie Transfer GmbH NMI TT GmbH in Reutlingen with its standardised and special test systems complies fully with the requirements of safety pharmacology tests.

Press release - 29/06/2009

Research Prize for Clinical Pharmacology in Ulm

Julia Kirchheiner, a professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the Institute of Natural Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Ulm, in Germany, was awarded the Utrecht Award for Excellence in Pharmaceutical Research, 2009. The international prize is awarded once every two years to non-University of Utrecht scientists who have a proven record over years of excellent research vision and leadership of improving drug therapy or safety.

Heidelberg neurobiologists decode central mechanism of degenerative processes in the brains of mouse models and develop new principle for therapeutic agents.

Vaccine development - 25/05/2021

Vaccines – a beacon of hope in the fight against pandemics

Having long been considered less lucrative for the big pharmaceutical companies, vaccine development is taking off in an unforeseen way in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Financial support is flooding in and all kinds of vaccine development strategies are being deployed. Among the winners in the competition for effective coronavirus vaccines are vaccines based on RNA technology. The development of much-needed vaccines against many other…

Rentschler Biopharma SE, a leading global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for biopharmaceuticals, today announced an agreement to serve as CDMO partner for BioNTech. As an initial project, Rentschler Biopharma will be responsible for key aspects of cGMP (current good manufacturing practice) drug substance manufacturing of BNT162b2, the mRNA-based vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 that is being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

Setting up an independent company is an excellent way to turn innovative life sciences solutions into successful new products and services. Baden-Württemberg is highly attractive for business startups. As one of the leading German states in the fields of healthcare and biotechnology, Baden-Württemberg has an attractive and stimulating environment for those seeking to set up their own company. Baden-Württemberg has a high density of innovative…

The Early Discovery department of the research-based pharmaceutical company Nycomed GmbH deals with early drug research from the identification of targets to the generation of lead structures. This process involves high-throughput drug screening. On behalf of www.bio-pro.de Michael Statnik talked with Dr. Stefanie Polej about the process of the automated analysis of molecule activities in the Constance-based company.

Dr. Pitter Huesgen Dr. Michael Strerath and Dr. Carl Kübler have been awarded this years Nycomed Award. The Award which is worth a total of 15000 distinguishes outstanding doctoral theses in the fields of biology chemistry and physics.

Article - 11/02/2013

Quality management: burden or opportunity?

Companies are facing increasing demands. Globalisation and an increasingly quality-conscious market increase competition and pricing pressure. To remain globally competitive companies need a product and service quality that will satisfy the customer in the long term. Alexander Cansier managing director of OrgaConnect GmbH has specialised in the support of small and medium-sized companies in the life sciences pharmaceutical and medical technology…

Press release - 25/06/2010

Vetter to invest further millions in the construction of a modern centre for visual inspection and logistics in Ravensburg

Ravensburg-based Vetter is expanding further. Last Friday, Vetter, a specialist in aseptically pre-filled drug-delivery systems, held a ceremony to break the ground for the construction of a new centre for visual inspection and logistics. Together with representatives from politics and industry, the company’s executives broke the ground for the new facility, which is estimated to cost more than 30 million euros. The construction of the new centre…

Article - 02/07/2012

Together against liver failure

Medicines that are usually effective in treating diseases can sometimes be associated with severe adverse effects. This can occur when the liver which normally metabolizes drugs and renders them harmless becomes overburdened and even collapses completely. Prof. Dr. Jens Timmer from the University of Freiburg and Prof. Dr. Ursula Klingmüller from the German Cancer Research Center DKFZ in Heidelberg have joined forces in a huge European research…

Article - 07/01/2014

BioMed X GmbH - An innovation centre in Heidelberg at the interface between academia and industry

BioMed X GmbH, founded in Heidelberg in March 2013, and Merck KGaA from Darmstadt have established a new way of fostering innovation at the interface of academic biomedical research and pharmaceutical industry-based research. Teams of top young and talented scientists from leading academic institutions worldwide carry out product-oriented research and development projects that are funded by the industry and for which they receive guidance from…

Article - 17/10/2011

Papillomaviruses as cancer-causing agents and how they can be fought off

Studies presented at the recent International Papillomavirus Conference in Berlin demonstrate that vaccination can prevent infection with the types of HPV that cause the majority of cervical cancers. New improved vaccines to prevent HPV infections as well as therapeutic vaccines that are effective in people that are already infected are currently being developed. In addition, research has shown that other cancers can also be caused by infective…

Expert interview - 16/01/2019

Cybersecurity is an important issue for the pharmaceutical industry

In an increasingly interconnected world, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors need to be aware of cybersecurity threats in manufacturing. We talked about these threats with Holger Mettler who is in charge of computer system validation and cybersecurity at Exyte (formerly M + W), a global enterprise that designs, engineers and constructs complex manufacturing facilities and buildings for the life sciences industry.