Onyx Scientific under new ownership

Onyx Scientific reports that it has been acquired by Ipca Laboratories UK Ltd (see here), the UK arm of Indian pharmaceutical company Ipca Laboratories. At a presentation to our staff on Tuesday I stated that there wouldn't be any job changes at Onyx but was contradicted by Pranay Godha, Executive Director of Ipca. He stated that he expected an increase in the numbers at Sunderland as the company grew, as we aim to double the size of the company. There will be considerable synergies as the Onyx-Covance group can now offer all scales of chemistry from medicinal chemistry to commercial manufacture.

Cancer drugs' slow approval rate

According to the Friends of Cancer Research, approval of a new anti-cancer drug takes about 182 days in the US but 350 days in Europe. In Europe this results in cash flow problems of an additional year on top of the development time and must be difficult for pharma companies to bear. One tried and tested method to optimise the drug development schedule is to outsource the chemistry to a chemistry provider. Companies such as ours can ensure production of the drug is not on the critical path and ensure that if you do have to wait for the EMA you get to that point as early as possible.

Good future awaits

Onyx Scientific continues to grow after the downturn that affected the whole sector in 2009-10. The company is now in it's 12th year of supplying top quality services and is gearing up for another decade of growth. We are looking for new companies to serve and invite new enquiries and enquirers.

Potentially better regulatory environment for antibiotic development

The UK Office of Health Economics is recommending to the EU swifter reviews of antibiotics by regulatory agencies. The proposals are aimed at encouraging the development of new antibiotics & improve R&D returns. Lets hope that this has a positive effect.

The best (and free!) online chemistry resources

There are many really useful free websites that are valuable resources and I am always keen to pass on knowledge of these. Many of the sites are helpful for chemists and comprise databases that are essential reference sources.

Organic Syntheses, a classic publication familiar to most organic chemists is available free online at www.orgsyn.org/. This is the classic database reviewing representative chemical methodology and an electronic version makes searching easier.

Another useful site is www.chem-ilp.net/labTechniques/Nomograph.htm containing a Temperature-Pressure Nomograph, which shows the variability of boiling points of liquids at different pressures. The Nomograph allows one of the variables to be fixed and enables the user to find the desired information very easily.

Of additional interest to chemists are several sites with free molecular mass calculation programmes. No need to use your calculator again! Try the following -
www.webqc.org/mmcalc.php
www.lenntech.com/calculators/molecular-weight-calculator.htm

A website of interest to the drug discovery industry that helps calculate molecular properties and drug-likeness of any molecule is www.molinspiration.com/cgi-bin/properties

The DrugBank database is a unique resource that combines detailed drug data with comprehensive drug target information. The database contains 6827 drugs and can be found at www.drugbank.ca/ and is not only highly relevant to the pharmaceutical industry, but to anyone with an interest in drugs.

For other new links and general info, come back and see us at http://www.onyx-scientific.com/content/links

New useful website

The DrugBank database is a unique resource that combines detailed drug data with comprehensive drug target information. The database contains 6827 drugs and can be found here.

If you’re not aware, Organic Syntheses, a classic publication familiar to most organic chemists is available free online. Visit www.orgsyn.org/.
Of additional interest to chemists are several internet sites with free molecular mass calculation programmes. No need to use your calculator again! Try the following:
www.webqc.org/mmcalc.php
www.lenntech.com/calculators/molecular-weight-calculator.htm



A good site to help calculate molecular properties and drug-likeness of any molecule visit:

www.molinspiration.com/cgi-bin/properties



If you know of any other or better free sites please let me know and I’ll circulate them.