BP Chemicals is acquiring Styrenix Kunststoffe, the styrene plastics business, from Veba of Germany for about £120m, which will give it extra production capacity to help it expand globally. [31-Dec-1997]
Harrisons & Crosfield has acquired Rheox, the US maker of additives for industrial coatings, for £280m, thereby completing its transformation into a chemicals company. [31-Dec-1997]
Biocompatibles has won European approval to sell its stents, which keep arteries open, and is now looking to set up a distribution network. [30-Dec-1997]
Shire Pharmaceuticals is to re-acquire the worldwide rights to Carbatol, the anticonvulsant, from Elan Corp for £15m. [27-Dec-1997]
ICI has sold its International Explosives operations in Canada, Latin America and Europe, as well as its distribution businesses in the US, to Orica for £230m, which completes its exit from explosives. [24-Dec-1997]
Manders, the printing inks company, has agreed to a £100m acquisition by Flint Ink of the US, as it has been unable to compete with its larger international rivals. [20-Dec-1997]
BTP is selling its adhesives and textile coatings business to Total of France for £86m, and will use the proceeds to acquire fine chemicals companies. [20-Dec-1997]
ICI is to sell its methylamines business to Air Products of the US for £67m. [20-Dec-1997]
Oxford Molecular is acquiring a 20% stake in Cambridge Drug Discovery, the rapid drug screening company, for up to £5m as part of a strategy to become a low-risk provider of drug services. [18-Dec-1997]
Onyvax has secured £4.3m of funding from a group of investors including SmithKline Beecham to develop vaccines that help the immune system attack cancer tumours. [18-Dec-1997]
Celsis has won UK approval for its contamination-detection systems to be used by Wyeth in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals. [18-Dec-1997]
Zeneca is buying chlorothalonil, a leading fungicide, from ISK of Japan as well as the distribution rights to four other ISK products for a total £300m, in an effort to become on of the world's leading manufacturers of fungal control products. [18-Dec-1997]
Peter Black Holdings has acquired Ferrosan UK, the diet supplements company, from its Danish parent for £35m. [17-Dec-1997]
Cambridge Antibody Technology has announced a new technology called ProAb that enables scientists to scan the body for concentrations of proteins that could be contributing to the progress of disease. [16-Dec-1997]
Elan Corp of Dublin is acquiring Sano, the US developer of transdermal drug delivery systems, in a £227m all-share deal. [16-Dec-1997]
Nomura International has bought a 17.1% stake in Phytopharm, the biotechnology group, from Ethical Holdings. [13-Dec-1997]
ICI has sold its 51% stake in AEL, the South African explosives business, to its partner AECI for £71m. [13-Dec-1997]
SmithKline Beecham is linking up with MedImmune of the US to develop human papillomavirus vaccines for the prevention of genital warts and cervical cancer. [12-Dec-1997]
Xenova Discovery is forming a joint venture with EC&G Wallac of Finland to provide R&D services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. [12-Dec-1997]
Pfizer of the US is planning to invest £110m on the expansion of its pharmaceuticals site at Sandwich, Kent, creating 1,000 jobs. [12-Dec-1997]
Powderject Pharmaceuticals is to link up with InSite Vision of the US to develop a technique for painlessly delivering drugs to the inside of the eyeball. [11-Dec-1997]
Yule Catto is acquiring Holliday Chemical, the drugs and dyes specialist, for £255m. [09-Dec-1997]
Phytopharm has been given US FDA approval to start clinical trials of an eczema cream made from plants, which could result in the development of many traditional herbal remedies even though explanations cannot be given as to how they work. [08-Dec-1997]
Chiroscience is seeking European approval for Chirocaine, its new anaesthetic. [05-Dec-1997]
Holliday Chemical is in discussions that could lead to an offer being made for the company, and analysts believe it could be worth up to £260m. [03-Dec-1997]
Zeneca has announced plans to double its drugs research output over the next five years in order to take 87 projects to the market. [02-Dec-1997]
Cambridge Combinatorial is to link up with Bioprocessing to jointly offer their biotechnology products for sale to pharmaceutical companies. [29-Nov-1997]
Euromed, which supports a number of biomedical companies, is to go-ahead with plans to set up a biomedical business park in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, creating 150 jobs. [29-Nov-1997]
Glaxo Wellcome is to sell its Geneva Biomedical Research Institute to Ares-Serona of Switzerland, and although no money is involved, the deal will result in Ares-Serona assuming the $22m a year running costs. [28-Nov-1997]
Brunner Mond is to acquire the soda ash operations of Akzo Nobel of the Netherlands. [28-Nov-1997]
Zeneca has won US FDA approval to market Zomig, its migraine drug, in tablet form. [27-Nov-1997]
ICI India is planning to double paint output to 100m litres a year by early next century, with a fourth plant starting up next year and a fifth by 2001. [26-Nov-1997]
Allied Colloids has rejected a £1.1bn hostile takeover bid from Hercules of the US, prompting speculation of a bidding war for the speciality chemicals company. [25-Nov-1997]
Glaxo Wellcome has won clearance from Europe's committee for proprietary medicines for its Combivir treatment for Aids. [22-Nov-1997]
Allied Colloids, the speciality chemicals company, has received an approach that could have lead to an offer being made, but the potential bidder has failed to make a formal proposal. [22-Nov-1997]
ICI is selling its UK fertiliser business, which includes 580 people at Billingham, to Terra Industries of the US for an initial £200m. [21-Nov-1997]
Allied Colloids has sold its superabsorbents business to AMCOL International for £2m, although its superabsorbents joint venture with Courtaulds will be unaffected. [21-Nov-1997]
Courtaulds has postponed plans for the construction of a plant to make its new Tencel clothing fibre in Asia, prompting concern about the long-term success prospects for the product. [20-Nov-1997]
The government and the Chemical Industries Association have agreed a voluntary pact that requires the chemical industry to cut fossil fuel consumption by 20% by 2005. [19-Nov-1997]
BOC is planning to build up its industrial gases business by investing in its factories, and does not expect to make any more acquisitions or disposals. [19-Nov-1997]
Albright & Wilson is investing £10m in the acquisition and expansion of a surfactants manufacturing business near Chicago, previously owned by Witco. [13-Nov-1997]
Vanguard Medica, the biotechnology company, is to raise £26m in a share placing in order to finance the development of migraine and asthma drugs. [13-Nov-1997]
Anglo United, the fuels and chemicals trading company, has announced restructuring plans that will involve the privatisation of its Coalite business and a listing on the London Stock Exchange for its Falkland Islands' subsidiary. [06-Nov-1997]
Allied Colloids is to invest £45m in its US business, with the construction of a cationic monomer plant in Arkansas and a flocculant plant in Virginia. [06-Nov-1997]
Cookson has sold Anzon, its fire-retardant additives business, to Great Lakes Chemical Corp of the US for £54m. [05-Nov-1997]
Cortecs International has reported promising initial trial results for an oral form of insulin called Macrulin. [05-Nov-1997]
Biotrin Holdings, the Irish biotechnology group, has raised about £7m through a private placing and expects to come to market next year. [05-Nov-1997]
ICI has vowed to continue its battle to take a 9% stake in Asian Paints, despite a ruling by the Indian industry ministry that the move cannot go-ahead without the support of Asian Paints' board. [04-Nov-1997]
Laporte is selling its cat litter manufacturing business, withdrawing from activated earth production at Widnes, and selling similar businesses in Spain. [30-Oct-1997]
Asda has announced 25% price cuts on a range of children's healthcare products as part of its campaign against price fixing of over-the-counter drugs. [28-Oct-1997]
ICI is expecting to announce further disposals over the next few months, including businesses involved in petrochemicals, fertilisers, explosives and halochemicals. [24-Oct-1997]
Ethical Holdings, the pharmaceuticals company, is aiming to conclude talks with potential buyers over the next few months having drawn up a list of possible partners. [23-Oct-1997]
Shell International Chemicals and BASF are having to delay their planned polyethylene joint venture following a request by the European Commission for more details. [23-Oct-1997]
Harrisons & Crosfield is to be renamed Elementis, and plans to focus on speciality chemicals when it has found buyers for its agricultural businesses such as BOCM Pauls. [22-Oct-1997]
Medeva has announced encouraging trial results for its Hepagene hepatitis vaccine, which could generate sales of £100m a year by 2002. [17-Oct-1997]
Reckitt & Colman is forming a joint venture company with Nicholas Piramal, called Reckitt Piramal, which will be the largest over-the-counter medicines company in India. [16-Oct-1997]
Hickson International is selling its German and Dutch joinery coatings operations to Gilde Investment Management of the Netherlands for £9m. [14-Oct-1997]
A consortium led by BOC has won a £610m contract to build the world's largest nitrogen generation complex for Pemex, the Mexican national oil company. [13-Oct-1997]
Vanguard Medica has licensed VML252, a drug for patients with kidney disease, to Sankyo of Japan, and the deal is expected to bring in up to $10m. [11-Oct-1997]
Croda International is close to agreeing the sale of its industrial paints division, and is also in discussions with BP about the sale of its bitumen business, with the two disposals expected to raise a combined £50m. [10-Oct-1997]
ICI is cutting 200 support jobs at its Runcorn site as part of a programme to save £20m a year. [10-Oct-1997]
BTP is looking to sell its Mydrin industrial adhesives and textile coatings business for about £90m as part of a strategy to focus on performance chemicals. [10-Oct-1997]
Cleveland Laboratory has acquired SCL Bioscience Services for £700,000 which takes it into clinical trials and veterinary services for the first time. [09-Oct-1997]
Victrex, the thermoplastics producer, is forming a joint venture with Mitsui Toatsu Chemical to streamline its sales and development in Japan. [08-Oct-1997]
ICI's sale of its polyester and European titanium dioxide businesses to DuPont has been approved by the European Commission, which should help ICI push ahead with further disposals. [07-Oct-1997]
Johnson Matthey is to set up a facility in Taiwan to supply ultra high purity metal fabrications, as well as a facility in Washington State to supply thermal management products to the semiconductor industry. [07-Oct-1997]
BOC is to merge its two divisions that sell gases and vacuum pumps to the semiconductor industry in order to increase sales to US and east Asian customers. [07-Oct-1997]
British Biotech has cancelled development of its BB-2983 arthritis drug, a project it was working on with Glaxo Wellcome. [04-Oct-1997]
Maybridge Chemical Company of Cornwall is being acquired by a management team backed by 3i in a £20m deal. [03-Oct-1997]
Chiroscience is in discussions with a number of potential partners for the marketing of Chirocaine, its new local anaesthetic which will be launched next year. [02-Oct-1997]
Stanford Rook has admitted that its new tuberculosis treatment has failed trials in South Africa, prompting a big fall in its Aim-listed share price. [01-Oct-1997]
UFC Pharma, the drug discovery company, is planning a flotation in order to raise £5m to fund expansion. [29-Sep-1997]
ICI has formed a joint venture with CCM of Malaysia to supply explosives to the mining and quarrying industries in Malaysia. [26-Sep-1997]
Scotia Holdings, the biotechnology company, is looking at ways to raise more cash, including a listing on Nasdaq, more licensing deals, and the sale of non-core businesses such as food emulsifiers. [25-Sep-1997]
Cookson is selling its antimony products business to Great Lakes Chemical of the US for undisclosed terms, thus completing its withdrawal from the manufacture of plastics additives. [25-Sep-1997]
SmithKline Beecham has won US approval to market Requip, the treatment for Parkinson's disease, which is expected to achieve worldwide sales of £200m a year. [24-Sep-1997]
British Biotech has announced successful early trials for its new cancer drug, marimastat, when used with existing treatments. [24-Sep-1997]
Vanguard Medica is dropping a new treatment for ulcerative colitis due to insufficient efficacy, but expects to seek approval for a new migraine treatment later this year. [24-Sep-1997]
ICI has sold ICI Forest Products, the Canadian maker of chemical products for the pulp and paper industry, to Pioneer Companies of the US for £150m, as part of its strategy to dispose of its low-margin bulk chemicals operations. [23-Sep-1997]
Oxagen is being created as the UK's first genomics company by former British Biotech executives, in order to study the links between genes and disease. [22-Sep-1997]
W Canning, the speciality chemicals company, has acquired a 48% stake in Taskem, the US surface finishing company, for £1.6m, and plans to follow it up with further expansion in the US. [19-Sep-1997]
Yoshitomi Pharmaceutical and Taisho Pharmaceutical have both announced plans to set up UK research centres that focus on treatments for schizophrenia, in Glasgow and London respectively. [19-Sep-1997]
Scotia Pharmaceuticals has sold US and European marketing rights for its Foscan anti-cancer drug to Boehringer Ingelheim of Germany and Japanese rights to Kyowa Hakko, for a total £33m. [17-Sep-1997]
Laporte is examining opportunities to spend up to £450m on acquisitions as the worldwide chemicals industry continues to restructure. [16-Sep-1997]
Chiroscience is linking up with Geron of the US to study diseases associated with ageing. [16-Sep-1997]
Yorkshire Group is looking at the possibility of acquisitions and joint ventures in the dyes sector in south-east Asia, and has £50m of net cash following recent disposals. [16-Sep-1997]
Monsanto is planning to run a publicity campaign in the UK, France and Germany, aimed at improving the image of biotechnology and increasing acceptance of its genetically modified soyabean. [16-Sep-1997]
Shire Pharmaceuticals has announced "excellent" initial trial results for Galantamine, a new drug for Alzheimer's disease. [16-Sep-1997]
Shell is buying out Montedison's 50% stake in their Montell polypropylene joint venture for £1.25bn and is setting up a polyethylene joint venture with BASF, as part of a major restructuring of its chemicals business. [13-Sep-1997]
Skyepharma, the biotechnology company, has raised £7.4m from a share placing but says it now needs to raise more cash to help fund it into profit, following delays in drug development. [13-Sep-1997]
Cortecs International has begun seeking approval for its first drug, the Macrotonin treatment for osteoporosis, in a number of European countries starting with Ireland and Finland. [12-Sep-1997]
Powderject has agreed a £9m deal with Boehringer Mannheim of Germany for the development and commercialisation of its alternative to needle injections. [10-Sep-1997]
Croda International is planning to sell its cosmetics, coatings, adhesives, distillates and colourings businesses, in order to focus on animal and vegetable oil products. [10-Sep-1997]
Johnson Matthey has won US FDA approval for methylphenidate, the treatment for hyperactive children, which it will make in collaboration with Schein Pharmaceutical of the US. [04-Sep-1997]
PPL Therapeutics has announced a deal to supply FibroGen of the US with animals whose milk contain collagen, the human protein. [03-Sep-1997]
SmithKline Beecham is setting up a joint venture with Incyte of the US called Diadexus, which will develop diagnostic tests based on genes identified by SB's drug discovery work. [03-Sep-1997]
Yorkshire Group is selling its Australasian inks and pigments business to Huls America for £23m, and its UK pigments dispersions business to Holliday Chemical for £1.8m, and now plans to start looking for acquisitions. [02-Sep-1997]
BTP is acquiring the leather and speciality chemicals division of Yorkshire Group for £33m, allowing Yorkshire to focus on its core textile dyes business. [01-Sep-1997]
Quadrant Healthcare has agreed to license its biotechnology-based method to dry and store blood platelets to Pall Corporation of the US. [30-Aug-1997]
Kalon, the paints company, is planning a major sales drive, which will include an expansion of its trade outlets and acquisitions in new markets such as Germany. [28-Aug-1997]
Biocompatibles is negotiating a deal with Johnson & Johnson of the US concerning the licensing of its new medical coating which prevents adverse reactions to implants. [28-Aug-1997]
ICI is trying to buy a 9.1% stake in Asian Paints for £23m, but the move has been attacked by the Indian company as being illegal. [23-Aug-1997]
Albright & Wilson has raised its stake in its A&W Troy Mexican joint venture from 50% to 75% at a cost of £23m. [22-Aug-1997]
Kalon has bought a 75% stake in Circle, the Dutch private label paints company, for undisclosed terms. [21-Aug-1997]
Burmah Castrol has acquired SMC Group, the coatings and resins company, from Chemetall for £23m, and sold Columbia Cement, the adhesives business, to TACC International of the US for $23m. [19-Aug-1997]
Cortecs has won a US patent for Flustat, its oral influenza vaccine. [19-Aug-1997]
DuPont is to expand its Lycra plant in Londonderry at a cost of £78m, creating 100 jobs. [14-Aug-1997]
Gehe is selling the Macarthy drugs manufacturing business of Lloyds Chemists to a management team backed by Cinven, the private equity specialist, for £55.5m. [11-Aug-1997]
Cambridge Antibody Technology has won UK approval to start clinical trials for a treatment for proliferative vitreo retinopathy, an eye disease. [09-Aug-1997]
SmithKline Beecham is taking a 10% stake in a new biotechnology company called Adprotech, and will spin off some of its non-core patents into the company. [08-Aug-1997]
Cortecs has announced promising trial results for Macritonin, the osteoporosis treatment, and hopes to launch it on the market next year. [07-Aug-1997]
Oxford Molecular is planning to transform itself from a pharmaceutical software designer into a drug designer, and has taken an option to acquire Cambridge Combinatorial, the new biotechnology company. [05-Aug-1997]
Zeneca has won UK approval for Seroquel, a new schizophrenia drug. [05-Aug-1997]
Glaxo Wellcome has won German approval for Raxar, an inhaled antibiotic. [05-Aug-1997]
Shire Pharmaceuticals is acquiring Richwood Pharmaceuticals of Kentucky, the maker of treatments for disorders of the central nervous system, for up to £113m. [05-Aug-1997]
ICI has won approval for a £245m chemical plant in Shanghai, which will produce raw material to make polyurethane, in partnership with Shanghai Tianyuan Chemical Works and Nippon Polyurethane Industry. [04-Aug-1997]
Pestax, the biotechnology company with a range of plant patents, has put itself up for auction, and the proceeds could be anything up to £50m. [04-Aug-1997]
Oxford Biomedica is seeking additional funds of up to £10m to fund research into cancer treatments, following its failure to raise sufficient funds when it launched on the Alternative Investment Market in December. [04-Aug-1997]
Inspec has agreed two separate deals with Air Liquide and Kuraray to build plants on its chemical site in Antwerp, Belgium, one of which will make EVAL ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resins. [01-Aug-1997]
Croda International is acquiring Stoa, the French supplier of skin cream ingredients, for £40m. [31-Jul-1997]
Millennium Chemicals has agreed a joint venture with Lyondell Petrochemical of the US which will create a £3bn chemicals company, in order to make savings of $150m a year by eliminating duplicate overheads. [29-Jul-1997]
BOC has won a £30m contract to build and operate an air separation unit and liquefaction plant for Zaklady Azotowe Kedzierzyn in Poland. [28-Jul-1997]
JCI of South Africa has sold its 8.6% stake in Johnson Matthey for £104m in order to fund the acquisition of a stake in Lonrho. [26-Jul-1997]
BOC is planning to sell Ohmeda, its anaesthetic gases business thought to be worth up to £1bn, in order to raise funds to expand its core industrial gases business. [24-Jul-1997]
SmithKline Beecham has won the US marketing rights for Baycol, the cholesterol-lowering drug developed by Bayer. [23-Jul-1997]
Grampian Pharmaceuticals, the animal healthcare company, is being sold to management by Grampian Holdings for £68m. [19-Jul-1997]
Sanofi Winthrop is to cut 130 jobs at its pharmaceutical plant in Fawdon, Newcastle, due to the loss of a contract with SmithKline Beecham. [18-Jul-1997]
Holliday Chemical has acquired Laboratorios Julian de Mexico, the Mexican chemicals company, from SmithKline Beecham for £4.7m. [18-Jul-1997]
ICI has sold its titanium dioxide and polyester operations to DuPont of the US for £1.68bn in order to help fund its acquisition of Unilever's speciality chemicals business. [15-Jul-1997]
Ellis & Everard has acquired Mozel, the paints and coatings business based in St Louis, for £13m, as part of its strategy to expand its product range and geographical coverage. [15-Jul-1997]
Cortecs International, the biotechnology company, is moving its primary listing from Australia to London and creating a new holding company called Cortecs plc. [14-Jul-1997]
British Biotech is delaying US clinical trials on Zacutex, its pancreas disease drug, as results so far have not been as expected. [10-Jul-1997]
United Drug has made a £13.6m recommended offer for Dublin Drug, the wholesaler and distributor of pharmaceutical and healthcare products. [10-Jul-1997]
ICI has arranged the sale and leaseback of its Millbank head office in London, in order to help fund its acquisition of Unilever's speciality chemicals business. [10-Jul-1997]
Reflec is acquiring Plast Chemical, the powder coatings company, for up to £2.5m. [10-Jul-1997]
Chirex is acquiring a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Annan, Scotland, from Glaxo Wellcome for £40m. [08-Jul-1997]
Ethical Holdings, the biotechnology company, has abandoned its flotation plans due to competition from similar companies coming to market. [08-Jul-1997]
Blagden Industries has acquired Cellobond, the resins business, from BP Chemicals for £13m. [04-Jul-1997]
Burmah Castrol is planning to sell off its adhesives division, which includes Industrial Adhesives of the UK and Columbia Cement of the US, in order to concentrate on its core chemicals business. [03-Jul-1997]
Amersham International is to merge with Nycomed of Norway to create Nycomed Amersham, a £1.1bn medical diagnostics group. [02-Jul-1997]
Chiroscience is linking up with Schering-Plough of the US to develop a treatment for asthma at a cost of £23m. [28-Jun-1997]
Polymasc is linking up with NOF Corporation of Japan to develop techniques for the oral delivery of peptides and proteins. [26-Jun-1997]
Philip Johnstone has been set up as a new company to acquire the Cementone Beaver paints and building chemicals business from Cementone for £9.5m. [26-Jun-1997]
SmithKline Beecham is stopping trials of a rheumatoid arthritis drug due to adverse side-effects on the immune system. [25-Jun-1997]
Zeneca is to acquire ICI Australia's pharmaceuticals business, for a price yet to be decided. [21-Jun-1997]
Glaxo Wellcome is creating a dedicated genetics research and development arm with a budget of over £30m. [18-Jun-1997]
ICI Fertilizers has been forced to slash fertilizer prices, with Nitram falling to £110 a tonne, due to cheap Russian imports. [16-Jun-1997]
Glaxo Wellcome has acquired Spectra Biomedical, the Californian company that studies links between genetics and illness, for £5.5m. [14-Jun-1997]
Amersham International has confirmed plans to take a 55% stake in a joint venture with Pharmacia Biotech of Sweden, which will be called Amersham Pharmacia Biotech. [11-Jun-1997]
Hickson International is merging its Ashwood Chemicals division in Yorkshire with its US-based DanChem business to create a new organic chemicals division which will also include Hickson & Welch. [10-Jun-1997]
ICI has had to close a Tioxide titanium dioxide factory near Hartlepool following an emission of potentially toxic gas. [09-Jun-1997]
ICI has agreed to give up its paints business in Australasia, including the Dulux brand, in order to push through the sale of its 62.4% stake in ICI Australia through a public offering. [06-Jun-1997]
Zeneca has won US approval for the use of its Abound fungicide on crops. [05-Jun-1997]
Chiroscience, through its Darwin Discovery subsidiary, is linking up with Hewlett-Packard to develop a new system for DNA analysis. [02-Jun-1997]
Amersham International is in discussions with Pharmacia & Upjohn to merge its life sciences operation with Pharma Biotech, to create the largest biotechnology supply business in the world. [31-May-1997]
SmithKline Beecham has won FDA approval for Coreg, its treatment for congestive heart failure, which will be marketed in collaboration with Boehringer Mannheim. [30-May-1997]
IAWS of Dublin has acquired PB Kent, the fertiliser maker, for £9m, and sold its Lisburn Proteins by-products facility to Glenfarm Holdings for £7.7m. [28-May-1997]
Peptide Therapeutics is to start clinical trials on an innovative allergy vaccine, having been granted a US patent. [28-May-1997]
Ethical Holdings is planning to acquire Clonmel Healthcare, the Irish pharmaceuticals company, for £14m, conditional on the success of a £20m share placing in London. [27-May-1997]
Laporte is expecting to announce the sale of its US adhesives and sealants business for about £90m over the next four months. [27-May-1997]
Celltech is dropping its treatment for septic shock due to poor trial results, causing share prices of many UK biotechnology companies to fall sharply. [22-May-1997]
Alizyme has acquired exclusive rights from Yakurigakru Chou Kenkyusho of Japan for the medicinal use of a product derived from rice that is said to inhibit fat digestion. [22-May-1997]
Courtaulds has complained to the EU competition commissioner about Spanish government aid that is being given to Sniace to re-open a viscose plant. [22-May-1997]
ICI Australia is to merge its vinyls business with that of Auseon, part of Geon of Ohio. [22-May-1997]
Shield Diagnostics has won a licence to develop a test for thrombosis that uses technology developed at the University of Glasgow. [20-May-1997]
Galen, the pharmaceuticals concern, is planning to float on the stock market in order to raise about £20m to fund the expansion of its Clinical Trials Supplies business and set up a chemical synthesis facility near Belfast. [19-May-1997]
Biocure, the healthcare and drug discovery company, has announced plans for a reverse takeover by an unnamed UK healthcare company worth about £25m. [17-May-1997]
Zeneca is linking up with Amersham International and Molecular Dynamics of the US to develop high-speed tests and reagents for gene analysis. [16-May-1997]
Phytopharm has won an EU grant of £500,000 to develop a biotechnology-based treatment for osteoarthritis and Crohn's disease using the spice turmeric. [16-May-1997]
Zeneca is acquiring Mogen International, the Dutch plant biotechnology concern, for £46m, and expects to benefit from Mogen's expertise in fungal control. [14-May-1997]
British Biotech is setting up sales subsidiaries in France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Nordic region in preparation for the launch of its acute pancreatitis drug Zacutex. [13-May-1997]
Ethical Holdings, the biotechnology company, is to list on the London market in order to raise £20m to expand manufacturing facilities and reduce debt. [13-May-1997]
Oxford Molecular is acquiring Genetics Computer and MRL Automation, two US software companies that specialise in the development of new drugs, funded by a £30m rights issue. [09-May-1997]
ICI is acquiring Unilever's speciality chemicals division, which includes National Starch, Quest, Unichema and Crosfield, for £4.9bn, and is also discussing the sale of £3bn of its own industrial chemicals businesses including polyester, fertilisers, chlorine, explosives and pigments. [08-May-1997]
Shire Pharmaceuticals is to start trials on Galanthamine as a treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. [07-May-1997]
BOC has started work on a new £40m air separation plant at Teesside, which will supply oxygen and nitrogen to British Steel. [06-May-1997]
ICI Chemicals and Polymers is to be prosecuted by the Environment Agency for the alleged discharge of organic effluent into a canal last October at its Runcorn site. [03-May-1997]
Glaxo Wellcome has won UK approval for Naramig, a new anti-migraine drug. [03-May-1997]
Warner Lambert has acquired PharmaChem, Hickson International's loss-making subsidiary, for £28m, thus completing the restructuring at Hickson. [02-May-1997]
Allied Colloids has acquired Imdex Chemicals, the Australian polymers concern, for £6.7m. [02-May-1997]
Powderject Pharmaceuticals is planning a flotation in June in order to raise about £30m to develop a patented device for painless injections. [30-Apr-1997]
Zeneca is to collaborate with Oxford University to identify genes that cause ischaemic heart disease. [30-Apr-1997]
British Biotech is investing in a research programme being carried out by SynPhar Laboratories of Canada in order to develop potential drugs known as cysteine proteinase inhibitors. [29-Apr-1997]
Chiroscience has announced plans to start clinical trials later this year of a cancer compound that could rival British Biotech's marimastat. [29-Apr-1997]
Glaxo Wellcome has granted a licence to Novopharm of Canada to manufacture a generic form of Zantac from July 10, thus ending Glaxo's monopoly on the active ingredient, ranitidine. [25-Apr-1997]
Rhone-Poulenc and Merck have chosen London as the headquarters for their new animal health joint venture known as Merial. [23-Apr-1997]
Chiroscience has announced successful trial results for levobupivacaine, a local anaesthetic. [16-Apr-1997]
Glaxo Wellcome has reported encouraging trial results for lamivudine, a drug for the treatment of hepatitis B which could generate sales of £600m a year. [11-Apr-1997]
Capital spending by the UK chemical industry fell by 0.6% in 1996 to £2.15bn according to a survey by the Chemical Industries Association. [10-Apr-1997]
Zeneca has launched Zomig, a new migraine drug. [08-Apr-1997]
Zeneca is to acquire the remaining 50% of Salick Healthcare, the US operator of outpatient clinics, for £147m. [29-Mar-1997]
Merck of the US is to reduce the UK price of Crixivan, its Aids drug, by 9% in order to match prices in other European countries. [20-Mar-1997]
Zeneca and Xenova have reached agreement to jointly develop pharmaceuticals from natural compounds. [20-Mar-1997]
Cambridge Antibody Technology has raised £41m in a share placing and will use the funds to develop its own range of therapeutics. [20-Mar-1997]
Cantab Pharmaceuticals is planning to increase its range of drugs under development and will raise the number of staff from 100 to 125 with a new research facility. [20-Mar-1997]
Glaxo Wellcome is acquiring a 4% stake in Cantab Pharmaceuticals for £6m, and paying £5m for the worldwide rights to market Cantab's Disc HSV treatment for genital herpes. [19-Mar-1997]
ICI has acquired a 40% stake in an unnamed Polish paints company, and plans to increase the stake to 75% over the next three years. [17-Mar-1997]
Scotia has failed to win UK approval for Tarabetic, its promising treatment for nerve damage suffered by diabetics. [12-Mar-1997]
Zeneca has won UK approval for Zomig, a new migraine drug which is expected to compete against Glaxo Wellcome's new Naramig drug. [12-Mar-1997]
ICI is to invest £15m in a 60% stake in a joint venture with Dongsung Chemical to convert MDI into polyurethane parts in South Korea. [06-Mar-1997]
British Biotech has requested European approval for Zacutex, a pancreas disease drug which represents its first product. [06-Mar-1997]
Chiroscience plans to start clinical trials of a potential cancer therapy later this year, which is based on the technology used in British Biotech's Marimastat. [03-Mar-1997]
Zeneca has been warned by the US FDA that it must sort out problems with the sterile manufacturing area at its Macclesfield plant in order to gain approval for any new drug applications. [01-Mar-1997]
SmithKline Beecham is setting up research alliances with Evotec BioSystems of Germany and Cadus Pharmaceutical of the US, in order to increase the rate of new drug discovery. [28-Feb-1997]
BTP has acquired PCR, the US fine chemicals concern, for £44m. [28-Feb-1997]
Courtaulds is to close a viscose factory in Grimsby with the loss of 90 jobs in response to an oversupply in the market caused by rising competition from Asia. [27-Feb-1997]
Shire Pharmaceuticals is acquiring Pharmavene, the US drugs delivery concern, for up to £104m, and will make further acquisitions using funding from a £11.5m planned share offer. [26-Feb-1997]
Core Group, the Scottish drug developer, hopes to raise £23m from a flotation next week in order to fund clinical trials. [26-Feb-1997]
PPL Therapeutics has linked up with the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh to patent a way of creating clones from adult animals. [25-Feb-1997]
SmithKline Beecham has agreed a £200m settlement with US regulators concerning allegations that its Pennsylvania laboratories has falsely claimed payments from Medicare, the state-funded health plan. [25-Feb-1997]
Unilever is looking to sell its speciality chemicals business for about £5bn and will use the proceeds to expand its food and personal products business worldwide. [12-Feb-1997]
Peptide Therapeutics has reached agreement with SmithKline Beecham for the marketing of its new allergy vaccine. [11-Feb-1997]
ICI is to float its Tioxide pigments business in order to raise up to £700m for shareholders and for the funding of acquisitions. [07-Feb-1997]
Glaxo Wellcome is selling a pharmaceuticals plant in North Carolina to Catalytica Fine Chemicals, and the two companies have also agreed a 5-year sales contract. [06-Feb-1997]
ICI has acquired Superior Paint Manufacturing, the Puerto Rican paint maker, for up to £18m. [05-Feb-1997]
Oxford Biosciences is planning to raise about £25m in a stock market listing later this year. [04-Feb-1997]
Babcock International has won a £43m order to build a petrochemicals plant in Henan Province, China. [04-Feb-1997]
Scotia is to move its Efamol nutritional products operation into a separate group company, prompting speculation that it could later be sold off. [03-Feb-1997]
BOC is launching a liquid form of air, which will be the first cryogen that allows people to breathe normally. [31-Jan-1997]
Antisoma, the biotechnology company, is planning to raise about £30m from a flotation later this year in order to fund the development of new products. [30-Jan-1997]
Zeneca has made a licensing agreement with Pharmacopeia of the US in which Zeneca will have access to Pharmacopeia's library of molecules. [30-Jan-1997]
Burmah Castrol is acquiring the US releasants operation of Air Products and Chemicals. [29-Jan-1997]
Xenova has announced a new collaboration in which Bristol-Myers Squibb will fund drug research and Xenova will get royalty payments related to the success of new products. [28-Jan-1997]
ICI is acquiring the Syngas catalyst business from BASF for about £15m. [28-Jan-1997]
Cambridge Antibody Technology is planning to raise up to £35m in a flotation in the first half of this year, but expects that further funds will be needed before it can launch one of its biotechnology products. [27-Jan-1997]
Medeva has acquired a 3% stake in Peptide Therapeutics for £3m, and the two companies are to co-operate on the development of new vaccines. [24-Jan-1997]
Skyepharma has announced a licensing deal in which Abbott Laboratories of the US will use its geomatrix slow-release drug delivery technique to produce the asthma drug Zileuton. [21-Jan-1997]
Cortecs International is to launch oral calcitonin into Spain through a distribution deal with Ferrer Internacional. [16-Jan-1997]
BP Chemicals is planning a joint venture with Salim to build a naphtha cracker in Indonesia at a cost of up to $1bn. [16-Jan-1997]
ICI is planning to build a £12m paints factory in northern India. [15-Jan-1997]
Cambridge Antibody Technology has agreed to license its library of human single chain antibodies to Eli Lilly in return for a fee. [09-Jan-1997]
Unilever has sold Unipath's microbiology business to Cinven, the venture capitalist, for undisclosed terms, and the Basingstoke-based business will be renamed Oxoid. [09-Jan-1997]
Merck is expanding its pharmaceuticals plant in Cramlington, Northumberland, in a £8.5m investment that will create 66 jobs. [08-Jan-1997]
ICI is acquiring Rutz and Huber's refinish and transport paints business in Switzerland for undisclosed terms. [06-Jan-1997]