Manufacturing News and Research

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Manufacturing is the production of products across all industries, on a large-scale, using machinery.

Malaria vaccine in the pipeline

Australian scientists have developed the first genetically-engineered malaria vaccine and the vaccine will be trialled in humans early next year.

29 Jul 2009

Swine Flu - getting drugs to the market more rapidly

The pharmaceutical industry has been up in arms this year. Giants such as Pfizer, GSK and AstraZeneca are looking for deals in the downturn whilst competing against increasing generic competition as some of the best selling medicines are coming off patent. In addition to the sectors ever-changing landscape companies are under tremendous pressure from governments to combat the Swine flu pandemic that has gripped the world.

29 Jul 2009

World's first genetically-modified strain of malaria parasite

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute scientists have created a weakened strain of the malaria parasite that will be used as a live vaccine against the disease. The vaccine, developed in collaboration with researchers from the US, Japan and Canada, will be trialled in humans from early next year.

28 Jul 2009

Scientists combine two nanoparticles into one tiny package

Nanoparticles are being developed to perform a wide range of medical uses - imaging tumors, carrying drugs, delivering pulses of heat. Rather than settling for just one of these, researchers at the University of Washington have combined two nanoparticles in one tiny package.

28 Jul 2009

South Africa launches HIV/AIDS vaccine trial

"The first clinical trial of an HIV/AIDS vaccine designed and developed in South Africa was launched in Cape Town" Monday, the SAPA/The Times reports.

20 Jul 2009

WHO recommends vaccine makers move forward in mass production of H1N1 vaccine

"Saying the new H1N1 [swine flu] virus is 'unstoppable', the WHO gave drug makers a full go-ahead to manufacture vaccines against the pandemic influenza strain on Monday and said healthcare workers should be the first to get one," Reuters reports (Fox, 7/14).

15 Jul 2009

Overcoming the big ‘nanotech’ challenges

Whether in the fields of medicine, sustainable energy supply or environmental protection, without making use of nanotechnology we will not be capable of overcoming the challenges which the future presents. In parallel with these efforts, though, it is essential that we examine the new technology very carefully for potential risks, such as those presented by free nanoparticles.

14 Jul 2009

Tiny heart catheter pump with air propulsion

A tiny heart catheter pump which supports the human heart in critical conditions while pumping has been developed at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna).

7 Jul 2009

Acoustics help blind people see the world

The EU-funded CASBLiP project was conceived to integrate the image processing and acoustic mapping technologies into a single, portable device that could be worn by blind people and help them to navigate outdoors.

5 Jul 2009

White House: Shield biotech drugs from generics for only seven years

White House officials said Thursday that biotech drugs (also known as biologics) should only be protected from generics competition for seven years, Reuters reports.

29 Jun 2009

Australian swine flu vaccine ready in months

A vaccine developed 'in record time' by Australian scientists to protect against the influenza A H1N1 virus (swine flu) may not be available just yet because this swine flu vaccine, developed by University of Queensland (UQ) scientists, is not yet registered for use in Australia.

28 Jun 2009

Nanofountain-probe-based high-resolution patterning and single-cell injection of functionalized nanodiamonds

A research team at Northwestern University has developed a tool that can precisely deliver tiny doses of drug-carrying nanomaterials to individual cells.

28 Jun 2009

Americans come up with first swine flu vaccine

The company based in Connecticut, Protein Sciences Corporation, won a $35-million government contract to develop an influenza vaccine using insect cell technology and Protein Sciences's director Dan Adams says the first batch of about 100,000 doses were produced last week and the manufacture of the vaccine continues.

24 Jun 2009

Study exposes tobacco industry's ‘shonky’ behaviour

Researchers in the United States have revealed that tobacco companies have continually changed the ingredients and the design of their cigarettes over time without alerting smokers.

21 Jun 2009

Sanofi-Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline will donate influenza vaccines to WHO

The drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis will donate millions of doses of a vaccine that offers protection against the H1N1 (swine flu) virus to the WHO once the vaccine is ready, the company's chief executive officer announced Tuesday, Reuters reports (Elsner, Reuters, 6/17).

18 Jun 2009

Antisense Therapeutics trial of ATL1101 in prostate cancer shows promise

Antisense Therapeutics Ltd. (ASX: ANP) has reported further positive results from its collaborative preclinical research studies on the therapeutic potential of ATL1101 in prostate cancer. In experimental models, ATL1101 treatment significantly enhanced the tumor-suppressive effect of the cancer drug Paclitaxel. Paclitaxel is one of a class of drugs known as taxanes.

18 Jun 2009

Rapid prototyping of new tissues and organs

A more effective way to build plastic scaffolds on which new tissues and even whole organs might be grown in the laboratory is being developed by an international collaboration between teams in Portugal and the UK.

18 Jun 2009

A long ‘to-do’ list for FDA Chief Hamburg

The Washington Post details Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg’s to-do list, noting that during her brief tenure the agency has announced nearly-daily warnings about various consumer products and created an internal task force to recommend ways to release more information about FDA decisions and policies.

18 Jun 2009

GlaxoSmithKline to cut some drug costs in emerging markets

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) plans to decrease the prices of many of its leading medicines in emerging markets following the success of a pilot program in the Philippines, Andrew Witty, GSK's chief executive, said, Financial Times reports. Witty said the price cuts are part of an effort to diversify and expand globally.

15 Jun 2009

Congress clears tobacco bill for President's signature

The House of Representatives today voted by a 3-to-1 margin to pass a bill approved by the Senate yesterday. The measure gives the federal government sweeping new powers to regulate tobacco, reports the Washington Post. "President Obama hailed the bipartisan votes in Congress on the bill, which he said 'truly defines change in Washington.' He said he looks forward to signing it into law."

13 Jun 2009