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Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals 2005
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The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
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AstraZeneca is planning to acquire KuDOS Pharmaceuticals, the biotechnology company with 75 staff in Cambridge and Horsham, for £121m. 28-Dec-2005 BioProgress is to relocate its Cambridgeshire-based pharmaceuticals business and 15 staff from the town of March to the Cambridge Science Park in February. 27-Dec-2005 Merck Sharp & Dohme is to shed 60 jobs at its prescription medicines factory in Enfield, and plans are being drawn up to sell or close the site by the end of next year with the loss of the remaining 80 jobs. 15-Dec-2005 GW Pharmaceuticals is to receive a £12m up-front payment from Almirall Prodesfarma of Spain for a £46m deal to market its Sativex treatment for multiple sclerosis in continental Europe. 13-Dec-2005 Protherics has secured a £7.5m equity investment from AstraZeneca, and AZ will also fund a £16m expansion of Protherics' biopharmaceuticals production facilities. 12-Dec-2005 LifeScan, the Inverness-based supplier of diabetic testing equipment with 1,500 staff, is considering sites in Europe, the US and the central belt of Scotland for a new factory. 09-Dec-2005 Hygieia Healthcare, the Bideford-based supplier of antibacterial skin creams, is considering plans for a flotation early next year. 08-Dec-2005 Ronseal, the manufacturer of wood preservatives, is to invest £8m in a new 90,000 sq ft warehouse at its Chapeltown site in Sheffield, with the creation of about 40 jobs. 07-Dec-2005 Victrex is to invest £75m in the expansion of its thermoplastics business over the next three years, including a new £29m factory at its Thornton Cleveleys site in Lancashire. 07-Dec-2005 The Department of Health has announced government plans to invest £100m in stem cell research over the next two years, in order to support centres of excellence, the UK Stem Cell Bank, cell production facilities and NHS clinical research. 05-Dec-2005 ITI Techmedia has announced a £10m research project for diagnosing and treating infectious diseases, in partnership with Axis-Shield, Lab901, Haptogen and the Scottish Centre for Genomic Technology & Informatics. 01-Dec-2005 One NorthEast is to invest £9.8m in the development of a £25m Institute of Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine in Newcastle. 01-Dec-2005 Piramed has announced a £134m collaboration with Genentech of the US to fund the development of Piramed's cancer treatments. 30-Nov-2005 Scottish Enterprise is to provide £1.8m of funding to promote the commercial development of stem cell technology over the next ten years. 29-Nov-2005 Merck is planning to shed 7,000 jobs in its worldwide pharmaceuticals business, which could affect some of the 1,900 staff at sites in Harlow, Cramlington, London and Hertfordshire. 29-Nov-2005 Alchemy Laboratories is to relocate from the Dundee Technology Park to a new 6,350 sq ft headquarters at the nearby Medipark by June 2006. 25-Nov-2005 PolyOne is to close its colour compounds factory in Salford early next year, with the loss of 40 jobs. 24-Nov-2005 The Prescription Pricing Authority is to cut back its network of processing centres next year, with the loss of up to 600 jobs, due to the introduction of a new computer system to assess how much pharmacists should be paid. 23-Nov-2005 Provalis is looking to sell its pharmaceuticals business, which includes a range of products to treat osteoporosis, muscular skeletal disorders and other ailments. 21-Nov-2005 Mitchell Cotts is to close its agrochemicals business in Mirfield, Yorkshire, next year, with the loss of 25 jobs from its 70-strong workforce. 21-Nov-2005 Oxford Biomedica is to raise £30m in a share placing to fund the commercial development of its gene therapy research business. 17-Nov-2005 Skyepharma, the pharmaceutical reformulation company, has received a takeover approach from an unnamed company. 15-Nov-2005 De Witt is planning to close its skincare products factory in Runcorn with the loss of 42 jobs, in order to transfer production to Sweden. 14-Nov-2005 Eastman Kodak is to shed a further 160 jobs at its photographic films factory in Wealdstone. 14-Nov-2005 Reckitt Benckiser is to relocate about 150 marketing and finance jobs from its recently-acquired Boots Healthcare International business in Nottingham to its UK headquarters in Slough. 11-Nov-2005 Dow Chemical is to close its polystyrene plant in Barry by the end of the year, with the loss of up to 24 jobs. 04-Nov-2005 Elementis is to close 50% of the chromium chemicals production capacity at its Eaglescliffe plant in Stockton-on-Tees, with the loss of 120 of the 230 jobs. 01-Nov-2005 Gilead, the US pharmaceuticals group, is to relocate its European headquarters from Paris to London by opening a new office for 40 staff near Heathrow next year. 01-Nov-2005 The School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool has secured a £18m government grant to build a new international centre for tropical and infectious diseases, which will create up to 640 jobs. 28-Oct-2005 PRA International, the clinical development company, is to set up a 15,000 sq ft data management office at the Matrix Business Park in Swansea in November. 27-Oct-2005 Albion Chemicals is finalising plans to shed up to 110 jobs in Sandbach in November. 27-Oct-2005 PD Logistics has won a £2m contract to provide two 50,000 sq ft warehouses in Billingham for Huntsman's pigments division, which will create eight new jobs. 27-Oct-2005 Wellcome Trust has awarded £8m to Dundee University's School of Life Science to set up a commercial-style drug development unit with 16 scientists. 26-Oct-2005 Serologicals of the US is to expand the 200-strong workforce at its life sciences operations in Livingston and Dundee early next year, with the creation of 30 jobs. 25-Oct-2005 Abcam is planning to raise £10m in a share placing on Aim, in order to fund the expansion of its Cambridge-based antibodies business. 20-Oct-2005 Hikma Pharmaceuticals of Jordan is planning to raise up to £70m in a flotation and relocate its headquarters to London. 18-Oct-2005 Genosis, the developer of fertility testing kits and other consumer health products, is planning to raise £8m in a flotation on Aim. 17-Oct-2005 Synexus Clinical Research, the organiser of clinical trials for the pharmaceutical industry, is planning to raise £3.5m in a share placing. 17-Oct-2005 Patheon is to create 50 new jobs at its pharmaceuticals plant in Swindon when a £8m extension opens in spring 2007. 14-Oct-2005 Cyclacel has secured a £5m investment from Scottish Enterprise to fund the development of new drugs. 11-Oct-2005 Fresenius Kabi, the developer of nutritional products for intensive care patients, is to set up a £10m headquarters at Manor Park in Runcorn by mid-2006, with the relocation of 350 staff from existing sites in Warrington and Runcorn. 10-Oct-2005 Liz Earle Cosmetics is to relocate to a new 35,000 sq ft headquarters at the Ryde Business Park on the Isle of Wight in autumn 2006. 10-Oct-2005 GeneMedix is planning to restructure its Suffolk-based biopharmaceuticals business, in order to raise cash to pay off debts and secure its future. 10-Oct-2005 Ciba Specialty Chemicals is to shed 77 of the 650 jobs at its organic pigments factory in Paisley in January. 06-Oct-2005 Wyeth, the US-based pharmaceuticals group, is looking to make "major investments" in university medical research in the UK. 06-Oct-2005 PPD is said to be planning to set up a pharmaceuticals research and development centre at Kings Worthy in Winchester in July. 03-Oct-2005 Phoqus is planning to raise up to £12m in a flotation on Aim to fund the commercial development of tablets that can be swallowed easily. 03-Oct-2005 GlaxoSmithKline is said to be considering plans to double its £2.8bn annual research and development budget, although there are no plans for an immediate increase. 03-Oct-2005 Skyepharma is to raise £35m in a rights issue to fund the development of its Flutiform asthma drug. 29-Sep-2005 Tracerco is to open a new £1m research and development facility at Belasis Hall Technology Park in Billingham in November, with the creation of up to ten scientific jobs. 26-Sep-2005 Talisker Pharma is planning to raise £6m from investors to fund the commercial development of treatments for disorders of the central nervous system. 20-Sep-2005 Sequence Biotechnologies is planning to set up a nationwide network of up to 40 DNA testing clinics. 16-Sep-2005 Eastman Kodak is to shed 21 jobs at its synthetic chemicals division in Kirkby, in order to make the site a five-day operation instead of seven. 15-Sep-2005 Dundee University has received a £11m grant from Cancer Research UK, which will involve the transfer of 11 cancer researchers from the Gray Cancer Institute near London to the Cancer Research UK Molecular Pharmacology Unit at the university. 12-Sep-2005 Huntsman has won planning permission to build a £200m polyethylene plant at Wilton on Teesside by 2007, with the creation of 120 jobs. 30-Aug-2005 DeltaDOT has raised £2.3m in a private equity funding round to finance the expansion of its bioscience research business. 24-Aug-2005 Amphion Innovations is planning to raise up to £5m in a flotation on Aim this month, in order to invest in the expansion of its portfolio of life sciences companies. 16-Aug-2005 The Specials Laboratory is investing £1m in the expansion of its laboratory facilities in Northumberland from 6,000 sq ft to 35,000 sq ft, due to rising demand for unlicensed medical products. 15-Aug-2005 AstraZeneca has won planning permission from Torbay Council for a new £9m four-storey laboratory building at its site in Brixham, securing the future of 90 jobs. 15-Aug-2005 Aquapharm Bio-Discovery has secured a £1.5m financing package and is moving its nine staff into the new European Centre for Marine Biotechnology in Oban. 12-Aug-2005 Creightons is to shed about 20 of the 40 jobs at its cosmetics factory in Storrington, West Sussex, in order to move most of the manufacturing operation to Peterborough. 12-Aug-2005 Pro2Kem has closed its biotechnology operation in Dundee, with the loss of the remaining five staff. 12-Aug-2005 Oxford Immunotec has raised £7m of private equity to fund the commercial development of a diagnostic test for TB. 10-Aug-2005 Intercytex has raised £12m to fund the commercial development of its biotechnology business, including the ICX-Pro wound healing product. 08-Aug-2005 ReNeuron has raised £9.5m in a share placing to fund clinical trials for its stem cell business. 08-Aug-2005 Chalcroft Construction has won a £1.1m contract from UK Radiopharma to build a pharmaceuticals plant at Dinnington near Sheffield. 21-Jul-2005 Xention Discovery, the Cambridge-based pharmaceutical research company, is said to have secured £11m of venture capital funding. 21-Jul-2005 Huntsman, the chemicals group, is to set up a new support services centre at its Wilton headquarters on Teesside next year, with the relocation of up to 300 staff from offices and laboratories in Billingham. 21-Jul-2005 Hexion Specialty Chemicals is to shed up to 50 jobs at its factory in Barry next year, in order to transfer production of phenolic powder to Germany and Italy. 20-Jul-2005 Oxonica has raised £7.5m in a share placing on Aim to fund the development of new nanotechnology-based products. 18-Jul-2005 Quay Pharmaceuticals is planning to relocate its biotechnology business from Bromborough to a 22,000 sq ft laboratory at the Estuary Commerce Park in Speke next year, and the workforce is expected to rise from 20 to 84. 14-Jul-2005 Respironics UK, the supplier of inhaled drug delivery systems with 150 staff, is planning to relocate from Bognor Regis to a new 86,250 sq ft office and warehouse at the Chichester Business Park. 08-Jul-2005 Newcastle City Council, One NorthEast and Newcastle University have announced plans for the creation of Newcastle Science City, a government-backed science park that could lead to 5,000 new jobs. 07-Jul-2005 Global Aircare is to close its air fresheners factory at Bampton in north Devon with the loss of about 120 jobs, in order to transfer the work to Hull. 29-Jun-2005 Cardinal Health is to shed 60 jobs at its pharmaceutical packaging site in Corby over the next eight months. 28-Jun-2005 Stem Cell Sciences is planning to raise about £10m in a flotation on Aim, in order to fund its research programme for the next two years. 23-Jun-2005 The Centre for Process Innovation is to set up a £6.5m National Industrial Biotechnology Facility at the Wilton complex near Redcar by the end of next year. 21-Jun-2005 Bodycare International is to shed 90 of the 245 jobs at its toiletries factory in Preston. 20-Jun-2005 Gambro BCT of the US is to invest £7m in the expansion of its recently-acquired Ivex Pharmaceuticals business in County Antrim over the next three years, with the creation of 86 jobs. 16-Jun-2005 Eastman Kodak is to shed a further 180 jobs at its photographic factory in Wealdstone later this year, including the closure of the graphics sensitising department. 09-Jun-2005 Greenthumb, the lawn treatment company, is creating 12 new jobs at a new headquarters and training centre at the St Asaph Business Park in Denbighshire. 09-Jun-2005 BP's Innovene division has announced plans to build a £1.1bn plastics plant in Saudi Arabia by 2008, in partnership with Delta International. 09-Jun-2005 The University of Nottingham's School of Biomedical Sciences is to work with Exeter University to develop a £3m scanner to speed up the discovery of new drugs. 08-Jun-2005 Tristel has raised £2m in a share placing to fund the expansion of its Newmarket-based infection control business. 31-May-2005 Oxagen has secured a £32m capital investment to fund the expansion of its Oxfordshire-based drug discovery business. 25-May-2005 BOC Gases is to shed 25 jobs at its depot in Derby, in order to consolidate its dissolved acetylene business in Bristol. 24-May-2005 PPD is planning to expand its pharmaceuticals factory in Lanarkshire with the creation of 95 jobs, due to rising demand for its drug development services. 19-May-2005 Eli Lilly is to build a new £20m pharmaceuticals facility at its Windlesham research and development site in Surrey, and construction work is due to start in August. 19-May-2005 Byotrol is planning to raise £2m in a flotation on Aim to fund the expansion of its Manchester-based biocides business. 19-May-2005 Colgate, the toothpaste manufacturer, is to close its factory in Salford by the end of 2007, with the loss of 400 jobs. 19-May-2005 The Biosystems Informatics Institute in Newcastle is setting up a trading arm called Turbinia to boost commercial returns from its bioinformatics research, and up to 30 new jobs are expected this year. 18-May-2005 Haptogen, the Aberdeen University spin-out, has announced a £1.5m deal with DaeWoong of South Korea to collaborate in the development of new drugs. 18-May-2005 British Vita is to close its VTS Plastech thermoplastic sheet factory in Widnes by July, with the loss of 46 jobs. 18-May-2005 DSM is to focus its bulk vitamin C production at its factory in Dalry, Ayrshire, and there will be a £6m Scottish Executive subsidy to help secure the 225 jobs. 16-May-2005 Axis-Shield is considering plans to expand the workforce at its Dundee factory, due to rising demand for its diagnostic test products, which could involve expanding the building or finding new space. 16-May-2005 IP2IPO has raised £14m in a share placing to fund the development of a new drug research business called LifeUK, which will act as a link between universities and pharmaceutical companies. 12-May-2005 Pfizer is to shed 29 of the 571 jobs at its pharmaceuticals plant in Morpeth, and is still seeking a buyer for the site. 06-May-2005 BD Medical is to extend the Preventis hypodermic needle guarding device production line at its site in Swindon by March 2006, with the creation of up to 20 jobs. 05-May-2005 Xceleron has secured a £2m investment from Close Venture Management and Foursome Investments to fund the expansion of its York-based business supplying contract research services to the pharmaceutical industry. 28-Apr-2005 ML Laboratories is to consolidate its pharmaceutical operations onto a single site in St Albans, with the closure of sites in Liverpool, Warrington, Tewkesbury, Keele and Leicester and the loss of about 65 jobs. 26-Apr-2005 Renovo is planning to raise £50m in a flotation to fund the development of an anti-scarring drug. 25-Apr-2005 Alizyme is planning to raise £33m in a share placing to fund the expansion of its Cambridge-based biopharmaceutical development business. 22-Apr-2005 Angel Biotechnology is planning to expand the workforce at its Northumberland-based medical research business from 35 to 42 this year, having secured a number of new contracts. 18-Apr-2005 Arakis and Vectura are to receive an investment of up to £200m from Novartis of Switzerland for the joint development of a new respiratory treatment called AD237. 14-Apr-2005 ExpressOn BioSystems, the Midlothian-based genetics research company, is said to be facing insolvency unless a cash injection can be secured. 13-Apr-2005 Replizyme has raised a further £0.4m from shareholders to expand its York-based drug discovery business. 13-Apr-2005 Quantum Specials has secured an equity investment from Phoenix Healthcare Distribution to fund the expansion of its newly-created pharmaceutical manufacturing business, and the Tyneside-based workforce should reach 20 by 2006. 11-Apr-2005 Avecia is to close its biotechnology laboratory at Grangemouth this summer, with the loss of 95 jobs. 11-Apr-2005 Boots is looking to raise more than £1bn from the sale of its over-the-counter medicines business by the end of the year. 08-Apr-2005 CellCentric has received £0.25m from the Rainbow Seed Fund to fund the development of its epigenetics business and form a commercial relationship with the Babraham Institute in Cambridge. 08-Apr-2005 Protensive, the Newcastle-based supplier of process intensification services to the chemical industry, is looking to attract private equity funding of up to £2m, float on Aim and create up to 90 jobs over the next few years. 04-Apr-2005 Degussa is to close its chemicals plant at Miles Platting in Manchester over the next two months, with the loss of up to 43 jobs. 24-Mar-2005 Torday & Carlisle is to invest £0.6m in a new north-east factory for E Wood, its Northallerton-based specialist surface coatings division. 24-Mar-2005 The Hannah Research Institute in Ayrshire could be closed next year with the loss of 70 jobs, following the loss of government funding for its biomedical research programme. 22-Mar-2005 DuPontSA, the chemical manufacturer with more than 350 staff at three sites on Teesside, is to change its name to Advansa, after Sabanci of Turkey became sole owner. 14-Mar-2005 Sphere Medical has raised £4m from a number of institutional investors to fund the development of its Cambridge-based diagnostic products business. 11-Mar-2005 Covance Laboratories is to invest £18m in the expansion of its drug development services centre in Harrogate by the end of the year, with the creation of 100 jobs. 09-Mar-2005 C6 Solutions is to close its chemicals plant in Castleford over the next six months, with the loss of more than 300 jobs. 07-Mar-2005 Medical House has raised £1m in a share placing to provide working capital for its drug delivery and orthopaedic devices business. 04-Mar-2005 Inverness Medical Innovations of the US is to spend £60m setting up a diagnostic health products manufacturing and research business in Stirling, with the creation of 500 jobs. 01-Mar-2005 Syngenta is to shed 240 of the 600 jobs at its chemicals plant in Huddersfield over the next 18 months. 28-Feb-2005 Vernalis, the biotechnology company, is raising £30m in a share placing to strengthen its balance sheet and establish a sales force in the US. 28-Feb-2005 Ipsen Biopharm is to invest £5m in a suite of new pharmaceutical laboratories in Wrexham, securing the future of 200 jobs. 18-Feb-2005 The Specials Laboratory is planning to recruit 40 extra staff at its pharmaceuticals manufacturing business in Northumberland this year. 16-Feb-2005 Intercell is planning to upgrade its vaccines plant in Livingston over the next few years, with funds coming from a £50m flotation in Austria. 16-Feb-2005 The Medical Research Council is planning to relocate the National Institute for Medical Research and up to 730 staff from Mill Hill to University College London. 14-Feb-2005 CellTran has received £0.25m from the Yorkshire & Humber Equity Fund to finance the development of treatments for leg and foot ulcers. 11-Feb-2005 Edinburgh Instruments is to collaborate with Hannah InterActions and CSS-Albachem in the development of new cancer therapies, having secured a £3.7m grant from the Intermediary Technology Institute Life Sciences of Dundee. 11-Feb-2005 Johnson & Johnson is to close its healthcare products warehouse in Basingstoke in September with the loss of up to 26 jobs, in order to transfer the work to its site in Warrington. 10-Feb-2005 PZ Cussons is to close a soap factory in Nottingham by 2007 with the loss of 160 jobs, in order to transfer production to Thailand and Indonesia. 09-Feb-2005 Ardana Bioscience is considering plans for a flotation next month to fund the expansion of its pharmaceuticals business. 07-Feb-2005 Thermphos is to shed 30 of the 120 jobs at its phosphates and polyphosphoric acid plant in Widnes. 04-Feb-2005 The Centre for Process Innovation is planning to expand the workforce at its Teesside-based chemical industry centre of excellence from 25 to 50 over the next two years. 04-Feb-2005 Altrix of Warrington is planning to raise £5m in a flotation on Aim later this year to fund the development of its drug-testing kits business. 03-Feb-2005 Phytopharm is to raise £24m in a share placing to fund the development of new plant-based medicines. 03-Feb-2005 SSL International is to close its footcare products factory in Derby later this year with the loss of 124 jobs, in order to transfer production to India. 02-Feb-2005 Pfizer is to shed 400 jobs at its pharmaceuticals plant in Sandwich and sell off its site in Morpeth, which has 571 staff. 27-Jan-2005 DanioLabs has raised £3.2m from institutional investors to fund the expansion of its Cambridge-based drug development business. 25-Jan-2005 Plasso Technology of Sheffield has secured a £1.5m investment from East Hill Management to fund its drug development programme. 21-Jan-2005 Oxford Biomedica, the gene therapy company with a market capitalisation of £85m, has received a takeover approach from an unnamed company. 20-Jan-2005 Lubrizol is to close its oil additives plant in Bromborough over the next two years, with the loss of 69 jobs. 19-Jan-2005 Biofusion is planning to raise up to £10m in a flotation on Aim to fund the commercial development of medical life sciences research at the University of Sheffield. 12-Jan-2005 The University of Wales in Swansea and IBM are to establish a £50m Institute of Life Sciences, which is expected to lead to the creation of 238 jobs and 30 spin-out ventures. 10-Jan-2005 Whatman, the manufacturer of pharmaceutical filters and DNA testing kits, is to shed about 160 of the 1,160 jobs at sites in the UK, Germany and the US. 04-Jan-2005 The information below comes from the UK Activity Report. 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