Don't miss out on the latest business and technology news for chemical engineers, featuring select items in relation to Food, Pharmaceuticals & Bioengineering!
Gilead to invest $5.1B in investment deal with Belgium-based Galapagos
Gilead Sciences announced plans to invest $5.1 billion to increase its stake in Dutch biotech firm Galapagos, with an upfront payment of $3.95 billion and an investment of $1.1 billion to be made by Gilead, while the partners will develop and market treatments for a decade. Galapagos needs to ask for shareholder approval prior to allowing Gilead to raise its ownership stake further.
Researchers unveil new strategy to turn glucose into biofuels
Scientists from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology used a one-step direct fermentative process to produce microbial diesel fuel from glucose and oleaginous microorganisms. The strategy demonstrated the highest efficiency in producing biofuels and fatty acids ever reported, according to a press release.
Biotech yeast used to create ice cream without dairy
Perfect Day Foods has created a dairy-free ice cream that closely mimics dairy-based ice cream using a biotech yeast that makes whey proteins.
Scientists test biotech mosquitoes for malaria control in Africa
Geneticist Andrea Crisanti, from the Imperial College London, has been working on altering the gene drives of mosquitoes for many years, and in 2011 he and his partner were able to insert a gene into the mosquito genome that spread to over 85% of the insects' descendants. Crisanti is working with the non-profit international research group Target Malaria to test the efficacy of these biotech mosquitoes in Africa for malaria control.
Sea lettuce eyed as future source of biofuel in UK
Sea lettuce, which has been growing abundantly off of the UK's island of Jersey every year, could be used to produce plant-based biofuels, according to a UK government report issued Tuesday. The report noted that "research is ongoing and while, under laboratory conditions, good yields have been achieved the challenge of replicating these on a continuing basis in an industrial setting is significant."
First biosimilars for cancer now available in the US
Amgen and Allergan announced that the first anticancer biosimilars will now be available in the US, consisting of Mvasi, or bevacizumab-awwb, a biosimilar to Avastin, or bevacizumab, which is approved by the FDA for five cancer-related indications, and Kanjinti, or trastuzumab-anns, a biosimilar to Herceptin, or trastuzumab, indicated for HER2-overexpressing oncologic diseases such as breast cancer and for metastatic gastroesophageal junction or gastric adenocarcinoma. Both biosimilars will cost 12% to 15% less than their branded counterparts.
Updated model list of essential medicines released by WHO
The World Health Organization has released an updated model list of essential medicines, which now includes 12 new treatments for diseases such as leukemia, melanoma, multiple myeloma, and prostate and lung cancers. The revised list, which is recommended internationally for public health systems, now contains 460 products due to the addition of 23 medicines for children and 28 for adults, and also includes new uses for 26 products already included in the list.
PepsiCo makes $1.7B deal to acquire Pioneer Food
PepsiCo will buy South Africa's Pioneer Food Group for $1.7 billion. "Pioneer Foods forms an important part of our strategy to not only expand in South Africa, but further into sub-Saharan Africa as well," said PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta.
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