Free Republic

Chemical industry lobbyists have stepped up their criticism of Europe’s REACH chemical safety regulation, branding the law “a monster” that “will devour” the industry’s ability to innovate. Policymakers should set “tangible” regulatory burden reduction targets to unleash the innovation potential of Europe’s chemical companies, industry body CEFIC said in a statement released today (29 April). […] In the industry’s firing line is the REACH regulation, which requires manufacturers to register thousands of chemicals currently on the market and submit them for safety screening and subsequent authorization. […] (CEFIC Vice President Tony) Bastock complained in particular that chemical companies were now...

Australian pharmaceutical firm, Biota, has said that Phase III trials of its new influenza drug laninamivir (CS-8958) have shown that a single inhaled dose of the drug was as effective as 10 doses of Roche’s Tamiflu administered orally over a 5 day period. The drug is a second generation neuraminidase inhibitor and is based on zanamivir, the active ingredient in Relenza, which Biota sold to GlaxoSmithKline. The study was conducted by Japanese pharma firm Daiichi Sankyo, which co-owns the drug, and included 1000 patients that had confirmed, naturally acquired influenza A or B. Preclinical studies have shown laninamivir to be...

Mains water supplies in the Chinese city of Harbin have resumed five days after they were cut due to a toxic chemical spill. Provincial governor Zhang Zuoji took the first drink after supplies were reconnected, Xinhua news agency said. An 80km (50-mile) stretch of contaminated water passed through the city of 3.8m people after 100 tonnes of benzene spilled into the Songhua river. The contaminated water is due to reach Russian cities downstream in two weeks. Beijing has begun an inquiry into the spill caused by an explosion at a petrochemical factory on 13 November. For the last five days,...

News that BASF will lay off as many as 500 workers at its Geismar site over the next year reaffirms Ascension Parish President Ronnie Hughes' beliefs that the chemical industry in the parish "will not turnaround soon." BASF officials announced last Thursday that 400 to 500 jobs will be lost at the Geismar facility and another 150-180 positions will be eliminated at the Freeport, Texas, site. "To be a world-class competitor, we must continually strive to be a low-cost manufacturer," said Klaus Peter Loebbe, chairman and CEO of BASF Corporation. "Our business and industry are challenged by over-capacity, high energy...

A new tool for biology and medicine Henry Ford revolutionized personal transportation by introducing an unusual car design onto the auto market and by embracing factory mass production of his "Tin Lizzie." Now a team of investigators at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and its Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology in La Jolla, California is introducing revolutionary changes into the genetic code of organisms like yeast that allow these cellular factories to mass produce proteins with unnatural amino acids. Led by Professor Peter G. Schultz, Ph.D., who holds the Scripps Family Chair in Chemistry at TSRI, the team is reporting...

<p>Environmental extremists are exploiting the Sept. 11 attacks in their latest attempt to destroy the chemical industry. Sen. John Corzine (search), D-N.J., is aiding and abetting the eco-scoundrels under the guise of improving homeland security.</p> <p>The battleground is the debate over the security of chemical facilities, a controversy stoked by the Sept. 11 attacks. The Environmental Protection Agency (search) claims there are 123 chemical facilities (manufacturers, users and storage sites) where terrorist attacks could kill, in worst-case scenarios, more than 1 million people at each site. Death tolls of up to 100,000 are alleged for another 700 facilities.</p>