Particles

04/01/2008

compiled by Jason Andrukaitis

FDA names permanent director for Center for Drug Evaluation and Research

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has appointed Janet Woodcock, M.D., as director of the agency’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. CDER is charged with assuring that safe and effective drugs are available to Americans. While serving as the agency’s deputy commissioner and chief medical officer, Woodcock agreed to assume the role of acting director of CDER in October 2007. The recently announced Safety First program is one of the initiatives she has led since assuming the center director role in an acting capacity.

Patent awarded for miniature chemical detection device

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded George Radziszewski a patent for his ChemiD Mini Lab, a miniature device that will identify chemical compounds on demand. The ChemiD Mini Lab is designed to meet the critical need for an inexpensive, miniaturized analytical tool capable of rapidly and accurately detecting, identifying, and monitoring the concentration of chemical substances. The ChemiD Mini Lab is a configuration of a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer for spectrochemical analysis. It is capable of real-time detection and identification of explosives, chemicals, narcotics, and other airborne contaminants.

CVD building acquisition to expand First Nano lab

CVD Equipment Corp. completed the acquisition of a new 13,000-square foot building to facilitate the scale-up and commercialization of new products for the nanotechnology, solar, energy, and semiconductor fields. The company will be relocating and expanding its First Nano lab at the new facility. The relocation into a larger facility will enable the company to perform on multiple projects and expand the capabilities of its current in-house process and equipment research. As part of the expansion, CVD has also expanded its growing marketing and OEM supply relationship with Airgas Specialty Gases, a division of Airgas, Inc.

Hartz Mountain Corp. recalls vitamin product

The Hartz Mountain Corp. is voluntarily recalling a second specific lot of Hartz Vitamin Care for Cats due to concerns that bottles may have been potentially contaminated with Salmonella. Hartz is cooperating with the FDA in this voluntary recall. The product involved is 739 bottles of Hartz Vitamin Care for Cats, lot code SZ 22771, UPC number 32700-97701. While normal testing conducted by Hartz and UFAC has not revealed the presence of Salmonella in any Hartz products, recent sampling conducted by the FDA did detect the presence of Salmonella. Consumers can contact Hartz at 1-800-275-1414 with any questions they may have and to obtain reimbursement for purchased product. More information is available at www.fda.gov.

Hovione buys drug manufacturing facility in China

Hovione has purchased 75 percent of Hisyn Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. The Zhejiang provincial authorities have already issued the necessary business license and the joint venture is now operational. The acquisition provides Hovione with significant additional drug substance manufacturing production capacity and strengthens its 20-year presence in China.The acquisition includes both development labs in Shanghai and an active pharmaceutical ingredient plant occupying 22,000 m² on a 22-acre plot employing 181 staff members. Hovione’s relationship with Hisyn started with the supply of intermediates; this factory, which was commissioned in 2005 from a greenfield site, will now produce Hovione’s two highest volume products.

Hill-Rom selects NanoHorizons for antimicrobial protection

Hill-Rom and NanoHorizons, Inc. have reached an agreement to incorporate NanoHorizon’s antimicrobial technology into Hill-Rom’s patient support surfaces. This technology will be branded as nanoAg+™ with SmartSilver™. Silver is a powerful, natural antimicrobial agent. In lab tests, it has been found to be 99.9 percent effective in the reduction of surface bacteria and viruses including the virulent MRSA. Nanotechnology allows the silver to cover an area more effectively and last longer than traditional antimicrobial coatings. The CDC estimates that health care-associated infections account for an estimated 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths each year in U.S. hospitals.

Entegris acquires stake in IMI

Entegris, Inc. signed an agreement to purchase a 14 percent equity stake of privately held Integrated Materials, Inc. for $8 million. Under the agreement, Entegris intends to purchase the remaining equity of IMI upon completion of certain closing conditions. IMI is a supplier of polysilicon products used to improve the productivity of semiconductor manufacturing diffusion processes. Its core products are high-temperature wafer carriers that are used to support the semiconductor wafer while it is being processed inside the diffusion furnace chamber of a semiconductor manufacturing tool.

Cardinal Health to acquire ChloraPrep® manufacturer

Cardinal Health has agreed to acquire the assets of privately held Enturia Inc. for $490 million. The cash transaction includes Enturia’s line of infection prevention products sold under the ChloraPrep® brand name. The products are used widely in U.S. hospitals and surgery centers to disinfect the skin before surgical and vascular procedures to help prevent bloodstream and surgical site infections, two of the most common types of health care-associated infections among patients. Enturia is expected to generate positive economic profit and returns above its cost of capital within the third fiscal year after the purchase.