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Medical and Pharmaceutical Engineering

Hostile trading environment challenges local pharmaceuticals industry

By: Chanel de Bruyn 25th May 2007 South Africa’s pharmaceutical industry is facing a number of obstacles, foremost of which is a hostile trading environment, Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa media liaison officer Lorraine Osman tells Engineering News. →

DST grant grows plant biotechnology research

By: Chanel de Bruyn 25th May 2007 The plant biotechnology research group at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has secured a multimillion rand research grant from the Department of Science and Technology (DST) to extend research into transgenic plants as a platform for the production of pharmaceuticals. →

Electronic health system to personalise healthcare industry

By: Chanel de Bruyn 25th May 2007 Medicine and healthcare is to become more personalised as well as save costs in the future with the implementation of a national electronic health record (EHR) system. →

Respiratory sector supplier signs R21-million BEE deal

By: Chanel de Bruyn 25th May 2007 A supplier to the critical care respiratory sector, Respiratory Care Africa, has finalised a R21-million black economic-empowerment (BEE) transaction and has big plans for the future. →

Engineering company supplies standard compliant solutions

By: Chanel de Bruyn 25th May 2007 Pharmaceutical manufacturers are continuously challenged by changing and increasingly stringent good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards, pressure on margins and a higher demand on drugs in various dosage forms. →

CSIR patented hydrogel polymer used to manufacture local cosmetic eye product

By: Jade Davenport 1st December 2006 The South African advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing industry has received a significant boost with the introduction of a new Proudly South African cosmetic eye product, which is anticipated to undergo final testing and accreditation by Sasol’s Chem City at the end of this month. →

Siemens turbomachinery factory quadruples turnover in three years

By: Jade Davenport 20th October 2006 Turbo-machinery and spare part manufacturer Siemens Power Generation Mechanical Services (PGMS) has experienced significant growth in the last three years, with the company’s turnover increasing from R80-million to R320-million since 2003. →

New drug advances cholesterol treatment

By: Amy Heydenrych 26th May 2006 Managing low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol has been enhanced with the recent launch of Ezetrol in South Africa. This drug is the first direct cholesterol absorption inhibitor on the market and has been launched by MSD and Schering-Plough. →

Doors open for local firm after acquisition

By: Amy Heydenrych 26th May 2006 Following its acquisition by South Africa-based consulting engineering and project management group Stewart Scott International, environmental control-systems and clean-rooms specialist Deryck Smith Consulting Engineers (DSCE) is finding the market more open to the company’s services than... →

Pharmaceutical companies jostle to secure the shortest route to market

By: Amy Heydenrych 26th May 2006 Across an array of consumer industries in South Africa, the drive to secure the shortest route from the supplier to the market has become increasinglyurgent. The pharmaceutical industry is no different. However, given the precious nature of the cargo, theintegrity and quality of the distributor... →

Long-term, complex development process

By: Amy Heydenrych 26th May 2006 The development of high-quality pharmaceuticals is a very long and complex pro-cess,” asserts MSD medical directorDr Beverly Cowper. →

Using global technology to tackle South African problems

By: Amy Heydenrych 26th May 2006 Never underestimate local knowledge,” asserts Becton Dickenson South Africa GM Peter Mehlape. →

New drug to aid SA fight against asbestos-linked cancer

By: Amy Heydenrych 26th May 2006 In response to an urgent need to improve local treatment for anexcruciating form of asbestos-related cancer, international corpo-ration Lilly has recently released a drug that promises to ease its symptoms when other treatments fall short. →

Bioceramic wound-treatment devices show promise

By: Irma Venter 11th November 2005 It’s the stuff lateral thinking is made of. For the past 40 years materials scientist Dirk Kotz →

Medical innovation holds out prospect of longer life, if you can afford it

By: Irma Venter 30th September 2005 The world’s tallest bridge, the Milau Viaduct, is in southern France. →

Clean-room specialist focuses on regulatory training

By: Mariaan Webb 5th August 2005 Clean-room technology is a specialised field in which not many consulting engineering firms operate, and Deryck Smith Consulting Engineers (DSCE) claims to be South Africa’s only engineering company specialising exclusively in this field, mainly for the pharmaceutical, medical and... →

Improved service delivery with interactive voice response system

27th May 2005 A medical scheme administration company Sovereign Health has recently implemented an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system to improve its service delivery to providers. →

Clinical human trials for coronary stent device

27th May 2005 Biotechnology funding organisation, Cape Biotech, has committed R6,7-million to Disa Vascular, a Cape-based medical device company that develops innovative vascular devices for the treatment of heart and peripheral vascular disease. →

New high-tech scanner for Joburg hospital

27th May 2005 A new multimillion rand state-of-the-art Computerised Tomography (CT scanner), a type of X-ray machine that takes pictures of the human body, was recently delivered to the Johannesburg Hospital. →

Fermentation control system developed for pharmaceutical industry

27th May 2005 A process control system specifically designed for the fermentation process has recently been introduced by Eurotherm. →

Skin-cancer treatment cream receives FDA approval

27th May 2005 An announced was made recently by 3M that the U. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first prescription therapy in nearly a decade for the treatment of superficial basal cell carcinoma (sBCC), a type of nonmelanoma skin cancer. →

New safeguard for pharmaceutical and medical products

By: Nelendhre Moodley 27th May 2005 Market trends are placing greater emphasis on the qualification and validation of environmental control systems, with emphasis on the provision of documented proof of compliance. →

Automatic dispensing system is now in SA

By: Nelendhre Moodley 27th May 2005 Queuing for medication from the early hours of the morning at public hospitals may soon be a thing of the past. →

Digital radiography system gains popularity

By: Nelendhre Moodley 27th May 2005 “A →

Innovative products keep healthcare giant competitive

By: Nelendhre Moodley 27th May 2005 Legislature by government to regulate medicine pricing has done little to dampen the prospects of Adcock Ingram’s critical-care division. →

New TB centre launched at Witwatersrand university

27th May 2005 With the third-highest incidence of rate and second-highest mortality rate in the world, South Africa is facing a tuberculosis (TB) problem of such magnitude that this disease has been declared a national health emergency. →

Delivering drugs to the cochlea, and taking on other medical challenges

By: Karel Smrcka 18th February 2005 Hearing problems afflict almost one in five of the world population. →

Details soon on BEE participation in Mossel Bay spirulina venture

By: Zonika Botha 28th January 2005 The 30% black economic empowerment (BEE) partner for Geva Pharmaceuticals’ proposed R550-million spirulina production facility along the Cape Coast is expected to be announced on March 11. →

Partnership backs search for Aids vaccine

By: Irma Venter 6th December 2004 There are currently two possible Aids vaccines on trial in South Africa. →

Vaccine challenge

By: Irma Venter 3rd December 2004 Broad-based partnership backs search for Aids Holy Grail →

$900m polymers project is well-advanced in Iran

By: Martin Creamer 29th October 2004 South Africa’s petrochemicals giant Sasol is participating in a $ 900-million Iranian polymer joint venture, construction of which is now well advanced. →

Elephant health goes high-tech

By: Irma Venter 17th September 2004 When an elephant develops a limp, it’s not a simple problem to solve. →

SA' bioprospecting campaign begins to bear fruit

By: Irma Venter 13th September 2004 The systematic process of sifting through SA’s indigenous plants and traditional knowledge about them has resulted in a handful of new products setto enter the world pharmaceutical market, and the process is not even halfway. →

Plant power

By: Irma Venter 10th September 2004 South Africa's bioprospecting campaign begins bearing fruit. →

New technology for DNA analysis

By: Martin Creamer 27th August 2004 South African employers may on occasion complain about stringent labour laws but in places like California, for instance, employers are required to learn from confidentiality officers that an employee will be absent from work. ? →