The information on this page comes from the UK Activity Report.
Click here for further details

Cyclacel has raised a further £20m of venture capital funding for its Dundee-based cancer drugs business. 29-Dec-2003 BASF is planning to shed up to 35 of the 250 jobs at its nylon intermediates plant at Seal Sands. 15-Dec-2003 East Anglian Pharmaceuticals has dropped plans to be acquired by AAH Pharmaceuticals, following the deal's referral to the Competition Commission. 11-Dec-2003 NMT Group is to close its safety syringe factory in Livingston with the loss of 145 jobs, due to a shortage of orders. 10-Dec-2003 Sinclair Pharmaceuticals has raised £22m in a share placing to fund the expansion of its drug development business. 05-Dec-2003 BioProgress is looking to raise £6.6m for the development of a pharmaceutical production plant in Cambridgeshire, having won a contract to supply FMC of the US. 04-Dec-2003 Invest NI is to support a £5.3m project by Kiel Laboratories of the US to set up a prescription medicines plant in Carrickfergus, with the creation of 100 jobs over the next three years. 04-Dec-2003 Johnson Matthey is looking to sell its structural ceramics and speciality coatings operations in Spain and Italy for about £170m. 28-Nov-2003 Purely Proteins of Cambridge has received a first round of venture funding from Avlar BioVentures and Yorkshire Fund Managers, in order to expand its business providing human proteins for pharmaceutical research. 28-Nov-2003 Xenova has raised £21m in a share placing to fund its drug development programme. 27-Nov-2003 Antisoma is raising £14m in a share placing to fund acquisitions and clinical trials of its cancer treatments. 26-Nov-2003 Cambridge University has won government permission to develop a £24m laboratory for behavioural neuroscience, although it may not be built for some time. 24-Nov-2003 Celltech is to close its proteomics research operation, which was previously part of Oxford Glycosciences, with the loss of 40 jobs, while a drug discovery operation in the US will also close with the loss of 90 jobs. 19-Nov-2003 The Specials Laboratory is to relocate its tailor-made pharmaceuticals business to a new £1m site in Northumberland next year, and the 35-strong workforce will expand. 18-Nov-2003 Lorantis has raised £25m to fund clinical trials of new biotechnology-based treatments for allergy, arthritis and transplant rejection. 17-Nov-2003 The Welsh Development Agency is in discussions with a number of companies interested in relocating to the newly-completed £3.3m Medi-Science Campus at Gwaun Elai, near Llantrisant. 13-Nov-2003 Chiron of the US is looking to sell its SBL vaccines division in Sweden, in order to help fund a £85m expansion plan that will safeguard 600 jobs at the recently-acquired Powderject plant on Merseyside. 13-Nov-2003 Simon Storage is planning a £98m expansion programme for its bulk chemical storage business, with financial backing from Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland and Investec Structured Finance. 13-Nov-2003 PPL Therapeutics has shed 20 of the 55 jobs in its biotechnology business, and plans are being prepared to sell off the company and its headquarters and laboratories near Edinburgh. 12-Nov-2003 Ferraris is looking to sell its life sciences division next year, and the proceeds will be invested in medical diagnostics. 11-Nov-2003 Akzo Nobel is to shed 25 of the 760 jobs at its decorative coatings factory in Darwen, and further jobs will be lost at sites in Hull and Warrington. 11-Nov-2003 GlaxoSmithKline is to shed 40 jobs at its pharmaceuticals plant in Ulverston. 10-Nov-2003 Schering-Plough has confirmed plans to close its pharmaceuticals plant in Mildenhall, Suffolk, with the loss of 120 jobs. 10-Nov-2003 GlaxoSmithKline is planning to establish a new research unit to handle all of its existing biotechnology projects by the end of the year. 07-Nov-2003 Sun Chemical is considering plans to close its printing ink factory in Watford with the loss of up to 120 jobs. 06-Nov-2003 Lubrizol, the US-based manufacturer of high-performance chemicals for transport and industry, is to shed 20 jobs at its Hazelwood plant in Derbyshire. 06-Nov-2003 Lux Biotechnology has secured about £0.6m of funding from Archangel Informal Investments, in order to expand its research capability, recruit more staff and exploit its biosensor biological detection technology. 03-Nov-2003 The Scottish Executive is to provide about £2m of regional selective assistance to PharmaImaging Group to set up a new £15m pharmaceutical research facility in Livingston, with the creation of up to 250 jobs. 30-Oct-2003 Sinclair Pharmaceuticals has appointed RW Baird to consider a number of fundraising options, in order to buy new products and make acquisitions. 29-Oct-2003 Allergy Therapeutics is planning to raise up to £15m in a flotation on Aim over the next 18 months, to fund the development of an allergy vaccine. 28-Oct-2003 Alizyme has raised a further £11m in a share placing, in order to help negotiate licensing deals for its new drugs. 23-Oct-2003 AstraZeneca is to invest £60m in Abgenix, the US biotechnology company, in order to collaborate in the area of antibody drug development. 17-Oct-2003 Monsanto is to withdraw from the European seed cereal market with the loss of 125 jobs in Cambridge, and its crop protection business will move to a new site nearby. 16-Oct-2003 Bodycare International is to close its toiletries factory in Eastbourne with the loss of 150 jobs. 10-Oct-2003 Amersham, the biotechnology and medical imaging group with a valuation of £4.5bn, has received a takeover approach from General Electric of the US. 09-Oct-2003 Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals is to shed 50 jobs at its chemical plant at Seal Sands, and a further 150 jobs will be lost at its headquarters in Denmark. 06-Oct-2003 Lucite International is to build a £60m methyl methacrylate production plant in China, as part of an integrated chemical complex being built in Caojing. 03-Oct-2003 Arrow Therapeutics has raised £21m in a private finance round to fund trials of new biotechnology-based treatments for hepatitis C and respiratory syncitial virus. 02-Oct-2003 Great Lakes Chemical Corp is to close its bromine extraction plant at Amlwch on Anglesey later this year with the loss of up to 100 jobs, while a further 100 jobs are under threat at its Newton Aycliffe plant. 01-Oct-2003 Evolution Group is planning to float its IP2IPO intellectual property business on Aim later this month, in order to raise £25m and help universities benefit financially from their research. 01-Oct-2003 Biocatalysts, the supplier of enzymes to food manufacturers, is to relocate to a new £2m 23,000 sq ft building at Parc Nantgarw in Treforest next year, and expects to double the 26-strong workforce. 29-Sep-2003 Clariant is to close its hydrosulphite production facility in Widnes with the loss of up to 63 jobs. 26-Sep-2003 Manchester Innovation is to consider a number of rival bids to build a £25m biotechnology centre on the Manchester University campus, including laboratories, offices and conference facilities. 25-Sep-2003 Cambridge Antibody Technology is to sell an 11% equity stake to Genzyme of the US for £23m, as part of a collaboration between the two companies in the development of drugs for fibrotic diseases. 23-Sep-2003 Abbott Laboratories is to create 125 new jobs through the £39m expansion of its Dartford Murex diagnostic treatments manufacturing plant in Kent by the end of next year. 22-Sep-2003 BOC is to close its helium gas plant in Leeds over the next two years with the loss of 90 jobs, and production will be transferred to a new plant in the South. 18-Sep-2003 Oxford Biomedica is planning to raise £20m in a rights issue, in order to strengthen its balance sheet and prepare for the negotiation of new drug licensing deals. 17-Sep-2003 PPL Therapeutics has appointed KPMG Corporate Finance to find a buyer for its biotechnology business. 16-Sep-2003 Eastman Peboc is to shed 35 of the 113 jobs at its chemical processing plant in Llangefni, Anglesey, by the end of the year. 12-Sep-2003 Schering-Plough has warned that it may have to close its pharmaceuticals packing plant in Mildenhall, Suffolk, with the loss of 120 jobs. 08-Sep-2003 Finance Wales is to support the expansion of MGS Micropure, the Cwmfelinfach-based manufacturer of preservatives for cleaning products, and six new jobs will be created. 08-Sep-2003 BioCity Nottingham has secured a £0.5m government award to support the formation and development of new bioscience and healthcare businesses in the East Midlands. 05-Sep-2003 Intercare is looking to spend up to £40m on acquisitions to expand its pharmaceutical manufacturing business. 05-Sep-2003 Roche, the Swiss pharmaceuticals group, has awarded a £40m contract to PCM to build a new headquarters for 1,100 staff in Welwyn Garden City by late 2005. 04-Sep-2003 Chemical Synthesis Services is planning to invest £25m in the expansion of the former research and services division of Galen in Craigavon. 01-Sep-2003 Protherics is considering plans to recruit a US sales force of 15 people, in order to market a new cancer drug to primary care centres. 29-Aug-2003 Chemical Corporation, the Caerphilly-based chemicals and lubricants company, has secured a regional selective assistance grant for a 9,000 sq ft extension to its premises on the Bedwas Business Park. 28-Aug-2003 Acordis is to close its cellulose acetate plant in Lancaster in October, with the loss of 120 jobs. 27-Aug-2003 Genzyme has won US and European approval to start producing ingredients for a kidney drug at its new £55m plant in Haverhill. 25-Aug-2003 Evolutec has raised a further £0.7m to fund the expansion of its Oxford-based biotechnology business, and hopes to float on Aim next year. 25-Aug-2003 The Darwin Centre for Biology & Medicine is seeking European funding to build a £15m international science centre in Pembrokeshire, with the creation of 45 jobs. 18-Aug-2003 The School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool is seeking a £25m grant that would enable it to double in size. 13-Aug-2003 Slough Estates is considering plans to demerge or sell off its $1bn portfolio of biotechnology parks in the US. 11-Aug-2003 Amgen, the US pharmaceuticals group, is seeking a suitable 150,000 sq ft site near Heathrow to establish a European headquarters. 04-Aug-2003 Ineos Chlor has secured a £50m DTI grant to expand its chlorine production plant in Runcorn, which will involve a £389m investment in new equipment. 01-Aug-2003 ICI has announced plans to shed a further 1,400 jobs, including 300 in the UK, and is looking to raise £100m from the sale of various assets. 01-Aug-2003 Shire Pharmaceuticals is considering plans to close its early-stage drugs research unit, sell off its vaccines business and seek large acquisitions in the US. 01-Aug-2003 Onyx Scientific is to create a further 20 jobs at a new pharmaceuticals research laboratory in Sunderland over the next two years, and expects additional investment to provide 120 vacancies over the next seven years. 24-Jul-2003 Elan is in discussions to sell Quadrant Healthcare, its Nottingham-based drug delivery business, to a management team. 21-Jul-2003 The Forensic Science Service is to be partially privatised by the government, in order to raise about £30m to fund new laboratories. 18-Jul-2003 Powderject's new US parent Chiron is to relocate 12 senior managers from Uxbridge to the Powderject office in Oxford. 16-Jul-2003 Osmetech, the developer of electronic odour sensors, has closed its Crewe headquarters with the loss of 20 jobs, in order to relocate its research and development operation to the US. 10-Jul-2003 Whatman is to close Biometra, its German laboratory instruments subsidiary, with the loss of 65 jobs. 07-Jul-2003 IVAX Pharmaceuticals has secured a £3.7m regional assistance grant to complete the building of a £25m manufacturing plant at Preston Brook in Cheshire, which will secure 385 jobs. 02-Jul-2003 Huntsman has shed 85 jobs at its chemical plant in Whitehaven, and a further 200 jobs are said to be at risk. 30-Jun-2003 Formedix, the Glasgow-based developer of software for the pharmaceutical industry, has raised £0.5m to fund the opening of a new US office in Philadelphia later this year. 30-Jun-2003 GW Pharmaceuticals is planning to raise £20m in a share placing in order to improve its ability to arrange licensing deals for its cannabis-based medicines. 27-Jun-2003 Norgine has raised a further £4.3m to invest in new production lines and improvements at its pharmaceuticals manufacturing plant near Caerphilly, with the creation of 66 jobs. 26-Jun-2003 PPL Therapeutics is said to be planning to shed at least 90 jobs at its research facility in Roslin, after partner Bayer stopped a project to develop treatments for lung disorders. 20-Jun-2003 Powderject is planning to invest £85m at its vaccine production plant in Liverpool over the next five years, with the creation of an unspecified number of jobs. 11-Jun-2003 Millennium Pharma is to close its drug discovery operation in Cambridge by the end of 2004, with the loss of 210 jobs. 09-Jun-2003 Protherics is seeking financial assistance from the Welsh Assembly to expand its biotechnology-based production plant in Llandysul. 09-Jun-2003 The Irish Fertilizer Industries factory in Belfast is to be dismantled and shipped to Finland and China, having been sold by the liquidator to Kemira GrowHow and an unnamed Chinese company. 05-Jun-2003 AstraZeneca is planning to invest £19m in a new research facility in India to develop treatments for tuberculosis. 02-Jun-2003 Eli Lilly is to set up a European Centre for Neuroscience at Windlesham, Surrey, with the creation of 120 scientific jobs over the next five years. 29-May-2003 Bespak, the manufacturer of drug delivery equipment, is to shed 107 jobs throughout the UK over the next eight months, which will affect sites in King's Lynn and Milton Keynes. 28-May-2003 Eli Lilly is to invest more than £30m in the expansion of its biotechnology production plant in south Liverpool, with the creation of up to 75 new jobs. 23-May-2003 Merck Sharp & Dohme has awarded a £6m fit-out contract to Cubitt of Brentford, for work at its pharmaceuticals facility in Hoddesdon, Herts. 22-May-2003 Inverness Medical is in talks to acquire the former engineering works of AI Welders in Inverness, to use as a warehouse for its self-diagnosis kits. 21-May-2003 Evolution Group's IP2IPO intellectual property subsidiary is to invest £5m in companies spun out from King's College London over the next five years, enabling King's to commercialise its expertise in medical research and life sciences. 16-May-2003 Weston Medical has raised £1.2m from the sale of its Intraject needle-free syringe technology to Aradigm of the US. 16-May-2003 Angel Biotechnology is seeking a second site in Northumberland to expand its medical research business, with the creation of up to 50 new jobs. 15-May-2003 BP is planning to shed a further 190 jobs at its petrochemicals site in Grangemouth over the next 12 months. 15-May-2003 British Biotech is forming an alliance with MerLion Pharmaceuticals of Singapore to develop anti-bacterial treatments from natural products. 15-May-2003 Xenova is planning to cut jobs and operating costs following the suspension of trials of its lead drug. 14-May-2003 Imperial College London is linking up with Bioscience Managers Limited to create a £50m venture capital fund to invest in early-stage medical and life science companies. 12-May-2003 Axis-Shield is to relocate its biotechnology laboratory division from Norway to Dundee by the end of the year, with the creation of up to 20 jobs. 09-May-2003 Pfizer is to close the Pharmacia drug development centre in High Wycombe with the loss of 164 jobs, although some jobs will be relocated to its site in Kent. 09-May-2003 Astex has agreed a £64m deal with Schering to use X-ray crystallography to help discover new cancer treatment drugs, and has also announced plans to raise up to £15m in a funding round. 06-May-2003 BioProgress is planning to raise £2m in a flotation on Aim to fund the commercial development of its soluble capsules for the pharmaceutical industry. 06-May-2003 Vernalis is planning to raise £14m in a share offer to fund the expansion of its drug development business, while talks are taking place about a possible bid for the company. 02-May-2003 ICI is planning to shed 700 jobs in its worldwide chemicals business by 2005, including about 200 at paint plants in Slough, Stowmarket and Prudhoe. 01-May-2003 Inpharmatica is forming a drug discovery alliance with Galapagos Genomics of Belgium, in which its chemogenomics technology will be used to identify suitable targets for drug development. 30-Apr-2003 PPL Therapeutics has dropped plans to build a £42m biotechnology plant near Edinburgh, and may now outsource its manufacturing operations. 29-Apr-2003 Powderject, the vaccine maker, is facing the prospect of a £500m takeover bid from Chiron of the US. 28-Apr-2003 Adprotech has shed 20 jobs at its drug discovery business near Cambridge. 25-Apr-2003 Amersham is to merge its prostate cancer treatment business with the urology division of US-based Galil Medical. 23-Apr-2003 CeNes has raised £9m from the sale of its diconal, cyclimorph and valoid pharmaceuticals to Waymade Healthcare. 18-Apr-2003 Shire Pharmaceuticals has awarded a $18m contract to AMEC to build a global vaccines research centre at its site in Laval, Canada. 17-Apr-2003 Molecular Sensing, the Melksham-based genetics company, has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers to help it find a buyer. 17-Apr-2003 Oxxon Pharmaccines has raised £15m in a private financing exercise to expand its Oxford-based biotechnology business. 15-Apr-2003 Aroma & Fine Chemicals has secured a £5.7m funding package from the Royal Bank of Scotland to expand its Widnes-based speciality chemicals manufacturing business. 14-Apr-2003 MedPharma is planning to raise £8.8m in a flotation on Aim next month, in order to fund the expansion of its Oxfordshire-based pharmaceuticals business. 07-Apr-2003 Aortech is to abandon plans to commercialise its polymer-based heart valve, with the loss of about 30 jobs in Lanarkshire. 02-Apr-2003 Elan has raised £57m from the sale of its investments in Xcel Pharmaceuticals of the US, as part of the ongoing process to rebuild its balance sheet. 02-Apr-2003 GlaxoSmithKline is seeking another buyer for its pharmaceuticals plant in Montrose, after Akzo Nobel withdrew from an agreement in principle to acquire the site. 31-Mar-2003 BP is planning to build a £200m purified terephthalic acid production plant at its Geel site in Belgium by 2006, and design work will be carried out by Technip Italy. 28-Mar-2003 DuPontSA is planning a £28m upgrade of its polyester resins plant at Wilton near Redcar, securing the future of almost 200 jobs, and the DTI is providing a £3m grant. 28-Mar-2003 BioWisdom has raised £2.5m to fund the expansion of its ontologies business, in which software applications are used to improve access to biomedical information. 28-Mar-2003 The East of England Development Agency is promoting the case for the development of a £600m national nanotechnology research centre in Cambridge, and production could be located on Humberside and administration in Cranfield. 19-Mar-2003 Dundee University has secured £15m to conduct research into protein phosphorylation, in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim and Merck. 18-Mar-2003 The Department of Trade & Industry has announced plans for a £30m biosciences facility at the Estuary Business Park on Merseyside, including three laboratories, one production plant and the creation of 1,000 jobs. 13-Mar-2003 Crispin & Borst has won a £1.8m contract to refurbish a chemistry laboratory in Sutton, Surrey, for the Institute of Cancer Research. 13-Mar-2003 Cytomyx has expanded its life sciences business with the £0.1m acquisition from Cytocell of assets for the manufacture of kits utilising DNA probe technology. 12-Mar-2003 Norgine is creating 200 new jobs at its pharmaceuticals plant in Caerphilly, following a recent £8m investment in a packing facility. 12-Mar-2003 Peri-dent is to invest £2m in the expansion of its oral-care products factory in Galashiels, with the creation of up to 60 jobs. 12-Mar-2003 Evolution Beeson Gregory and Oxford University have created a new drug discovery business called VASTox, which will help pharmaceutical companies reduce their research and development costs. 11-Mar-2003 Alliance UniChem is seeking acquisitions to expand its drugs distribution business in eastern Europe, and is particularly interested in Poland, Russia and the Baltics. 11-Mar-2003 CellFactors has announced a cash call to raise £3.5m, in order to fund the commercial development of its biotechnology-based stem cell technology. 11-Mar-2003 Bristol-Myers Squibb, the US pharmaceuticals company, is said to be seeking up to 80,000 sq ft of office space in the Heathrow area, while Sony Broadcasting & Professional Systems and Heathrow Airport Ltd have similar requirements. 10-Mar-2003 Galen is to spend £310m on the acquisition of three women's healthcare products from Pfizer of the US, which will increase its turnover by two-thirds. 07-Mar-2003 ClinPhone, the clinical trials company, is to expand its Nottingham headquarters into a new 5,843 sq ft office nearby. 05-Mar-2003 Theratase is considering plans to extend its Biozyme Laboratories plant in Blaenavon by 50%, to increase production of enzymes and biochemicals for the diagnostic and pharmaceutical industries. 04-Mar-2003 EVC is to upgrade its vinyl chloride monomer plant in Runcorn at a cost of £1m. 28-Feb-2003 Dundee University has finalised plans to invest £30m in the development of a new life sciences centre and computing building over the next three years. 27-Feb-2003 Celltech has launched a £101m hostile takeover bid for Oxford Glycosciences, trumping last month's agreed deal with Cambridge Antibody Technology. 27-Feb-2003 Amersham is to shed 400 of the 10,200 jobs in its medical diagnostics business, including 100 at its UK sites in Buckinghamshire and Cardiff. 27-Feb-2003 Provalis has secured a £1m Welsh Assembly grant to expand production of medical testing kits at its Deeside factory. 26-Feb-2003 Weston Medical, the needle-free injection company, is said to be seeking a £10m financing package to secure the future of its 100-strong workforce. 19-Feb-2003 The University of Birmingham has secured £27m of additional funding for research projects in medicine, biosciences and engineering, as part of the £1bn being given to 150 universities and other institutions by the Research Investment Fund. 13-Feb-2003 Maelor, the Wrexham-based medical research company, is planning to raise £2.9m in a share issue to fund the development of its existing product portfolio, acquire additional products and grow overseas markets. 07-Feb-2003 Rhodia of France is planning to close ten chemical plants worldwide over the next two years, prompting speculation about the future of a number of its pharmaceutical and agrochemical sites in the UK. 07-Feb-2003 AstraZeneca has announced plans for a £61m cancer research centre at its Alderley Park site in Cheshire, which will employ more than 240 scientists and other staff. 06-Feb-2003 Fisher Scientific is creating 24 new jobs for development chemists, following the expansion of its chemical manufacturing and distribution operation in Loughborough. 06-Feb-2003 Phoqus Pharmaceuticals has raised £7m to fund the expansion of its tablet manufacturing process, which is designed to prevent drug counterfeiting. 06-Feb-2003 Boots is to close its cosmetics plant in Airdrie over the next two years with the loss of up to 1,000 jobs, and production will be transferred to Nottingham, France, Germany and Thailand. 05-Feb-2003 Amarin has raised £13m in a share placing to fund the launch of new biotechnology-based products and expand its neurology sales force. 29-Jan-2003 Alizyme, the biotechnology company, has raised £16m in a share placing and is said to be seeking a licensing partner for its three main products. 29-Jan-2003 DuPont UK is to relocate its agricultural division and up to 100 jobs from Stevenage to Milton Keynes by the middle of next year, and its Hemel Hempstead branch will also move there. 28-Jan-2003 GlaxoSmithKline is to close a pharmaceutical manufacturing site in Dartford, with the loss of 360 jobs over the next three years. 22-Jan-2003 The Office of Fair Trading has recommended complete deregulation of the pharmacy market in order to give consumers more choice about where to get NHS prescriptions, which is expected to lead to supermarket groups setting up their own dispensing chemists. 20-Jan-2003 Skyepharma has invested £2.5m in Micap of Newton-le-Willows, in order to investigate the pharmaceutical applications of Micap's micro-encapsulation technology. 16-Jan-2003 United Phosphorus has announced a £10m refinancing package to fund the expansion of its Cheshire-based pesticides business. 15-Jan-2003 Herefordshire County Council is in talks with Bioganix about the possibility of building a £3m plant to transform waste into fertiliser. 10-Jan-2003 Biotica Technology has raised £3m of venture capital to expand its Cambridge-based drug discovery business, which is focusing on polyketide biosynthesis. 09-Jan-2003 Replizyme has raised £1m from investors to expand its drug discovery business in York, and its full-time scientific staff will rise from six to 15. 07-Jan-2003 GlaxoSmithKline is to acquire a group of lung treatments being developed by Theravance of the US for up to £350m, in order to maintain its leading position in the market for respiratory products. 07-Jan-2003 Medipure is planning to set up a factory in Denbigh to develop new disinfectants for hospitals, with the creation of about 20 jobs over the next two years. 06-Jan-2003 The information on this page comes from the UK Activity Report. Click here for further details Copyright UK Business Park 1995-2008