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Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals 2004
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The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
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Immunodiagnostic Systems has raised £1.8m in a flotation on Aim to fund the development of a diagnostic test for the MRSA infection. 27-Dec-2004 GlaxoSmithKline is to shed a further 100 jobs at its antibiotics plant in Ulverston, Cumbria. 20-Dec-2004 Pharmion, the pharmaceuticals company, is to set up a 20,000 sq ft office at Riverside House in Windsor. 20-Dec-2004 Montagne Jeunesse is to set up a cosmetics factory at the Baglan Energy Park in Port Talbot early next year, in order to transfer production from Swansea and Horsham. 14-Dec-2004 Premier Research has raised £8m in a share placing to fund the expansion of its Berkshire-based pharmaceutical development outsourcing business. 06-Dec-2004 AstraZeneca is to set up a £21m pharmaceuticals manufacturing plant in Egypt in 2007, with the creation of 140 jobs. 02-Dec-2004 ProPharma is planning to double the workforce at its Glasgow-based biotechnology business to 60 over the next three years. 01-Dec-2004 Catapult Venture Managers has helped Food & Drug Analytical Services raise £0.5m to fund the creation of a new Nottingham-based business to provide analytical services for the food and pharmaceutical sectors. 26-Nov-2004 Invista is planning to shed up to 150 jobs at its fibres plant in Gloucester over the next three months. 26-Nov-2004 Rhodia Chemicals is planning to close its chlor-alkali plant at Staveley near Chesterfield, with the loss of 76 jobs. 25-Nov-2004 AstraZeneca is investing £75m in Cambridge Antibody Technology, in order to co-operate in the development of anti-inflammatory drugs. 23-Nov-2004 Eastman Kodak is to close five photographic laboratories in Glasgow, Northampton, Portishead, Walsall and Bristol next year, with the loss of about 500 jobs. 18-Nov-2004 DuPont is creating 40 new jobs at its Kevlar manufacturing plant at Maydown in Londonderry, having secured £2.5m of financial assistance from Invest NI. 18-Nov-2004 Martindale Pharmaceuticals is to close its recently-acquired Eldon Laboratories in Newcastle with the loss of up to 85 jobs, in order to transfer the work to its main site at Brentwood in Essex. 11-Nov-2004 Inpharmatica, the drug discovery company with 100 staff in London and Cambridge, has raised £14m in a third round financing led by Reed Elsevier Ventures. 10-Nov-2004 DSM is planning to shed 200 jobs at its vitamin factory in Dalry, Scotland, as part of a cost-cutting programme. 08-Nov-2004 Huntsman is to shed 140 jobs at its chemicals plant in Whitehaven by the end of 2006, taking the workforce down to just ten. 01-Nov-2004 Syntopix, the Leeds-based life sciences company, has secured a £0.2m capital investment to fund the development of new drugs for dermatological diseases. 29-Oct-2004 Ciba Specialty Chemicals is to close its textile dyes and chemicals plant in east Manchester by 2008, with the loss of 300 jobs. 28-Oct-2004 Strakan has raised £22m from investors to fund the expansion of its Borders-based pharmaceuticals business, and is interested in product and corporate acquisitions. 27-Oct-2004 Cambridge Biostability has secured £1m of funding from the Department of International Development to develop a new technique that enables vaccines to be stored without the need for refrigeration. 20-Oct-2004 Sarissa Biomedical has secured a £0.5m investment from Midven and WM Enterprise to fund the commercial development of devices for use in neurophysiology diagnostics. 14-Oct-2004 Aventis, the pharmaceuticals company, is said to be planning to close its West Malling office in Kent with the loss of up to 240 jobs, in order to consolidate the work in Guildford. 14-Oct-2004 Synairgen is planning to raise up to £10m in a flotation on Aim to fund the development of new asthma treatments. 13-Oct-2004 GlaxoSmithKline is to close its pharmaceuticals plant in Montrose in 2006, with the loss of 300 jobs. 11-Oct-2004 Sareum Holdings, the drug discovery company, has raised £2m in a share placing on Aim. 11-Oct-2004 Allergy Therapeutics, the supplier of allergy pollen vaccines, has raised £16m in a share placing on Aim. 11-Oct-2004 CeNes is to raise £11m in a share placing to fund the development of a pain relief drug. 06-Oct-2004 Eastman Kodak is to close its photographic film factory in Nottinghamshire next year with the loss of 350 jobs, while a further 250 jobs will be lost at its base in Harrow. 06-Oct-2004 VASTox, the drug screening company spun out of Oxford University, is planning to raise up to £15m in a flotation on Aim next month. 04-Oct-2004 Scottish Enterprise has announced the creation of the Edinburgh Scientific Triangle, in order to unite 3,300 researchers at seven Edinburgh-based life sciences and microchip design institutions under one brand name. 04-Oct-2004 Solexa, the Cambridge-based genome sequencing company, has raised a further £8m of venture capital to fund the commercial development of its technology. 01-Oct-2004 Protherics has disposed of its Porton Down research facility in Wiltshire to Morvus, but will retain first refusal on certain products developed at the site. 24-Sep-2004 Rhodia Pharma Solutions is to shed 85 jobs from the 350-strong workforce at its plant in North Tyneside, following a decline in its key markets over the past six months. 21-Sep-2004 Warner Chilcott, the pharmaceuticals group formerly known as Galen, has received a £1.5bn takeover approach from three US private equity firms. 21-Sep-2004 Provalis has raised £2.6m in a share placing to help satisfy rising demand for its new diabetes diagnostic product. 20-Sep-2004 Nalco is expected to temporarily shut down production at its chemical factory in Winnington, Cheshire, due to a dispute with unions. 17-Sep-2004 Bachem has set up a new £1.1m pharmaceuticals laboratory in St Helens, with the creation of six jobs. 17-Sep-2004 Huntsman Petrochemicals has announced plans to build a £200m low-density polyethylene plant on Teesside by 2007, with the creation of 117 jobs, and two existing plants will be upgraded. 08-Sep-2004 KHIDI, the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, is looking to invest up to £18m in Scottish drug development research projects over the next nine years, having established a new office at the West of Scotland Science Park in Glasgow. 07-Sep-2004 British Vita is looking to expand its chemicals and plastics business by spending £50m a year on acquisitions. 07-Sep-2004 Alcontrol, the laboratory analysis, is to be put up for sale by Bridgepoint Capital with an estimated value of £220m. 06-Sep-2004 Arakis of Cambridge has raised £29m from investors to fund clinical trials for its drug development programme. 06-Sep-2004 The Scottish Centre for Genomic Technology & Informatics (GTI) has secured a £4.5m funding package to support the commercialisation of life sciences research at the University of Edinburgh. 01-Sep-2004 Albion Chemicals is to build a £1.5m bulk terminal and chemicals distribution centre at the Port of Belfast by next summer. 27-Aug-2004 Rhodia Pharma Solutions has secured a £1.8m investment from the Scottish Executive to help with a £10m scheme to upgrade its site in Annan over the next three years. 24-Aug-2004 Upstate, the drugs services group, is to relocate its European operations to a new headquarters at the Invergowrie technical park near Dundee later this year, with the transfer of staff from Milton Keynes and Cambridge. 24-Aug-2004 The Department of Trade & Industry has awarded grants totalling £15m to 25 nanotechnology research projects, while a further £3m is going to Inex, the Newcastle-based microsystems and nanotechnology facility. 24-Aug-2004 Unipath, the supplier of women's health products, is to shed about 25 of the 500 jobs at its site in Bedford this autumn. 20-Aug-2004 The Centre for Life in Newcastle is considering plans for a £250m expansion of its medical research facilities, which would involve the development of 500,000 sq ft of additional space over the next ten years. 19-Aug-2004 Physiomics is planning to raise £1m in a flotation on Aim, to fund the development of software that studies cell reaction to various drugs. 16-Aug-2004 ALcontrol Laboratories is to relocate some of its soil contamination laboratory facilities and up to 200 jobs from Cheshire to the new Hawarden Business Park in Flintshire later this year. 13-Aug-2004 North East Lincolnshire Council has approved plans to set up a £6m training centre in Stallingborough by October 2005, in order to train staff for jobs in the chemical industry in the Immingham and Grimsby areas. 12-Aug-2004 Molecular Profiles is to relocate its Nottingham laboratory to a new £2m site on the Nottingham Business Park in October. 02-Aug-2004 Protherics is to raise about £10m in a share placing, and some of the proceeds will be invested in its biopharmaceuticals plants in Wales and Australia. 21-Jul-2004 Cozart has raised £6.7m in a flotation on Aim to fund the expansion of its narcotics testing business. 21-Jul-2004 Rhodia is to stop producing hydrofluoric acid at its chemicals factory in Avonmouth later this year, with the loss of 59 jobs. 15-Jul-2004 NeuTec Pharma is planning to raise up to £25m to fund the European launch of Mycograb, an antibody for fungal infections. 13-Jul-2004 Disperse Technologies is to transfer its listing from Ofex to Aim, following the £9m acquisition of cosmetics importer Elizabeth French. 12-Jul-2004 Microscience, the Wokingham-based developer of oral vaccines, is expected to seek private funding, having dropped plans to raise £40m in a flotation on Aim. 12-Jul-2004 Actavis, the Icelandic pharmaceuticals company with 7,000 staff, is planning a flotation in London early next year. 05-Jul-2004 Cyclacel is to raise £27m in a flotation to fund the expansion of its cancer drugs business. 05-Jul-2004 Witton Chemical Company is to shed about 12 of the 60 jobs at its fine chemicals factory in Mildenhall. 02-Jul-2004 Syngenta is to close its genetically modified crops laboratory at Jealott's Hill in Berkshire with the loss of 130 jobs, in order to transfer the work to North Carolina in the US. 01-Jul-2004 Ipsen Biopharm is to shed 80 jobs at its pharmaceuticals plant in Wrexham and 17 at a site in Watton, Norfolk, in order to stop producing a medicine for the treatment of haemophilia. 30-Jun-2004 Pharmaceutical Profiles is creating 20 new jobs at its Nottingham-based clinical research business, with vacancies for technicians, project managers, laboratory and administration staff. 29-Jun-2004 Alberto Culver is planning to shed a number of the 414 jobs at its shampoo factory in Swansea, following the loss of a major contract from Henkel. 28-Jun-2004 Terra Nitrogen has secured £0.25m of Regional Selective Assistance to finance the £2.1m upgrade of its ammonia manufacturing facility in Billingham. 21-Jun-2004 Constance Carroll Cosmetics is to shed about 50 jobs in Skelmersdale over the next two months. 18-Jun-2004 One NorthEast and the Department for Trade & Industry are to award a £3.8m funding package to establish an Institute for Bioinformatics at university and business locations in the North East. 15-Jun-2004 Vectura is planning to raise up to £25m in a flotation on Aim to fund the commercial development of its inhalers. 15-Jun-2004 Evolutec is planning to raise £7.5m in a flotation on Aim to fund the development of new drugs. 14-Jun-2004 Bayer CropScience is to shed 80 jobs at its formulating and packing department at Hauxton, Cambridgeshire. 07-Jun-2004 Bartoline has unveiled plans to build a new £5m 60,000 sq ft solvents factory in Beverley by December, following last year's fire at its previous site. 03-Jun-2004 Ardana, the Edinburgh-based biotechnology company, has secured £9m of new funding to expand its sales and marketing operations and to pursue further licensing opportunities. 28-May-2004 Perbio Science is to create 40 jobs in Cramlington over the next two years, following the £7m expansion at its HyClone bioscience pharmaceuticals factory. 27-May-2004 Intertek is to acquire Avecia's analytical sciences laboratory in Manchester, with the transfer of 53 staff, having won a contract to provide chemical testing services to Avecia. 17-May-2004 ACS Dobfar UK is to stop manufacturing penicillin at its Bedlington plant in Northumberland with the loss of up to 170 jobs, and its Italian parent company is seeking a buyer for the site. 12-May-2004 National Starch & Chemical is closing its adhesives factory in Tilbury Docks, with the loss of about 50 jobs. 06-May-2004 Galen is to acquire a pharmaceuticals manufacturing facility in Puerto Rico from Pfizer, in order to reduce its reliance on third parties for the production of its existing products. 05-May-2004 Ciba Specialty Chemicals is to shed about 90 of the 1,175 jobs at its chemicals plant in Bradford. 04-May-2004 Amersham, the biotechnology and medical imaging company, is expected to shed up to 100 jobs in Buckinghamshire over the next 12 months, following its acquisition by GE. 30-Apr-2004 One NorthEast has announced a £6.5m funding package for the Centre for Life laboratory in Newcastle, which will go towards research into degenerative diseases. 28-Apr-2004 Cardinal Health is planning to shed up to 70 of the 900 jobs at its pharmaceuticals manufacturing business in Swindon. 26-Apr-2004 The Department of Trade & Industry is planning to set up a research centre to develop alternatives to animal testing, and the Medical Research Council may be given a leading role in the project. 26-Apr-2004 Angel Biotechnology has raised £1.8m of venture capital funding to set up a clinical manufacturing facility in Northumberland by the end of the year, with the creation of 12 jobs. 20-Apr-2004 British Biocell International is planning to raise £3m in a flotation on Aim, in order to fund the expansion of its diagnostics business. 14-Apr-2004 DuPont is to shed 4,000 of the 78,000 jobs in its worldwide chemicals business, which could affect some of its six sites in the UK. 14-Apr-2004 Huntsman Tioxide is to shed about half of the 340 jobs at its titanium dioxide pigment plant in Grimsby by the end of the year, while 50 jobs will be lost at its Billingham site. 06-Apr-2004 Norwood Immunology is planning to raise £15m in a flotation on Aim to fund the development of new treatments to combat immune system diseases. 05-Apr-2004 Eastman Chemical is to close its copolyesters production plant in Hartlepool with the loss of 75 jobs, in order to consolidate production in the US. 31-Mar-2004 Oxford Biomedica has won a £0.5m grant to research treatments for Haemophilia A, as part of a £4m investment in gene therapy by the Department of Health. 31-Mar-2004 BP is looking to sell 60% of its chemicals division, including its olefins production business, having ring-fenced £3.3bn of petrochemical assets. 30-Mar-2004 Clariant is to close its speciality chemicals plant in Beverley next year with the loss of 120 jobs, in order to transfer production to its site in Selby. 26-Mar-2004 Estee Lauder, the cosmetics company, has confirmed plans to relocate up to 300 jobs from Petersfield to a new £10m warehouse, manufacturing and office complex in Fareham early next year. 22-Mar-2004 Acolyte Biomedica has raised £3.7m of venture capital to fund the development of a test for drug-resistant superbugs. 22-Mar-2004 Arakis is looking to raise £25m from investors to fund the expansion of its drug development business. 22-Mar-2004 Pochin has won a £15m contract to build a pharmaceutical production facility for Evans Vaccines in Speke. 18-Mar-2004 Monitor Coatings is looking to more than double the 32-strong workforce at its Wallsend-based coatings manufacturing business, and is relocating to a larger site at the West Chirton Industrial Estate. 17-Mar-2004 GlaxoSmithKline is planning to set up a £76m medical imaging research centre at Hammersmith Hospital in London, in partnership with Imperial College and the Medical Research Council. 17-Mar-2004 AstraZeneca is to invest £16m in new drug discovery facilities at its Charnwood site by 2006, with the creation of 75 scientific jobs, and has also provided details of a further investment at Alderley Park in Cheshire. 17-Mar-2004 Meller Home & Beauty is to cut 100 temporary jobs at its toiletries factory in Portsmouth, in order to transfer work to Thailand. 16-Mar-2004 Shire Pharmaceuticals is looking to spend up to £550m on a large acquisition, as part of a strategy to reduce its reliance on its hyperactivity drug. 12-Mar-2004 Huntsman is to shed a further 45 of the 160 jobs at its chemical factory in Whitehaven. 10-Mar-2004 Astex has announced a multi-million pound collaboration agreement with Boehringer of Germany, which will involve the development of new drugs using Astex's Pyramid technology. 10-Mar-2004 Intercell of Austria has acquired the Excell Biotech manufacturing plant in Livingston in order to develop treatments for infectious diseases and cancer, but 23 of the site's 46 jobs will be lost. 04-Mar-2004 British Vita, the foam manufacturer, has raised £68m from the sale of its remaining stake in Spartech of the US, and can now invest up to £150m in new plant, acquisitions and equity repurchases. 02-Mar-2004 Chiron has started work on the £53m expansion of its vaccine manufacturing plant in Liverpool, in order to cope with rising demand from the US. 27-Feb-2004 Tissue Science Laboratories is raising £2.6m in a share placing, in order to strengthen its balance sheet in preparation for licensing talks for its human tissue repair products. 27-Feb-2004 Atofina is to reorganise its UK operations by setting up a new sales office in Stalybridge for its petrochemicals business and a new sales office for its chlorochemicals and performance products business in Solihull. 27-Feb-2004 Phytopharm has raised £6.5m in a share placing, in order to strengthen its balance sheet and increase production of plant-based pharmaceuticals. 26-Feb-2004 Domantis has raised £18m from 3i and a number of US-based investors to fund the expansion of its drug development business. 23-Feb-2004 BP Chemicals is to close its Isopropanol production plant at Baglan Bay in Port Talbot next month, with the loss of 55 jobs. 19-Feb-2004 Brecon Pharmaceuticals is planning to double the size of its production plant in Hay-on-Wye with the creation of 100 jobs. 19-Feb-2004 Orla Protein Technologies has secured a £0.3m grant from Northern Enterprise to expand its nanobiotechnology business and collaborate with global pharmaceutical groups. 17-Feb-2004 GeneMedix, the generic drug developer, is in takeover talks with a potential partner that would provide marketing opportunities in the US and Europe. 17-Feb-2004 Estee Lauder, the cosmetics company, is to set up a 200,000 sq ft distribution centre in Fareham, Hampshire. 16-Feb-2004 BTG is to raise £27m in a rights issue to fund the commercial development of its Varisolve treatment for varicose veins. 13-Feb-2004 York Inward Investment Board has announced that Efamol is to set up a headquarters for its fatty acids research and marketing business in Selby, with the creation of ten jobs. 13-Feb-2004 Accelrys is creating 30 new jobs at its biotechnology software business in Cambridge. 12-Feb-2004 PZ Cussons is to sell its 1001 carpet care brand to WD-40 Company of the US for £6m, in order to focus on personal care products. 11-Feb-2004 Amersham, the diagnostic imaging company, has announced proposals to build a multi-million pound headquarters and conference centre at its base in Chalfont St Giles. 09-Feb-2004 BBSRC is considering proposals to close the Silsoe Research Institute in Bedfordshire in 2006, with the loss of up to 130 jobs, in order to transfer its agricultural research to other institutes. 09-Feb-2004 Ark Therapeutics, the biotechnology group, is considering plans for a flotation with a valuation of more than £100m. 09-Feb-2004 Eastman Chemical is considering plans to shed some of the 80 jobs at its plant in Hartlepool, as part of a worldwide reorganisation of its copolyester manufacturing operations. 06-Feb-2004 Xcellsyz is looking to raise up to £5m of venture capital to fund its research into diabetes, and expects to increase its Newcastle-based workforce from 10 to 30. 04-Feb-2004 Acambis is to close its vaccine research centre in Cambridge with the loss of 40 jobs, in order to focus its biotechnology research activities in the US. 02-Feb-2004 Lab901 has raised £1m in cash and grant assistance to fund the commercial development of its ScreenTape DNA testing equipment, and is looking to recruit six scientists. 30-Jan-2004 ML Laboratories is planning to raise £14m in a share issue, in order to recapitalise its business following a delay to a number of drug licensing deals. 29-Jan-2004 Great Lakes Chemical Corp is in negotiations to sell its chemicals manufacturing plant in Anglesey to Canatxx Energy Ventures of the US, which could result in the site being linked to a planned gas storage plant in Fleetwood. 28-Jan-2004 CP Pharmaceuticals is planning to shed up to 99 of the 440 jobs at its plant in Wrexham. 26-Jan-2004 Eastman Kodak is planning to shed 15,000 jobs from its worldwide workforce, which could affect an office in Hemel Hempstead and photographic chemical factories in Liverpool and Nottinghamshire. 23-Jan-2004 Fruiting Bodies, the Llangadog-based producer of medicinal mushroom extracts, has secured an investment from Finance Wales to expand its facilities and increase its workforce to about 50 over the next three years. 22-Jan-2004 The Moredun Research Institute in Edinburgh has secured £1.5m from the government to fund the commercial development of biomedical science and food production research being conducted by the Genomia consortium. 20-Jan-2004 Genzyme of the US is to set up a biotechnology research facility in Cambridge this year, with 150 staff. 14-Jan-2004 Nimbus Laboratories is to close its soap factory in Northampton in March, with the loss of 69 jobs. 12-Jan-2004 Pfizer is to close its sales and marketing office in Southampton in March with the loss of up to 115 jobs, while a further 60 staff will relocate to its headquarters in Surrey. 08-Jan-2004 Diosynth is to shed 70 jobs at its pharmaceuticals production plant in Buckhaven, Fife. 08-Jan-2004 Xenova has sold an antibodies research facility in Farnham to Bioventix for £0.8m. 07-Jan-2004 PPL Therapeutics, the biotechnology company, is selling its nuclear transfer patents to Exeter Life Sciences of the US for £0.8m. 01-Jan-2004 The information below comes from the UK Activity Report. 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