Cyprotex is planning to raise up to £11m in a flotation on Aim to invest in the launch of robotic testing equipment and software for use by pharmaceutical companies in the development of new drugs. [31-Dec-2001]
Avecia is planning to sell Stahl, the Dutch supplier of leather finishing chemicals with 1,500 staff in 28 countries, to a management buy-out for £232m. [28-Dec-2001]
Intercare has acquired Federa France, the French contract manufacturer of injectable pharmaceuticals with 137 staff, from Fresenius Kabi for £0.6m. [24-Dec-2001]
ICI has agreed terms for the £250m sale of its remaining stake in the Huntsman International commodity chemicals business to Huntsman Corporation, but will not be paid until late 2003. [24-Dec-2001]
Unilever has sold Unipath, the Bedford-based women's health diagnostics business with 500 staff, to Inverness Medical Innovations of the US for £103m. [21-Dec-2001]
Close Brothers Private Equity and International Flavours & Fragrances have acquired the Bush Boake Allen site in Widnes, which produces fragrances and agricultural chemicals, securing the future of 80 jobs. [19-Dec-2001]
Medisys is raising £11m in a share placing to fund the launch of its Futura safety syringes. [19-Dec-2001]
Synaptica has raised £3.5m of venture capital to fund the development of drugs for neurodegenerative disorders. [18-Dec-2001]
Scottish Enterprise is forming a partnership with Medical Marketing International to set up a £15m business incubator for nanotechnology and biotechnology at the Alba Campus in Livingston, which will create up to 500 jobs. [12-Dec-2001]
The Cancer Research Campaign is to merge with the Imperial Cancer Research Fund to create the world's largest independent cancer research organisation, with a research budget of £130m a year. [12-Dec-2001]
Celsis, the hygiene testing company, has put itself up for sale, which could lead to a trade sale or merger. [11-Dec-2001]
GlaxoSmithKline is to collaborate with Roche of Switzerland on the development of the Ibandronate treatment for osteoporosis, which is expected to reach the market in 2004. [10-Dec-2001]
Acambis has secured a £28m capital injection from Baxter Healthcare to fund the refurbishment of a US plant to produce the smallpox vaccine. [06-Dec-2001]
Bioglan is selling its GenPlus generics telesales business in Waterlooville to Ethercorp for a nominal sum, in order to focus on dermatology and the development of the Biosphere drug delivery system. [05-Dec-2001]
Cleveland Potash is in negotiations to sell the Boulby potash mine on Teesside to Israel Chemicals, securing the future of 870 jobs. [03-Dec-2001]
Peakdale Molecular, the supplier of chemical research services to the pharmaceutical industry, has secured £1.8m of venture capital from Close Brothers, which could lead to the creation of up to 100 laboratory jobs. [03-Dec-2001]
GlaxoSmithKline has confirmed plans to close a pharmaceuticals plant in Speke, Merseyside, with the loss of 500 jobs. [30-Nov-2001]
Novartis is planning to invest £34m at its Grimsby pharmaceuticals plant to manufacture the intermediates for the new Cox 189 pain relief drug. [28-Nov-2001]
Burlington Toiletries is to shed about 90 of the 140 jobs at its factory on the Deeside Industrial Park. [27-Nov-2001]
Unilever is to sell its DiverseyLever commercial cleaning business to Johnson Wax Professional of the US for £1.1bn, in order to reduce debt following the acquisition of Bestfoods. [21-Nov-2001]
Akzo Nobel is looking to sell its printing inks business, which includes manufacturing and mixing sites in Manchester, Germany, Scandinavia and the US. [20-Nov-2001]
Bioglan, the pharmaceuticals company, has put itself up for sale after being forced to restate its interim results, and has already received a number of preliminary offers. [20-Nov-2001]
Ineos Chlor has announced plans to shed 50 jobs at its European Vinyl Corporation plant in Runcorn and a further 40 at its plant in Helsby. [16-Nov-2001]
Intercare is to invest £10m in a new pharmaceuticals contract manufacturing plant in Belgium, to increase production of pre-filled syringes. [16-Nov-2001]
Lorantis of Cambridge has secured additional funding of £4.7m for the commercial development of new ways to treat allergies and autoimmune diseases. [15-Nov-2001]
Tissue Science Laboratories is planning to raise about £10m in a flotation on Aim, in order to fund the development of a new medical devices manufacturing facility. [15-Nov-2001]
Inverness Medical has won permission from Highland Council to expand its biomedical production plant in Inverness, raising hopes that 450 new jobs will be brought to the site. [14-Nov-2001]
CeNes Pharmaceuticals has shed 17 research and administration jobs at its Cambridge head office, closed its US research facility and put its Irvine-based drug delivery unit up for sale. [13-Nov-2001]
Goldshield is to acquire the Antigen International, Antigen Overseas and Anpharm subsidiaries of Antigen Holdings of Ireland for £9.4m, in order to gain the distribution rights for a number of sterile pharmaceutical products. [09-Nov-2001]
Creative Outsourcing Solutions, the cosmetics and toiletries manufacturer, has undergone a £47m management buy-out backed by Barclays Private Equity, and the deal includes the Revlon plant in Maesteg. [05-Nov-2001]
ICI is planning to shed 1,300 jobs as part of a £180m restructuring programme in its worldwide chemicals business, including 275 at UK sites in Ashford and Plymouth. [02-Nov-2001]
Yule Catto is to merge its Stallingborough-based Synthomer latex business with the neighbouring Harco chemical operation in order to reduce overlap, which could lead to the loss of up to 30 jobs. [01-Nov-2001]
The Scottish Crop Research Institute is seeking outline planning permission for a new science park at Mylnefield and for a mix of housing and business units at Gourdie, in a £60m investment that could create 1,000 jobs. [29-Oct-2001]
Ineos Chlor is seeking £300m of government aid to help with the £635m modernisation of its chlorine plant in Runcorn, in order to secure the future of the site and safeguard 2,000 jobs. [29-Oct-2001]
Provalis is to acquire the UK marketing licences, trademarks and stocks of the Diclomax anti-inflammatory drug products from Parke-Davis, a subsidiary of Pfizer, for £14m. [26-Oct-2001]
Elan has bought a portfolio of pain management drugs from Boehringer Ingelheim of Germany for £50m, and is now seeking further product acquisitions. [26-Oct-2001]
The Welsh Development Agency is supporting proposals from the University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff University and Techniquest to build Wales Gene Park in Cardiff, which could create thousands of biotechnology-related jobs. [24-Oct-2001]
Elementis has sold its Harcros chemicals distribution business in the US to management for £23m, and is now expected to prepare its Linatex rubber business for sale. [24-Oct-2001]
DuPont Teijin Films has announced plans to shed 80 jobs at its site in Dumfries over the next two years, by closing the remaining two production lines on the Melinex Two plant. [23-Oct-2001]
Ardana, the reproductive healthcare specialist, has secured £13m of venture capital, and is now looking for up to 15 scientists and new offices on one of Edinburgh's science parks. [23-Oct-2001]
ClinPhone, the Nottingham-based supplier of clinical trial management solutions to pharmaceutical companies, has secured a £6m refinancing facility and hopes to create 70 new jobs over the next year. [23-Oct-2001]
Amberley has sold its Lawrence Industries mineral and chemicals subsidiary to Phipps & Company for £9.5m. [19-Oct-2001]
COSi is to close the former Body Shop cosmetics factory in Littlehampton with the loss of up to 150 jobs, and the work will be transferred to its Maestag site. [19-Oct-2001]
EMT Healthcare has bought Estchem Wholesale Supplies, the Manchester-based distributor of pharmaceutical products, for undisclosed terms. [19-Oct-2001]
Bioglan is planning a major cost-cutting programme following the collapse of a £527m deal to acquire Bristol Myers Squibb's skincare business. [19-Oct-2001]
Trinity College and Gallaher Estates have announced plans to develop a new science park on the outskirts of Cambridge, which would be linked to the new Oakington-Longstanton settlement and provide up to 6,000 jobs. [18-Oct-2001]
Associated Octel is establishing the Cheshire Manufacturing Park at its Ellesmere Port chemical works, and will offer disused facilities such as laboratories and a conference centre to attract new businesses to redundant parts of the site. [12-Oct-2001]
Powderject Pharmaceuticals is in negotiations with an unnamed bidder to sell its needle-free injection technology, in order to focus on the production of vaccines. [12-Oct-2001]
CP Pharmaceuticals has started recruiting 25 additional staff to prepare for an increase in production at its pharmaceuticals plant in Wrexham. [11-Oct-2001]
The Health & Safety Executive is set to award a £60m contract to Shepherd for the rebuilding of its laboratories in Buxton. [11-Oct-2001]
Gemini Genomics, the biotech company that specialises in research involving twins, is to close its Cambridge laboratory and transfer some of the senior staff to parent company Sequenom in the US. [10-Oct-2001]
Aventis has confirmed plans to sell its agrochemicals division to Bayer of Germany for £4.5bn, which could lead to changes in staffing levels at sites in Norwich and elsewhere in the UK. [05-Oct-2001]
GlaxoSmithKline is planning to draw up a shortlist of buyers for its pharmaceuticals plant in Montrose, which employs 700 staff, and hopes to complete the sale by 2004. [05-Oct-2001]
Leicester University has announced a £31m expansion plan to build three new research centres in biomedical science, space science and mathematics, which could lead to the creation of hundreds of new jobs. [05-Oct-2001]
Akzo Nobel is to close its paint factory in Haltwhistle in Northumberland with the loss of 126 jobs, in order to transfer production to Humberside next summer. [04-Oct-2001]
CeNes Pharmaceuticals is to receive a £1.5m cash injection from Elan, as part of a restructuring programme that will also involve the closure of a large part of its research programme and a number of job losses. [02-Oct-2001]
ICN Pharmaceuticals is setting up a new research centre at the Technium development in Swansea to study the combined use of drugs and laser therapy in the treatment of cancer. [02-Oct-2001]
Osmetech has secured £5m of funding from GEM Global Yield Fund of the US to develop gas and odour sensors for medical use. [01-Oct-2001]
Inverness Medical is seeking permission to double the size of its base in Inverness, due to rising demand for blood glucose diagnostic systems, which could lead to an increase in the 800-strong workforce. [27-Sep-2001]
NMT, the Livingston-based manufacturer of safety syringes, is seeking an estimated £15m of funding to expand the capacity of two production lines. [27-Sep-2001]
RiboTargets has raised £32m to fund the expansion of its drug discovery business. [26-Sep-2001]
Manro Performance Chemicals, the Stalybridge-based surfactants manufacturer with 125 employees, has been acquired by Stepan Company of the US for undisclosed terms. [25-Sep-2001]
Basell is to close a chemical plant at Wilton on Teesside next June with the loss of 160 jobs, due to overcapacity in the market for polypropylene. [19-Sep-2001]
CeNes Pharmaceuticals expects to recruit an unspecified number of scientists at its plant in Irvine, having formed a strategic alliance with International Processing Corp for the distribution of its drug delivery technology in the US. [19-Sep-2001]
Mitchell Cotts has opened a new laboratory at its chemical plant near Huddersfield to produce liquids used in eye drops, and a second laboratory will open next year with the creation of 10 jobs. [18-Sep-2001]
Bayer is planning to shed up to 150 sales and marketing jobs in its UK pharmaceuticals business, following the withdrawal of its Lipobay cholesterol-lowering drug. [18-Sep-2001]
Nippon Gohsei of Japan has announced plans to build a £64m chemical plant, producing environmentally friendly packaging for gases and liquids, at the BP Saltend site in Hull, with the creation of 70 jobs. [14-Sep-2001]
Medical Solutions is to close the recently-acquired Quinoderm skincare business in Oldham with the loss of 23 jobs, and the business will be transferred to its Adams Healthcare division in Leeds. [13-Sep-2001]
Celltech is to acquire Thiemann, the German pharmaceuticals marketing company, for £31m, and is also buying an undisclosed stake in Neogenesis of the US and the rights to the drug discovery technology of Abgenix. [13-Sep-2001]
BP is in negotiations with three companies about the £200m sale of its Fosroc construction chemicals business. [10-Sep-2001]
Orion Pharma of Finland is to set up a new clinical research department in Nottingham, with the creation of up to 52 jobs over the next few years. [07-Sep-2001]
Scottish Enterprise has announced that up to £100m will be invested in the commercial development of university research over three years, while technology institutes will be established in specific areas such as biotechnology. [06-Sep-2001]
Dechra Pharmaceuticals is planning a £2m expansion at its veterinary products factory in Skipton over the next 18 months. [05-Sep-2001]
Applied Biosystems, the US manufacturer of DNA fingerprinting equipment, is setting up a £7m headquarters at the Birchwood Point Business Park in Warrington, which will employ about 200 staff. [03-Sep-2001]
Ashfield Healthcare, the supplier of staff to pharmaceutical companies, is to build a new £5.8m headquarters in Ashby de la Zouch by the end of 2002, and staff will be relocated from four existing premises nearby. [31-Aug-2001]
Intercare has acquired Federa and Veramic, two Belgian pharmaceutical suppliers with a total workforce of 238, for £14m. [31-Aug-2001]
Syngenta is looking to sell its crop protection chemicals plant in Grimsby, but the site will close with the loss of 165 jobs unless a buyer is found by 2004. [31-Aug-2001]
Strakan Group, the Borders-based pharmaceuticals company, is in discussions with Scottish Enterprise about finding larger premises, as it is running out of space at Buckholm Mill in Galashiels. [27-Aug-2001]
Amersham has sold its remaining stake in the Nycomed pharmaceuticals business to Nordic Capital of Sweden for £123m, and the proceeds will be invested in its medical imaging and biotech operations. [27-Aug-2001]
Acordis has sold its Leek-based fine chemicals business to Tessenderlo of Belgium for undisclosed terms, which will involve the transfer of 90 jobs. [24-Aug-2001]
Ciba Specialty Chemicals is planning to shed 85 jobs at chemical plants in Bradford and Grimsby. [24-Aug-2001]
Pharmacopeia of the US is to set up a European headquarters for its Accelrys pharmaceutical software subsidiary at a 42,000 sq ft site on the Cambridge Science Park in early 2002. [23-Aug-2001]
GeneMedix is planning to spend £7.4m upgrading its generic drug production sites in China and Ireland and adding a third plant in east Asia. [22-Aug-2001]
BP is to close a low-density polyethylene plant at Wilton, but efforts will be made to re-deploy some of the 81 employees. [22-Aug-2001]
Shire Pharmaceuticals has raised £280m from an issue of convertible bonds, in order to fund the acquisition of speciality pharmaceutical products and support its expansion into Japan and Europe. [16-Aug-2001]
Scotia, the biotechnology group currently in administration, has sold the Foscan cancer drug to Singapore Technologies for up to £70m, which will involve the transfer of 60 staff. [16-Aug-2001]
Bomb Cosmetics is creating 100 new jobs at its cosmetics factory in Bournemouth, having won contracts worth £1m from three major retail chains. [14-Aug-2001]
Pfizer has confirmed plans to relocate a major part of its sales and marketing operation from Sandwich to Walton-on-the-Hill, near Tadworth, in December, where it will initially employ 425 staff. [14-Aug-2001]
BASF has offered a 100,000 sq ft pharmaceuticals research facility to Nottingham Trent University, and the university plans to transform it into an innovation centre for biomedical start-ups. [08-Aug-2001]
British Biotech is to transfer 59 research staff and two office facilities to OSI for £8.7m, in order to reduce annual costs in its drug development business by £6m. [08-Aug-2001]
Yule Catto has bought the remaining 50% stake in Harlow Chemical Company, the supplier of emulsions, from Clariant for £55m, and now plans to expand the business into continental Europe. [08-Aug-2001]
Provalis, the distributor of medical devices and pharmaceutical products, is to set up a new 11,000 sq ft warehouse and production facility near its Deeside headquarters in September. [06-Aug-2001]
MerseyBio is forming a strategic alliance with Manchester Innovation aimed at creating about 25 new biotechnology businesses across the North West over the next five years. [02-Aug-2001]
Powderject has announced plans to invest £13m at its Evans Vaccines plant in Speke, in order to increase production of flu vaccines. [02-Aug-2001]
Revlon has sold its cosmetics manufacturing subsidiary in Maesteg to CW Cosmetics, and the 500-strong workforce will continue to produce Revlon products. [02-Aug-2001]
Skyepharma is to pay £18m for a 40% stake in RTP Pharma, the Canadian drug delivery company that has developed new technology for improving the solubility of substances. [01-Aug-2001]
GlaxoSmithKline is to give away a majority stake in Affymax, the US drug discovery company with 200 staff in California, to a group of venture capitalists, but will retain 22% of non-voting shares. [31-Jul-2001]
Hays has sold its non-core chemicals business to a management buy-in team called Albion Chemicals for £107m, which will involve the transfer of 850 staff at 16 depots throughout the country. [31-Jul-2001]
Henderson Morley is planning to raise £1.3m in a flotation on Aim in order to fund the development of new technology to treat viruses. [30-Jul-2001]
BioVex has raised £10m in a private share placing to fund the development of its Oxford-based gene therapy business. [30-Jul-2001]
ICI is looking to sell its stake in the Huntsman International commodity chemicals business by the end of the year, in order to reduce debts and complete its transformation into a speciality chemicals group. [27-Jul-2001]
Elan is looking to sell off or license a number of its smaller pharmaceutical products in order to focus on higher margin neurological and pain management drugs. [25-Jul-2001]
De Novo Pharmaceuticals, the Cambridge-based drug software company, is considering plans for a flotation with an expected valuation of about £50m. [23-Jul-2001]
Glasgow University is linking up with Imperial College and the Generics Group to launch a new spin out company called Adaptive Screening, which aims to speed up the identification of compounds for the development of new drugs. [20-Jul-2001]
Bioglan is in negotiations to acquire the skin products business of Bristol-Myers Squibb of the US for £493m. [20-Jul-2001]
Tepnel Life Sciences has acquired the Medicines Testing Laboratory, which employs 44 people, from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain for £0.6m. [19-Jul-2001]
Ineos Silicas is to shed 120 jobs at the former Crosfields chemicals factory in Warrington. [19-Jul-2001]
Procter & Gamble is to invest £9m at its Longbenton Technical Centre in North Tyneside over the next three years to develop new laundry products, and has secured a £1.8m regional selective assistance grant from the DTI. [18-Jul-2001]
Rhodia is to close its phosphates operation in Whitehaven later this year, with the loss of 120 jobs. [13-Jul-2001]
BP is to sell two Burmah Castrol chemical businesses - Foseco in the West Midlands and Chem-Trend in the US - to Cinven for £240m. [13-Jul-2001]
PPL Therapeutics is looking to raise about £20m in a share issue to fund the development of its new drug manufacturing facilities. [13-Jul-2001]
BP is looking to sell its 65.5% stake in Vysis, the US life sciences company that has 130 staff and was acquired with the 1998 purchase of Amoco. [12-Jul-2001]
ML Laboratories has raised £17m from Paul Capital Royalty to fund US clinical trials of Adept, a new drug that reduces surgical adhesions. [10-Jul-2001]
Unilever is to shed up to 40 scientific jobs at its Wirral research headquarters, as part of the reorganisation of its personal care products group. [09-Jul-2001]
Bespak is in discussions to sell its King's Lynn-based personal care business, which employs 70 people, as part of a strategy to focus on the development of its drug delivery business. [05-Jul-2001]
CeNes Pharmaceuticals has acquired Management Dynamics Cambridge, a specialist organisational psychology company, and merged it with its own cognition division to create a new business called Cambridge Cognition. [04-Jul-2001]
Powderject Pharmaceuticals has acquired SBL Vaccin, the Swedish vaccines company, for £35m, and is now looking to sell the rights to its needleless syringe. [04-Jul-2001]
Boots has sold its Onagrine and Nobacter skincare brands to Beiersdorf for £20m. [04-Jul-2001]
Galen is to raise £300m in a share offer, and some of the proceeds will be used to fund the £67m purchase of the Estrace oestrogen replacement product from Bristol Myers Squibb. [03-Jul-2001]
Inpharmatica is to raise £31m in a share placing in order to fund the development of its drug discovery business. [03-Jul-2001]
LGC has acquired Promochem of Germany for £10m, in order to expand its pharmaceutical testing services in a number of European countries. [03-Jul-2001]
Evolutec is planning to raise £5m to fund the expansion of its Oxford-based biotechnology business, which will involve the development of new allergy treatments derived from the saliva of ticks. [28-Jun-2001]
Hodgson Chemicals has unveiled plans for a £10m expansion project in Selby that could lead to a new global technical service centre for leather manufacture, additional production capacity and 40 new jobs. [27-Jun-2001]
Interpon Powder Coatings, the Akzo Nobel subsidiary, is to set up an international headquarters at its Gateshead site, in order to provide administration services to 2,300 employees and 24 paint plants worldwide. [27-Jun-2001]
Cray Valley is to close the former Croda resins factory in Speke next year, with the loss of 84 jobs. [26-Jun-2001]
Johnson Matthey is planning to acquire Meconic, the Edinburgh-based manufacturer of pharmaceutical chemicals, for £147m. [22-Jun-2001]
Xenova, the biotechnology company, is to shed 45 jobs in Slough and Cambridge as part of a restructuring programme aimed at saving £9m a year. [22-Jun-2001]
BASF of Germany is planning to close 10 chemical plants worldwide, including its superabsorbents plant in Birkenhead and possibly some of the other 24 UK sites. [22-Jun-2001]
Oxford Glycosciences is forming a joint venture with NeoGenesis of the US to conduct research into "small molecule" drugs that can target proteins implicated in disease. [21-Jun-2001]
Amedis Pharmaceuticals has secured £4m of funding from Merlin Biosciences Fund and other venture capitalists to expand its drug development business. [20-Jun-2001]
Unilever is looking to sell Unipath, its Bedford-based contraceptive subsidiary with 480 staff. [20-Jun-2001]
KS Biomedix is planning to acquire Avicenna Medica of Canada for £42m, partly funded by a £16m share placing. [20-Jun-2001]
Oxford Glycosciences and Marconi are forming a £30m joint venture called Confirmant to develop a database of human proteins, and they will also offer IT outsourcing services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. [18-Jun-2001]
Hays is considering plans to sell its bulk and packaged chemicals business, which has an estimated value of between £80m and £150m. [18-Jun-2001]
GlaxoSmithKline has announced plans to close a pharmaceuticals plant in Speke with the loss of 500 jobs, shed 400 jobs at Barnard Castle, close two sites in Plymouth with the loss of 170 jobs and sell its chemicals plant in Montrose. [15-Jun-2001]
Norbrook Laboratories is to recruit 20 additional scientists at the former Scotia pharmaceuticals plant in Carlisle, and is also in negotiations to set up a chemical plant on a 40-acre site in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. [15-Jun-2001]
Cyclacel is planning to raise £34m in a share placing to fund the development of anti-cancer drugs, and is expected to seek a partnership with a large pharmaceutical group after the drugs have undergone clinical trials. [14-Jun-2001]
Millennium Pharma, the Cambridge-based drug discovery company, has started work on the construction of a new £23m European headquarters at Granta Park. [12-Jun-2001]
Hydro Agri is to shed 85 jobs at its fertiliser plant in Immingham in October, in order to transfer solids handling to Associated British Ports. [06-Jun-2001]
KPMG has completed a feasibility study into setting up a £22m National Gene Centre in Leicester, which would be developed by a partnership of health, industry and local government groups. [05-Jun-2001]
McBride is planning to raise £28m from the disposal of its 92.5% stake in Wrafton Laboratories, the Devon-based supplier of medicines. [04-Jun-2001]
Roche of Switzerland is to shed 700 jobs in Welwyn Garden City, as part of a global restructuring programme in its pharmaceuticals division that will result in 3,000 job losses. [31-May-2001]
Gower Chemicals has won a £0.2m Regional Selective Assistance grant to go towards a £0.8m expansion at its chemicals plant in Swansea, which will safeguard 60 jobs. [30-May-2001]
GlaxoSmithKline has begun a review of its global research and development programme, which could lead to a number of laboratory closures. [30-May-2001]
Gemini Genomics is to be acquired by Sequenom, the US gene sequencing company, for £140m. [30-May-2001]
Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge is planning to establish a new £8.6m centre for genetics research, in order to combine the facilities of three existing buildings. [24-May-2001]
BioFocus is to acquire Cambridge Drug Discovery, the drug screening specialist, for £27m, in order to offer a wider range of services to the pharmaceutical industry. [24-May-2001]
R&D Systems, the US distributor of biomedical research products, has set up a new £3m European headquarters in Abingdon, and expects to add to the 50 existing staff this year. [23-May-2001]
Cambridge Antibody Technology is forming an alliance with Immunex of the US to develop antibody-based treatments for auto-immune and inflammatory disorders. [22-May-2001]
Oxford Glycosciences and Dow AgroSciences are to take 73,000 sq ft of space at the Milton Business Park in Oxfordshire. [21-May-2001]
The European Bioinformatics Institute near Cambridge has secured £12m of EU funding to continue with its research into the analysis of data generated by genomics. [17-May-2001]
GW Pharmaceuticals is planning to raise £16m in a flotation on Aim in order to fund the development of new medicines derived from cannabis. [15-May-2001]
Cytomyx is planning to raise £3m in a flotation on Aim, in order to expand its drug research business and invest in genomic and proteomics technology. [14-May-2001]
PA Consulting is to provide £10m of funding to a new biotechnology company called Meridica, which will employ 30 people at its Cambridgeshire base to develop a new asthma inhaler. [08-May-2001]
Pfizer has announced plans to build a £134m pharmaceuticals research centre at Sandwich in Kent, with the creation of 400 jobs. [07-May-2001]
Wellcome Trust is planning to provide £150m of funding for the modernisation of research facilities at a number of universities. [07-May-2001]
Strakan Group has raised £30m in a private equity investment to fund the development of new drugs for bone and skin disease, and expects to create about 20 jobs at its Galashiels base. [04-May-2001]
Astex has raised £23m to fund its toxic drug discovery programme, which uses a high-speed version of X-ray crystallography. [04-May-2001]
Walter Lilly has been awarded a £10m contract to extend the Centre for Gene Function at Oxford University, and will start work next month. [02-May-2001]
AstraZeneca is to open a £69m pharmaceuticals plant in the Wuxi New District of China, where it will employ 280 people manufacturing products for the domestic market. [30-Apr-2001]
LGC is planning to set up a multi-million pound DNA profiling laboratory in Runcorn, creating scores of scientific jobs. [27-Apr-2001]
Clariant has sold AB Vickers, the Burton-based supplier of brewing industry chemicals, to Lallemand of Canada for undisclosed terms. [27-Apr-2001]
ABB Eutech, the Swiss-owned supplier of project management services to the chemical industry, is to shed up to 50 jobs at sites in Cheshire and Teesside. [26-Apr-2001]
Phoenix Healthcare Distribution has acquired Tatfords, the Cosham-based pharmaceuticals wholesaler, for £8m. [25-Apr-2001]
Huntsman is to recruit 10 new workers at its recently-acquired Rhodia chemical plant in Whitehaven. [23-Apr-2001]
Bioglan is planning to buy or set up new companies in Italy and Spain later this year, as part of a strategy to expand its speciality pharmaceuticals business across Europe. [20-Apr-2001]
HBG has won a £16m contract for the construction of a Biological Sciences Research Centre at the University of Liverpool. [19-Apr-2001]
South Gloucestershire Council is considering plans from Bristol University and London-based Howsmoor Developments for the development of an international science park on a 70-acre site at Emersons Green, which could create 5,000 jobs. [19-Apr-2001]
FW Pharma Systems, the developer of administrative software for the pharmaceuticals industry, is relocating its Birmingham office and 90 staff to Brindley Place. [18-Apr-2001]
AstraZeneca is to acquire the rights to develop cancer treatment based on the work of Cyclacel in Dundee, in a £8m deal. [17-Apr-2001]
North West Development Agency has announced plans for the development of a £8m science park at the Daresbury Laboratory in Warrington, which will involve new offices and laboratory facilities on a 13-acre site. [12-Apr-2001]
The University of St Andrews has been awarded £2.3m from the DTI and Wellcome Trust-backed Joint Infrastructure Fund to set up new drug discovery facilities. [11-Apr-2001]
PPL Therapeutics is seeking new ways to fund its drug development programme, having dropped plans for a £45m share issue. [11-Apr-2001]
Umist is to build a new £28m disease research complex in Manchester, bringing together experts from across the university's biomedical, analytical science and chemistry departments. [09-Apr-2001]
Ardana Bioscience has raised £2m to fund clinical trials for its first three products, and a larger fundraising exercise is expected over the next few months. [09-Apr-2001]
Galen is considering a number of potential sites for a new £10m research and development centre in Northern Ireland, which will create up to 100 jobs, and is also due to start work on a new manufacturing plant at Ardee in Co Louth next month. [05-Apr-2001]
Celltech is planning to increase its US salesforce by 40% to 400, having won approval to launch its Metadate hyperactivity drug. [05-Apr-2001]
Mason Coatings is to close its industrial coatings factory in Derby next February with the loss of 125 jobs. [04-Apr-2001]
Watts Blake Bearne is to relocate its corporate headquarters from Newton Abbot to sister company Sibelco Minerals & Chemicals in Cheshire, with the loss of up to 70 jobs. [04-Apr-2001]
BOC is planning to buy the remaining 45% of Osaka Sanso Kogyo, its Japanese industrial gases affiliate, for £87m. [04-Apr-2001]
Alizyme is planning to increase its investment in drug research and development, using its £22m cash pile. [03-Apr-2001]
Alcan Chemicals Europe is transferring its Technical Group from Banbury to Burntisland in Fife with the creation of a small number of jobs, in order to further the development of fire retardants and powders for refractories and ceramics. [30-Mar-2001]
SSL International is to shed 140 jobs at a factory in Bootle in order to transfer production of pharmaceutical and medical products to its new plant in Peterlee. [30-Mar-2001]
Ascot, the chemical engineering group, has accepted a £305m takeover bid from Dow Chemical of the US, and has also announced the sale of Nationwide Refrigeration Supplies to Wolseley for £22m. [30-Mar-2001]
Infineum, the petrochemical additives company, is planning to build a £12m technology centre at Milton near Abingdon. [29-Mar-2001]
AstraZeneca has announced plans to invest £110m in new laboratory and office facilities at its Alderley Park research site near Macclesfield. [28-Mar-2001]
British Biotech is to sell its Oxford headquarters in a £11m sale and leaseback deal, as part of a strategy to sell non-core assets to fund drug development. [26-Mar-2001]
Procter & Gamble is planning to shed a further 9,600 jobs in its worldwide consumer products business, which is expected to include an unspecified number of cuts in its 6,000-strong UK workforce. [23-Mar-2001]
GlaxoSmithKline is looking to sell its Affymax drug discovery business in the US for about £280m, and discussions are taking place with venture capital groups and other potential financial buyers. [22-Mar-2001]
Alliance UniChem is planning to invest a further £6m in internet activities this year, and will launch its web-based pharmaceuticals trading system into more countries. [22-Mar-2001]
PPL Therapeutics is planning to raise £45m in an equity issue in order to support the group until its first drug is launched in 2004. [19-Mar-2001]
Oxford Glycosciences is planning to expand its biotechnology business into drug development, and is seeking potential partners in order to minimise the infrastructure costs. [16-Mar-2001]
Celltech is looking to strengthen its biotechnology business by making technology and product acquisitions, and is particularly interested in expanding in the US. [15-Mar-2001]
Reckitt Benckiser is to acquire Oxy, the South Korean manufacturer of household and personal care products, for £87m. [13-Mar-2001]
Alberto Culver is considering plans to double production at its cosmetics factory in Swansea, with the creation of hundreds of new jobs. [08-Mar-2001]
Croda Chemicals is to close a production unit for non-speciality liquid products at its Barnfields site in Leek, with the loss off 20 jobs. [08-Mar-2001]
Celltech has announced a licensing deal with Pharmacia of the US for the development of a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, and will receive an upfront payment of £34m. [06-Mar-2001]
RiboTargets is forming a drug development alliance with Johnson & Johnson of the US, which will raise up to £20m to commercialise new types of antibiotics. [05-Mar-2001]
Croda International has sold its 50% stake in the Croda Herberts car paints business in Australia to DuPont Performance Coatings for about £5m, which completes its withdrawal from paints and coatings. [05-Mar-2001]
Oxford Biomedica is planning to raise up to £30m in a share offer in order to fund international expansion and clinical trials for new gene therapy-based products. [05-Mar-2001]
Glasgow University, Strathclyde University and Edinburgh University are to benefit from a £90m investment fund to develop drugs, in a new scheme unveiled by the Scottish Executive. [02-Mar-2001]
Ineos Chlor of Belgium is to shed about 600 jobs at chemical plants acquired from ICI, including 450 at Runcorn, 63 at Northwich and 105 at Wilton. [01-Mar-2001]
Reckitt Benckiser is looking to acquire suppliers of household cleaning and personal care products in Asia-Pacific and Latin America. [01-Mar-2001]
First Water is looking to recruit 10 scientists for a new £3m research centre being set up in Ramsbury, Wiltshire, where it will develop specialised dressings for burns and other skin treatments. [28-Feb-2001]
Nycomed Amersham is planning to float a 10% stake in its APB biotechnology division on Nasdaq, in order to raise funds to acquire drug discovery businesses. [28-Feb-2001]
Novartis has opened a £40m research centre in Horsham to develop treatments for respiratory diseases, and the site will employ 180 scientists. [28-Feb-2001]
Clariant is considering plans to close its fine chemicals factory in Liverpool with the loss of 37 jobs, unless a buyer can be found. [26-Feb-2001]
Hunter-Fleming has acquired AEGIS, the pharmaceutical research company spun out of the University of Bristol, for £3m. [26-Feb-2001]
Pharmaceutical Profiles is to open a new £2.5m research facility at Ruddington Fields in Nottingham in March, including three clinical imaging suites, laboratories, offices and a lecture theatre. [23-Feb-2001]
GlaxoSmithKline has confirmed plans to restructure its research operations into six competing biotechnology units, including two in the UK, three in the US and one in Italy. [23-Feb-2001]
Xenova is to acquire Cantab Pharmaceuticals, the Cambridge-based vaccines company, for £53m. [20-Feb-2001]
Procter & Gamble has confirmed plans to build a second multi-million pound office complex at its headquarters in North Tyneside, in order to house 300 staff by March 2002. [19-Feb-2001]
The University of Manchester is to become the home of a new £9m Centre for Organic Materials, as part of an initiative by the government and the North West Development Agency to promote economic growth in the region. [16-Feb-2001]
Cellmark Diagnostics, the Abingdon-based DNA testing company, has been bought by Orchid BioSciences of the US for undisclosed terms. [16-Feb-2001]
Syngenta is looking to sell its 90-acre site at Fernhurst, and is seeking an alternative location nearby for its European crop protection headquarters. [16-Feb-2001]
BP Amoco has shortlisted three companies to buy Burmah Castrol's speciality chemicals division, which could fetch up to £800m. [14-Feb-2001]
Profiad has raised £5m from Mercury Private Equity to fund the expansion of its drug research business in Reading. [14-Feb-2001]
Merck Sharp & Dohme is planning a £170m expansion at its pharmaceuticals site in Hoddesdon over the next 15 years, which will involve a new laboratory, additional office space and the creation of 350 jobs. [13-Feb-2001]
Acordis is to close its viscose plant in Grimsby in May with the loss of almost 200 jobs, although the site will still employ 600 people in the production of fibre from its Tencel and Courtelle plants. [13-Feb-2001]
Celltech has sold Armstrong, the supplier of aerosol inhalation products, to Andrx Corporation of the US for £12m. [13-Feb-2001]
Aortech is planning to raise £64m in a share issue in order to fund acquisitions and the development of new healthcare devices. [13-Feb-2001]
Antisoma is planning to raise £12m in a share issue or product licensing deal to fund the commercial development of its cancer drugs. [08-Feb-2001]
Galen is looking to expand its pharmaceuticals business in continental Europe and the US, but its services division, which prepares medicines for clinical trials, is now regarded as non-core. [07-Feb-2001]
Celltech has formed an alliance with Abgenix of the US that will give it access to new technology for the development of antibody-based medicines. [07-Feb-2001]
The University of Birmingham has been awarded £45m by the Joint Infrastructure Fund to develop its position as a major centre for international research, including the creation of a national biomolecular research unit. [06-Feb-2001]
Whatman is to acquire HemaSure, the US producer of blood filtration products, for up to £17m. [06-Feb-2001]
Genzyme of the US is to build a £37m biotechnology production plant in Haverhill to meet rising demand for its Renegal kidney drug, with the creation of 200 jobs. [02-Feb-2001]
AstraZeneca is to outsource its global IT infrastructure to IBM in a £1.2bn deal, which will involve the transfer of up to 1,200 staff. [02-Feb-2001]
ICI is planning to sell Cheshire-based Eutech Engineering Solutions, which employs 550 people, to Swiss technology firm ABB. [31-Jan-2001]
AstraZeneca is looking to increase its share of the Japanese pharmaceutical market, which could involve buying into a Japanese group to strengthen its marketing and research capabilities. [31-Jan-2001]
Protherics has raised £3.1m in a share placing in order to fund the expansion of its pharmaceutical production facilities. [30-Jan-2001]
PPL Therapeutics has confirmed plans to build a £42m bio-manufacturing facility at the Gowkley Moss Farm site near Penicuik, Midlothian, where it will employ up to 250 people. [29-Jan-2001]
Pfizer is to close its laboratories at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge this year, in order to relocate 100 scientists to its research campus in Kent. [26-Jan-2001]
Syngenta is seeking permission to open a £50m agrochemicals plant at Grangemouth in May to produce a new fungicide called picoxystrobin. [26-Jan-2001]
Unilever is to shed 60 jobs at its DiverseyLever cleaning products distribution depot in South Normanton, Derbyshire, and there will also be cuts at depots in Bristol, Carlisle and Waltham Cross. [26-Jan-2001]
Shire is planning to cut research costs and make annual savings of £22m following the acquisition of BioChem of Canada, and has also announced an intention to move into the Japanese pharmaceuticals market. [26-Jan-2001]
Scotia is looking to refinance its biotechnology business following the rejection of its Foscan drug by European regulators, prompting concern about the future of 200 jobs. [25-Jan-2001]
Nova Chemicals of Canada is setting up an operating centre for its European styrenics business near Manchester Airport, with the creation of 50 jobs. [23-Jan-2001]
Babraham Institute has selected Churchmanor Estates as its partner for the development of a £50m biotechnology research campus, which will provide new laboratory facilities for start-up companies in the Cambridge area. [22-Jan-2001]
AstraZeneca has sold its dental anaesthetics business to Dentsply International of the US for £91m. [22-Jan-2001]
EniChem has started work on a £3.3m extension at its synthetics operation in Grangemouth, in order to produce a new "green" rubber to make tyres that will help motorists save on fuel. [19-Jan-2001]
AstraZeneca is to invest £37m in the expansion of its Macclesfield plant, due to rising demand for its Seroquel treatment for schizophrenia. [16-Jan-2001]
Avidex, the developer of immune system technology, has raised £10m of venture capital to fund new drug development programmes. [15-Jan-2001]
BP is looking to sell is plastic fabrications and fibres operations for an estimated £400m, as part of a strategy to focus its chemicals business on petrochemical intermediates. [12-Jan-2001]
York Inward Investment Board has announced that two US companies are setting up UK headquarters in York - protective coatings manufacturer Williams Hayward and audio-visual components supplier Autopatch. [11-Jan-2001]
Rosgen, the genetic testing specialist, has gone into voluntary liquidation, having failed to raise additional funds for expansion. [10-Jan-2001]
Skyepharma is to receive a £20m equity investment from Paul Capital Partners of the US to fund clinical trials of a new painkiller drug. [10-Jan-2001]
Contract Chemicals is to close its speciality chemicals plant in Gloucester with the loss of 70 jobs. [08-Jan-2001]
Bioglan has acquired the skincare business of Hexal of Germany for £16m, and is now looking to more than double the size of its German salesforce. [04-Jan-2001]
Oxxon Pharmaccines has raised £4.7m to fund the development of in-house research facilities and clinical trials of its new therapeutic vaccines. [04-Jan-2001]
ICI has raised £52m from the sale of its UK-based methanol business to Methanex of Canada and the sale of its share in the Phillips-Imperial Petroleum joint venture to Petroplus. [03-Jan-2001]
Medical Solutions has acquired Quinoderm, the producer of dermatology products, for £3.7m, and is now seeking further acquisitions. [03-Jan-2001]
Oxford Biomedica is seeking a partner to fund the development of its TroVax cancer vaccine, and is also planning to seek a listing on London's main market. [03-Jan-2001]
Albright & Wilson, the manufacturer of cleaning fluids, is being sold by Rhodia of France to Huntsman of the US for undisclosed terms, and its Whitehaven plant will be jointly operated by Huntsman and Rhodia's phosphates division. [02-Jan-2001]
Scottish Enterprise has proposed plans to develop a biomedical research park in the Little France area of Edinburgh, and Deloitte & Touche has won a contract to design the blueprint. [02-Jan-2001]