U K
The information below comes from the
UK Activity Report.
Oxagen has raised £30m from private equity groups to fund research into the genetic causes of disease. 22-Dec-2000
Pantherix, the drug discovery company, has raised a further £10m of venture capital to fund the construction of new laboratories and to double its staff from 23 to nearly 50 over the next two years. 20-Dec-2000
BP and Solvay of Belgium are planning to reorganise their plastics operations through an asset swap and new joint ventures, with BP gaining a polypropylene business in exchange for its engineering polymers business. 20-Dec-2000
Laporte, the speciality chemicals company, has received a takeover approach from Degussa-Huls of Germany. 15-Dec-2000
Elan is to increase its stake in Vernalis, the drug development company, from 2% to 7% at a cost of £5m, in a two-way royalty deal that involves clinical trials of a new migraine treatment. 14-Dec-2000
Enact Pharma is looking to raise £10m to fund clinical trials of its biotechnology-based products. 11-Dec-2000
Elementis, the speciality chemicals group, has received a takeover approach from an unnamed financial buyer. 07-Dec-2000
Oxford Glycosciences is forming an alliance with Glaxo Wellcome to conduct research into proteins associated with specific diseases, and Glaxo will use the technology to monitor the progress of drugs through trials. 04-Dec-2000
Phytopharm has raised £11m in a share placing to fund the development of a new treatment for Alzheimer's disease. 30-Nov-2000
Advantage West Midlands and Birmingham University are considering plans to set up a £200m research park at Longbridge to specialise in the development of nanotechnology. 30-Nov-2000
Coalite Chemicals is planning to shed 110 of the 260 jobs at its Bolsover factory, as a lack of coal tar feedstock has resulted in a reduction in output. 29-Nov-2000
Galen is looking to spend up to £700m on acquisitions to expand its pharmaceuticals business, and is particularly interested in US companies, small biotechnology groups and companies with a European salesforce. 29-Nov-2000
Cambridge Antibody Technology is planning to use existing funds of £155m to nearly double its staff to 250 and to increase spending on drug research. 28-Nov-2000
Aventis is planning to relocate its UK-based agrochemical research division and 300 staff to France and Germany, which will involve the closure of sites at Ongar, Essex, and Hauxton, Cambridgeshire. 27-Nov-2000
BTG is forming a joint venture with Croda Chemicals to manufacture the active ingredient in Varisolve, a new treatment for varicose veins. 24-Nov-2000
Beeson Gregory, the investment bank, is to provide £20m of funding for a new £60m chemistry building at Oxford University, in return for equity stakes in any spin-off businesses that are launched. 24-Nov-2000
The government has announced plans to invest £110m in genomics research and £98m in new internet technologies, while a further £44m has been allocated to areas such as quantum computing, photonics and nanotechnology. 23-Nov-2000
BASF is to close its pharmaceutical research and development centre in Nottingham by next March, with the loss of 200 jobs. 20-Nov-2000
Revlon is planning to relocate its London headquarters from Mayfair to the Highgate Studio complex in Camden. 20-Nov-2000
Bradford Particle Design has raised £4m from 3i and existing shareholders in order to fund the commercial development of a new powder particle manufacturing process for the pharmaceutical industry. 15-Nov-2000
Nycomed Amersham is planning to carry out genetic research in China and Brazil in a number of joint ventures designed to save money. 14-Nov-2000
SSL International is to buy the Hibi range of antiseptic products from AstraZeneca for £46m. 14-Nov-2000
Oxford Glycosciences is planning to raise £150m in a share offer, in order to develop new drugs, recruit 75 sales staff and fund acquisitions. 14-Nov-2000
Yule Catto is to close its Holliday Dyes & Chemicals factory in Huddersfield in February with the loss of 162 jobs. 13-Nov-2000
SmithKline Beecham and Glaxo Wellcome are planning to divide their drug research operations into eight competing profit centres, in order to ensure that innovation is not lost when the two groups merge. 13-Nov-2000
Tower Hamlets Council has approved plans from the University of London to build a £14m chemistry building at its Queen Mary's site. 09-Nov-2000
Bovis Lend Lease has set up a new division to manage projects for the pharmaceutical industry, and it will employ 6,000 people in 40 countries. 08-Nov-2000
Oxford Glycosciences is planning to create up to 40 jobs at its new drug discovery head office and factory near Abingdon. 02-Nov-2000
Brunner Mond is planning to transform the land around its chemicals site in Northwich, including the creation of an urban village with 700 homes, the transformation of a waste dump into parkland and the construction of a new energy plant. 30-Oct-2000
ICI is in discussions to sell three chemical businesses - Chlor-Chemicals, Klea and Crosfield - to Ineos of Belgium for about £300m, as part of a strategy to focus on speciality chemicals. 30-Oct-2000
AstraZeneca is planning to outsource its IT operations to IBM in order to reduce costs, which could involve the transfer of up to 1,200 staff. 27-Oct-2000
Cantab Pharmaceuticals is to conduct a strategic review that is expected to lead to the company being put up for sale by the end of the year. 27-Oct-2000
Petrochem UK is planning to acquire the Carless chemical refinery at Parkeston in Essex from Repsol. 26-Oct-2000
Ellis & Everard has received a number of takeover approaches, prompting speculation that a leading US chemicals distributor could buy the business. 25-Oct-2000
Bovis Lend Lease is about to start work on the construction of a £416m biotechnology campus in Dublin for American Home Products, which will include drug development and production facilities. 25-Oct-2000
Pfizer has awarded a £50m construction management contract to Bovis for a new laboratory and office complex at Sandwich in Kent. 25-Oct-2000
BP is developing a shortlist of companies interested in acquiring its Burmah Castrol chemicals business for about £800m, and frontrunners include venture capital groups Cinven and BC Partners. 23-Oct-2000
British Biotech is forming an alliance with Serono of Switzerland to develop new treatments for inflammatory diseases. 18-Oct-2000
Boots is to acquire Clearasil, the acne treatment, from Procter & Gamble for £233m, in order to expand its international skincare business. 18-Oct-2000
The government is to provide £26m of funding for nine genetic research projects in north-west England, and the Daresbury government laboratory in Cheshire will participate in three of the projects. 17-Oct-2000
John Innes Centre is to shed 30 jobs at its science research centre in Norwich, in order to release funds for work on plants and microbes. 12-Oct-2000
Genetix, the gene discovery company, is planning to raise £27m in a share placing, in order to fund research, acquisitions and an expansion in its sales force. 12-Oct-2000
Powderject is to lease part of its recently-acquired vaccines plant in Speke to Aviron, which will enable the US company to set up a plant to manufacture flu vaccines. 12-Oct-2000
Cambridge Antibody Technology is to relocate its Cambridgeshire headquarters from Melbourn to Granta Park in Great Abington over the next two years, which will involve the relocation of 180 jobs and the creation of 70 new jobs. 10-Oct-2000
AstraZeneca is planning to centralise its UK distribution hub at Newcastle-under-Lyme, with the site being run by distribution specialist Firmin Coates. 10-Oct-2000
Norgine of the Netherlands is to invest £4m in the production of gastrointestinal tablets at its Caerphilly factory in South Wales, creating 50 jobs. 06-Oct-2000
Protherics has put its computer-aided molecular design business up for sale in order to focus on drug discovery, and it has also announced plans to manufacture a new rattlesnake antivenom at its plant in Carmarthenshire. 05-Oct-2000
Fife College is forming a consortium with colleges in Falkirk, Greenock and Hamilton to invest £1m in the development of new centres of excellence for the biotechnology industry. 29-Sep-2000
Bioglan Pharma has acquired the remaining 50% of CS Laboratories, the French pharmaceutical company, and is now looking to further expand its activities in the US and Europe. 29-Sep-2000
BTG, the intellectual property manager, is planning to raise £121m in a rights issues, in order to set up a separate biotechnology group, expand into North America and fund joint ventures with other technology companies. 29-Sep-2000
Provalis is to raise £11m in a share placing, in order to fund the expansion of its Glycosal diabetes monitoring device. 29-Sep-2000
Aztec Chemicals is to create up to 15 new jobs following the recent merger of its chemical supply business with Aztec Aerosols on a new site in Crewe. 26-Sep-2000
Huntsman has confirmed plans to invest £50m at its titanium dioxide plant near Hartlepool, and is also planning to invest £75m at its Teesside petrochemicals sites over the next few years. 22-Sep-2000
Peptide Therapeutics is to receive a £28m investment from Baxter of the US in exchange for a 20% stake, and the company will be renamed Acambis. 21-Sep-2000
Oxford Glycosciences is planning to seek a secondary listing on Nasdaq, in order to help with the expansion of its biotechnology business into the US. 20-Sep-2000
Durlacher is forming a £12m joint venture with BMP of Germany to invest in start-up life science companies. 18-Sep-2000
CeNes Pharmaceuticals is raising £7.4m in a share placing, in order to fund the purchase of rights to pain and nausea pharmaceutical products. 13-Sep-2000
Oxford Glycosciences is forming an alliance with Medarex of the US to develop new drugs using proteomics technology, and a separate alliance with Cambridge Antibody Technology to develop protein chips. 12-Sep-2000
Unilever is to stop manufacturing soap products at Port Sunlight with the loss of 125 jobs, in order to transfer production to factories abroad. 08-Sep-2000
ReNeuron, the biotechnology company, is planning to raise up to £20m in a flotation on Aim this autumn, in order to fund research into neural stem cells. 07-Sep-2000
CeNes Pharmaceuticals is to acquire three drugs from Glaxo Wellcome for £10m, including Diconal, Cyclimorph and Valoid. 05-Sep-2000
SmithKline Beecham has sold three pharmaceutical products in order to help secure approval for its merger with Glaxo Wellcome, with Famvir and Vectavir going to Novartis and Kytril to Roche. 01-Sep-2000
Scottish Enterprise is in talks with Quantum Biotechnologies of Canada about the development of a £3m biomanufacturing facility at Excell Biotechnology in Midlothian. 31-Aug-2000
Parexel International is considering plans to expand its Sheffield-based pharmaceutical services business by acquiring more office space for its 150 employees. 30-Aug-2000
Oxford Natural Products has raised £3m of private funding in order to finance the development of plant-based pharmaceutical products. 29-Aug-2000
Scottish Enterprise has won the go-ahead from the Scottish Executive for the construction of a £70m biotechnology manufacturing park at Gowkley Moss Farm in Midlothian, which could lead to the creation of up to 900 jobs. 28-Aug-2000
Powderject is in negotiations to acquire Celltech's vaccines manufacturing business, which employs 600 people in Speke, for about £50m. 25-Aug-2000
BioFocus, the pharmaceutical services group, has raised £4m in a flotation on Aim in order to fund the refurbishment of its Sittingbourne laboratory. 22-Aug-2000
Reckitt Benckiser is planning to set up a new headquarters at the Delta Business Park in Swindon, which could lead to a major recruitment drive. 18-Aug-2000
PPL Therapeutics is linking up with Bayer of Germany for the commercial development of AAT, a protein derived from sheep's milk, and the product will be manufactured at a new factory in Scotland. 17-Aug-2000
Xenova is seeking a merger partner in order to further the development of its biotechnology-based products. 15-Aug-2000
Glaxo Wellcome is to shed 80 of the 750 jobs at its pharmaceuticals plant in Montrose, in order to cut costs. 11-Aug-2000
Oxford Biomedica has raised £8.5m in a share placing in order to set up a new gene division, and the proceeds will be spent on the recruitment of scientists and the marketing of two new technologies. 10-Aug-2000
BOC is looking to spend up to £200m on acquisitions, and is particularly interested in medical and speciality gases. 09-Aug-2000
Nycomed Amersham is considering plans to move into drug discovery, funded by the proceeds from the flotation of its life sciences division. 08-Aug-2000
Croda International is considering plans to sell off its industrial chemicals division, in order to focus on speciality chemicals. 02-Aug-2000
ICI is looking to sell off Halo and PTC, the remaining parts of its loss-making industrial chemicals business. 28-Jul-2000
AstraZeneca and Novartis are planning to dispose of a number of fungicide and herbicide products in order to win European approval for the merger of their agrochemicals businesses into a new company called Syngenta. 27-Jul-2000
Cantab Pharmaceuticals is in talks to acquire Peptide Therapeutics, the Cambridge-based biotechnology company, for about £80m, in order to create the largest independent vaccines group in Europe. 27-Jul-2000
ML Laboratories has raised £11m in a share placing in order to fund the development of its drug delivery business. 26-Jul-2000
Rhodia of France is planning to merge its two UK pharmaceuticals facilities with its newly-acquired Chirex business in the US, in order to create a new pharmaceutical services division. 25-Jul-2000
Oxford Asymmetry International, the supplier of chemical services to the pharmaceutical sector, is in takeover talks with at least one potential foreign bidder. 20-Jul-2000
Elan is seeking acquisitions to build up a salesforce in Germany and France, as part of a strategy to expand its pharmaceuticals business throughout Europe. 20-Jul-2000
Huntsman has won approval from Hartlepool Council for a £50m expansion at its Tioxide pigments plant at Greatham. 19-Jul-2000
Nycomed Amersham is considering plans to float up to 40% of its Amersham Pharmacia Biotech joint venture in the US. 17-Jul-2000
Xenova is raising £10m in a rights issue in order to fund trials of new drugs, and plans to commercialise them through partnerships with big pharmaceutical companies. 14-Jul-2000
Octavius Hunt is planning to expand its pesticides factory in Bristol, by investing in new machinery and increasing the 30-strong workforce. 14-Jul-2000
Alizyme is raising £14m in a share placing in order to fund the development of obesity treatments. 13-Jul-2000
Ellis & Everard is looking to expand its chemicals distribution business in the US, and aims to spend about £20m on capital investment projects and £50m on acquisitions. 12-Jul-2000
The Medical Research Council is to spin off its Human Reproductive Health Sciences Unit in Edinburgh into a new company called Ardana Bioscience, which will employ 75 scientists and commercialise the unit's work over the next five years. 10-Jul-2000
Oxagen is looking to raise about £30m in order to provide funding for its research into the genetic causes of disease. 10-Jul-2000
The Queen's University of Belfast is planning to build a £3.5m research centre to support Northern Ireland's pharmaceutical development base, and it will open in September 2001. 07-Jul-2000
Arrow Therapeutics has raised £11m to fund the development of new classes of antibiotics, and expects to sign up a pharmaceutical company as a development partner within the next few months. 06-Jul-2000
British Biotech is planning to focus on the development of antibiotics, in order to reinvent itself following the disappointing results from its marimastat cancer drug. 06-Jul-2000
Blagden is to seek voluntary liquidation, having completed the sale of its chemicals production and distribution businesses. 04-Jul-2000
Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals is planning to invest £30m in a new production facility at its Seal Sands site on Teesside, with the creation of 50 jobs. 03-Jul-2000
Pharmagene is planning to raise £30m in a flotation, in order to fund the expansion of its business providing biotechnology research services to pharmaceutical companies. 29-Jun-2000
Robinson Brothers, the manufacturer of chemicals for the rubber and drugs industries, is to close its plant in Cambois near Ashington, with the loss of 78 jobs. 29-Jun-2000
BP Amoco is expected to invest up to £100m in improvements at its Grangemouth petrochemical plant, after it has conducted a full safety audit of the site. 23-Jun-2000
Infineum has announced plans to close its plant in Stanlow, which produces additives for lubricating oils, with the loss of about 70 jobs. 23-Jun-2000
Rhodia is to shed 180 jobs at its chemical plant in Whitehaven, in order to improve competitiveness. 19-Jun-2000
Cantab Pharmaceuticals is seeking acquisitions in order to boost its product development pipeline, and is already in discussions with one or two companies. 16-Jun-2000
Flexsys is to close one of its rubber chemicals plants near Wrexham over the next two years with the loss of 160 jobs, leaving 200 workers at the remaining three plants. 15-Jun-2000
McLeod Russel is looking to sell its Mason Coatings paints business in Derby and Granite Coatings in Salford, in order to focus on its air conditioning operation. 14-Jun-2000
British Biotech is to cut at least 90 jobs from its medical research and administration functions, in order to focus more resources on drug development. 12-Jun-2000
Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham have dropped plans to combine their US headquarters onto a single site, and will instead operate from the two existing sites in Philadelphia and North Carolina. 09-Jun-2000
Bradford Particle Design has opened a £1m manufacturing plant to develop a new way of producing particles for the pharmaceutical industry, and is in discussions with potential partners to move into full production in the future. 09-Jun-2000
BP Amoco is to close its phthalic anhydride production unit in Hull, and its linear phthalates business will be sold to Lonza for undisclosed terms. 08-Jun-2000
BTG, the intellectual property manager, is planning to invest £25m over the next five years on clinical trials for its Varisolve treatment for varicose veins. 08-Jun-2000
Shire has opened an operating subsidiary in Spain, as part of a strategy to develop a global pharmaceuticals business. 08-Jun-2000
SSL International is to open a new over-the-counter medicines factory in Peterlee, County Durham, which will employ about 200 people, while a plant in Blackburn will be closed with the loss of 50 jobs. 06-Jun-2000
DuPont is to close its automotive paints factory at Minworth in the Midlands with the loss of 300 jobs, and production will be transferred to sites in Germany. 05-Jun-2000
Tees Storage Company is to invest £2.5m in the construction of 13 chemical storage tanks on Teesside, and is changing its name to Vopak Terminal Teesside. 05-Jun-2000
Avecia is considering plans to close its pigments facility in Grangemouth, which would involve the redeployment of 130 workers. 02-Jun-2000
BP Amoco is planning to acquire Bayer's 50% stake in their Cologne-based ethylene joint venture, in a deal estimated at £338m. 30-May-2000
CeNes Pharmaceuticals has acquired Cambridge Neuroscience of the US for up to £29m, and is now seeking further acquisitions to boost its product pipeline. 24-May-2000
AEA Technology has re-opened the former British Biotech laboratory in Cowley, Oxford, as a chemical plant to make drugs for companies testing new medicines. 23-May-2000
Skyepharma is to raise £60m through a convertible bond in order to fund the development of its own drugs, having decided to change its strategy away from developing products for other companies. 18-May-2000
Oxford Glycosciences is seeking new partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, having won a US patent to protect technology for the identification of proteins used in drug discovery. 17-May-2000
Procter & Gamble is planning to close its Hedley House headquarters in Newcastle-upon-Tyne next year, and most of the 600 staff will be transferred to a new Global Business Services Centre at the Cobalt Business Park. 17-May-2000
BOC, the industrial gases company, has abandoned an agreed £7.4bn takeover by Air Liquide of France and Air Products of the US, having failed to win approval from the Federal Trade Commission for a series of asset disposals in the US. 15-May-2000
Wrafton Laboratories has won approval from North Devon District Council to double the size of its medicines factory in Braunton, with the creation of up to 500 jobs. 12-May-2000
Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham have announced plans to base their new corporate headquarters at SB's site in Brentford, while the pharmaceutical operating company will move to Stockley Park and seven other sites will close. 11-May-2000
Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham have won approval from the European Commission for their merger, provided they dispose of products with EU sales of £50m. 09-May-2000
Ellis & Everard is to close nine of its 21 UK warehouses with the loss of 60 jobs, as a result of a new e-commerce system that will allow customers to buy chemicals online. 09-May-2000
Eurogene has raised £15m in a private share placing, in order to fund research into new drugs for diseases of the circulatory system. 09-May-2000
Trigen Holdings, the developer of blood-clotting drugs, is planning to raise £15m in a share placing later this month, in order to fund its research and development programme. 03-May-2000
Dow Corning has completed a £200m expansion of its silicone factory in Barry, which has created 200 jobs and doubled the site's production capacity. 03-May-2000
Genzyme is planning to build a £12m plant in Haverhill, Suffolk, to produce the active chemical ingredient for Renagel capsules. 26-Apr-2000
The Automation Partnership, the Mid-Anglia-based supplier of drug discovery systems, is moving its research and manufacturing to a new £5m headquarters in Royston, creating 125 jobs over the next four years. 25-Apr-2000
Natural Options is to relocate the head office of its vitamin supplements business from Fleetwood to Bispham, Blackpool, with the creation of 60 jobs. 25-Apr-2000
Cambridge Drug Discovery is to collaborate with Teijin of Japan to develop new treatments for diabetes and obesity. 25-Apr-2000
Rhodia is planning to split its Whitehaven site into two, with phosphates and surfactants being run as separate entities, prompting speculation that the surfactants business could be sold off. 20-Apr-2000
Croda is to shed 35 of the 100 jobs at its chemicals factory on the Barnfields Industrial Estate in Leek, in order to move more production to Singapore. 14-Apr-2000
Armour Trust, the household products company, is raising £10m through the sale of Airfresh, Bluecol Brands, Bars Motor Products and Nilco Chemical Company to Pennzoil-Quaker State of the US. 13-Apr-2000
Elan is forming an alliance with American Home Products to conduct research into new vaccines for Alzheimer's disease. 06-Apr-2000
Dundee University is to build a £4m biomedical research centre, as part of a £18m government investment in new research facilities at Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh universities. 05-Apr-2000
Innovex, the US pharmaceutical services company, is seeking 200,000 sq ft of office space in the High Wycombe and Farnborough areas in order to rationalise its UK property holdings. 03-Apr-2000
Weston Medical is planning to raise about £50m in a flotation in order to fund the commercial development of its drug delivery systems. 28-Mar-2000
Skyepharma is forming a joint venture with PA Consulting to develop a new asthma inhaler. 27-Mar-2000
Celltech is planning to sell its vaccine manufacturing plant in Speke by mid-year for up to £60m, and is also looking to close the recently-acquired Medeva headquarters in Leatherhead. 23-Mar-2000
Alliance UniChem is planning to invest £20m in the development of an internet-based drug wholesaling business, providing a link to manufacturers, pharmacists and consumers. 23-Mar-2000
Maelor is raising £6.6m in a share placing in order to fund the development of new healthcare products using sterile fluids and off-patent medicines. 23-Mar-2000
Clariant of Switzerland is planning to set up a new life sciences and electronic chemicals division based in Manchester, by combining the recently-acquired BTP fine chemicals business with its life sciences intermediates business. 22-Mar-2000
ICI is to relocate its London headquarters from Millbank to Manchester Square next year. 22-Mar-2000
Tepnel Life Sciences is raising £4.5m in a share placing, and has also announced the acquisition of Genesys Biotech, the DNA purification specialist. 21-Mar-2000
Ascot is looking to spend up to £200m on the acquisition of fine chemicals companies over the next 18 months, while engineering and property assets worth up to £150m will be sold off. 21-Mar-2000
Cleveland Potash is planning to build a £1m compaction and polishing plant at Saltburn-by-the-Sea. 16-Mar-2000
Aortech has bought the remaining 67% of Elastomedic, the Australian specialist medical materials company, for £20m. 16-Mar-2000
Nipa Laboratories is planning to invest £10m at its chemicals factory in Oswaldtwistle, in order to relocate the various production processes to a central modernised plant over a five year period. 15-Mar-2000
Wellcome Trust is to build the £175m Diamond synchrotron for investigating biological structures at the Rutherford Appleton laboratory in Oxfordshire, as the government has decided against the alternative site in Cheshire. 14-Mar-2000
Unilever is launching a home cleaning service called Myhome, which has been tested in London and will be extended to other parts of the country next year. 14-Mar-2000
Cambridge Antibody Technology is planning to raise £100m in a share offer and listing on Nasdaq, in order to fund its transformation into a fully integrated pharmaceuticals group. 08-Mar-2000
Yule Catto is looking to spend up to £170m on the acquisition of speciality chemicals companies this year. 08-Mar-2000
Hydro Agri is to close its fertiliser plant in Immingham with the loss of up to 200 jobs, but 120 workers will be retained at the bagging store and distribution operation. 08-Mar-2000
Nalco is expected to create 300 new jobs at its water treatment chemicals business in Northwich following its acquisition by Suez-Lyonnaise des Eaux, but job losses are likely at the Wythenshawe and Windsor sites of sister company Aquazur. 03-Mar-2000
Cambridge Antibody Technology is forming an alliance with Human Genome Sciences of the US to develop new pharmaceutical products using CAT's technology. 02-Mar-2000
Oxford University is planning to build a £50m chemistry laboratory, and expects to appoint a preferred bidder in May. 02-Mar-2000
Oxford Asymmetry International has paid £1.1m for a 58% stake in ProPharma, the drug development spin-off from Strathclyde University's department of pharmaceutical services. 02-Mar-2000
Ace Chemical is to relocate its animal health products business from Gretna to Lockerbie, with the creation of 32 jobs. 02-Mar-2000
Zotefoams, the chemicals group, is to gain access to markets in Asia and South America in a sales and marketing agreement with Sekisui Chemical of Japan. 29-Feb-2000
KS Biomedix is raising £15m in a share issue in order to fund the development of new treatments for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. 29-Feb-2000
Oxford Glycosciences is to raise £33m in a share placing in order to develop new techniques for identifying proteins in DNA testing. 25-Feb-2000
Abcam is to relocate to the Cambridge Science Park, in order to provide space for the expansion of its antibodies distribution business. 25-Feb-2000
Strakan Group, the Galashiels-based developer of prescription medicines, has received a £11m cash injection from a syndicate of investors and hopes to double the size of its 22-strong workforce over the next two years. 24-Feb-2000
PPL Therapeutics has announced plans to build a £42m drug manufacturing plant in Scotland with the creation of 150 jobs, and is seeking a suitable site in the Lothians. 23-Feb-2000
ICI is to hand over the lease of its Millbank headquarters in London to electricity industry regulator Ofgem, but still has several years to find alternative accommodation. 21-Feb-2000
Unilever's DiverseyLever subsidiary is moving into a new £10m 200,000 sq ft high bay chemicals distribution centre at Junction 28 of the M1. 17-Feb-2000
Oxford Molecular, the lossmaking biotechnology group, has received a takeover approach from an unnamed company. 17-Feb-2000
Creightons is to raise £1.3m in a share offer, in order to reduce debt and prepare for its transformation from a toiletries and fragrances business into a cash shell. 16-Feb-2000
ReGen Therapeutics is planning to raise £5m through a share offer on Aim, in order to finance further trials of a treatment for Alzheimer's disease. 14-Feb-2000
Amersham Pharmacia Biotech is raising £50m from a consortium of Scandinavian institutions by spinning off its laboratory-on-a-chip business into a new company called Gyros. 09-Feb-2000
Reckitt Benckiser is looking to sell off about 75 brands this year, in order to focus on its core household cleaning and personal care products. 09-Feb-2000
Meristem, the chemicals group, has announced that talks are taking place that could lead to a takeover offer. 09-Feb-2000
Nycomed Amersham is creating 27 new research jobs at its Cardiff laboratories, to work on a number of new drug development projects. 04-Feb-2000
Aortech International is to raise £17m in a share placing, in order to fund the development of its cardiovascular devices. 02-Feb-2000
Smith & Nephew is buying Iruxol, the woundcare product, from BASF for £74m, and will seek approval to market the treatment in the UK, France, Australia and Japan. 02-Feb-2000
ML Laboratories is in negotiations to acquire Cobra Therapeutics, the Keele-based gene therapy company, for about £15m. 01-Feb-2000
ML Laboratories is planning to float a stake of up to 25% in its Innovata Biomed respiratory products division. 26-Jan-2000
Scotia Holdings has raised £11m in a share placing in order to fund the development of its key projects. 26-Jan-2000
Inpharmatica has announced a £6m research agreement with Parke-Davis of the US, in which its Biopendium technology will be used to understand the structure of proteins. 26-Jan-2000
M&A Pharmachem has announced plans for the expansion of production facilities at its medicines business in Westhoughton, and a new customer services function has been set up with the creation of an unspecified number of jobs. 21-Jan-2000
BTP, the fine chemicals group, is in takeover talks with Clariant, the Swiss company that has been trying to break into the UK market. 20-Jan-2000
BASF is to relocate its pharmaceuticals headquarters from Germany to London, prompting speculation that the division could eventually be sold. 20-Jan-2000
Oxford Biomedica has raised a further £5m in a share issue for the development of gene therapy, and is looking to move from the Alternative Investment Market to a full stockmarket listing. 19-Jan-2000
Glaxo Wellcome has resumed negotiations for a merger with SmithKline Beecham, which could lead to the creation of the world's largest pharmaceuticals group. 15-Jan-2000
Arizona Chemical is to close its tall oil distillation and rosin resin operation at Chester-le-Street, with the loss of 74 of the 160 jobs at the site. 13-Jan-2000
Ellis & Everard, the chemicals distributor, is looking to expand its geographic coverage in the US and has also announced plans to launch a business e-commerce site. 12-Jan-2000
Napp Laboratories is to cut 20 jobs at its pharmaceuticals research facility on Cambridge Science Park, while some employees will be relocated to other sites. 11-Jan-2000
SmithKline Beecham has awarded a £5m contract to Walter Lilly for the refurbishment of laboratories in Harlow, Essex. 08-Jan-2000
The information below comes from the
UK Activity Report.
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