Pharma Year In Review

Quote of the Week
"Like rock stars, reactions can come and go, but those with substance achieve greatness."
Victor Snieckus, Bader Chair Emeritus in Organic Chemistry, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario – p. 43
December 6, 2010
In This Issue:
Jump to Table of Contents ↓
Highlights

Cover Story
Battening The Hatches
Sailing toward the long-dreaded 'patent cliff,' drug firms positioned themselves for a new world of science and business in 2010. (pp. 14-21)

Science & Technology
New Fibers For Foods
Researchers and food manufacturers are developing ingredients to address consumer nutritional needs. (pp. 38-40)
» What's In A Food? Defining And Testing For Fiber

Career & Employment
Changing Their Ways
As students continue to flock to drug development, chemistry departments adapt their programs. (pp. 47-49)
» Hard-Hit Industry
Table of Contents
News Of The Week
Food Safety Bill Hits A Snag p. 9
Congress: Senate passes landmark legislation, but procedural error brings more delays.
BASF, Ineos Join For Styrenics p. 10
Restructuring: Styrene-based plastics venture caps industry reorganization.
Sezen Found Guilty Of Fraud p. 10
Scientific Misconduct: Columbia University case is one of the worst for chemistry.
Tuning Up For A Breakdown p. 11
Biomaterials: Acid-sensitive polymers permit tight control over degradation for in vivo drug delivery.
Europe's REACH Deadline p. 11
Some 4,300 chemicals are now registered in accord with European law.
GSK Applauds U.K. Tax Breaks p. 12
Pharmaceuticals: Firm pins investments to a tax break on intellectual-property-generated profits.
Greenpeace Sues Chemical Firms p. 12
Corporate Spying: Environmental group accuses Dow, Sasol of stealing documents, tapping phones.
Coal Ash Spill In Tennessee Still A Problem p. 13
Environmental Disaster: High levels of arsenic linger downstream of the site of a 2008 accident.
New Rubber Beats Heat And Cold p. 13
Materials: Nanotube rubber maintains its viscoelasticity in extreme temperatures.
Business

Battery Booster pp. 24-27 (Member Content)
A new DOE program is a financial lifeline for energy-storage start-ups.
Chemtura's Comeback pp. 28-29 (Member Content)
CEO Craig Rogerson discusses reorganization and postbankruptcy growth plans.
Silicone Partners p. 30 (Member Content)
Dow Corning and Wacker commission a large-scale basic silicones facility in China.
Business Concentrates pp. 22-23 (Member Content)
- European Chemical Firms Fund R&D With Academia
- Three European chemical companies are launching joint research efforts with local academic institutions...
- Dow Plans Shift To Ethane Cracking
- Dow Chemical plans to increase its ethane cracking capabilities on the U.S. Gulf Coast by 20 to 30% over the next two to three years...
- BASF Will Sell Cognis Assets To Win Okay
- BASF will sell some small businesses owned by Cognis to win European Union approval for its purchase of the company...
- Clariant Will Launch An Industrial Park
- Clariant plans to transform its premises in Muttenz, Switzerland, into an industrial park to open next year....
- Singapore Gets Yet Another Rubber Plant
- Sumitomo Chemical will join a growing list of chemical companies with rubber plants in Singapore...
- Momentive Ink Resins Business Will Go To Harima
- Momentive Performance Materials will sell its ink and adhesive resins business to Tokyo-based Harima Chemicals for an undisclosed sum...
- Sigma-Aldrich Ups Its Hard Materials
- Aldrich Materials Science, a Sigma-Aldrich business, has expanded its capabilities for synthesizing, processing, and analyzing “hard materials...
- FMC Will Close A Plant In Spain
- FMC Corp. says it will end operations at its Foret sodium and calcium phosphates plant in Huelva, Spain, by the end of the year...
- Merck Taps Frazier As Its Next CEO
- Merck & Co.’s board of directors has elected Kenneth C. Frazier as the firm’s next CEO. Frazier...
- GSK Increases Theravance Stake …
- GlaxoSmithKline is upping its stake in long-standing respiratory drug development partner Theravance...
- … Signs Vaccine Deal, And Sheds Penicillin
- GlaxoSmithKline is expanding its presence in emerging markets through a vaccines-manufacturing agreement with Moscow-based JSC Binnopharm...
- Basilea Wins In Arbitration With J&J
- Switzerland’s Basilea Pharmaceutica has been awarded $130 million after the Netherlands Arbitration Institute found Johnson & Johnson in breach of some but not all aspects of a licensing agreement...
- Aileron Adds Scripps’s Click Chemistry
- Scripps Research Institute has licensed its click chemistry to Aileron Therapeutics...
- Business Roundup
- BASF, AkzoNobel, Merck KGaA, Evonik Industries, Arkema, Dow Chemical, Fujifilm, Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Novartis...
Career & Employment

Changing Their Ways pp. 47-49
As students continue to flock to drug development, chemistry departments adapt their programs.
Hard-Hit Industry Web Exclusive
Tough times in pharma provide opportunities for academe.
Government & Policy

Obtaining Genetic Resources Abroad pp. 34-35 (Member Content)
Treaty governs access to materials and sharing of benefits.
Government & Policy Concentrates p. 32 (Member Content)
- Interior Limits Offshore Drilling
- Oil and natural gas drilling and production in federal offshore waters will be allowed to move forward only in the western and central Gulf of Mexico...
- Panel Urges Jump In Energy R&D
- The President’s Council of Advisors on Science & Technology (PCAST) recommended a roughly $10 billion annual increase in federally supported energy R&D and deployment...
- EPA Sets Standards To Compare Chemicals’ Safety
- New EPA guidelines lay out criteria for comparing the safety of chemical substances that are possible alternatives to chemicals currently in use that may pose a concern to human health or the environment...
- Russian Facility Will Scrap Chemical Arms
- Russia has brought a sixth plant on-line to destroy its Cold War-era chemical weapons stockpile...
- ToxCast Enters Second Phase
- EPA’s National Center for Computational Toxicology has launched the second phase of its ToxCast program. Begun in 2007, ToxCast aims to predict the toxicity of...
» more government & policy news...
ACS Comment
Supporting A Diverse Profession And Inclusive Community p. 45 (Member Content)
ACS Meetings
2010–11 C&EN Calendar Web Exclusive
C&EN's latest list of meetings and events of interest to those in the chemical community.

Social Networking And C&EN
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Science & Technology

New Fibers For Foods pp. 38-40
Researchers and food manufacturers are developing ingredients to address consumer nutritional needs.
What’s In A Food? Defining And Testing For Fiber p. 39
Researchers and food manufacturers are developing ingredients to address consumer nutritional needs.
Cracking An Interstellar Mystery pp. 41-42 (Member Content)
Chemists identify a possible first molecule in diffuse interstellar bands.
Meta Reaction Revisited pp. 43-44 (Member Content)
Scientists reassess copper's role in a reaction on aromatic rings.
Science & Technology Concentrates pp. 36-37 (Member Content)
- Microbe Thrives on Arsenic
- Discovery indicates that more than six elements might be able to sustain life
- Citrate Stabilizes Bone Apatite
- Apatite nanocrystals that give bone its desirable mechanical properties draw unexpected support from citrate molecules
- Experimental Evidence For ‘Hyperaromaticity’
- Scientists report the first definitive evidence for aromaticity in benzenium and other arenium ions
- Aptamer-Graphene Combos Pull Analytic Double Duty
- Small-molecule-binding nucleic acids conjugated to graphene oxide improve detection of cocaine and other analytes
- Finding Fluoride Via Electron Transfer
- An unusual anion-π orbital interaction is the basis of a chemical sensor that changes color in the presence of fluoride
- Metal-Methane Insertion Milestone
- Microwave spectroscopists have captured the first detailed structure of a transition metal inserted into a C–H bond of methane
- Kinase’s Oscillatory Behavior Controls Cell Signaling
- Protein kinase A forms an oscillatory signaling circuit that represents a new mechanism of signal transmission in cells
- Water Influences Amyloid And Prion Aggregation Rates
- Peptide aggregation in aqueous solution depends on the rate of formation of a dry interface between the biomolecules
» more science & technology news...
Editor's Page
EPA Looks Forward p. 5
The Departments
Letters pp. 6-7
Newscripts p. 56
Holiday Gift Ideas
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Environmental SCENE News
Fertilizer May Help Bacteria Slip Into Groundwater
Water Safety: High phosphate levels allow deadly microbes to pass through soil.
Bisphenol A Is Ubiquitous In Receipts
Endocrine Disrupters: Researchers detect BPA in every receipt that they collected from seven U.S. cities.
Sunlight Is An Effective Disinfectant
Public Health: Field work shows that a cheap water treatment method improves children's health.
House Takes Aim At Clean Air Act
Pollution: Industry backs cost-benefit analyses of EPA rules, but critics fear assault on public health.
Analytical SCENE News
New Method Isolates Membrane Proteins
Protein Purification: Technique separates proteins on a lipid bilayer.
Bisphenol A Is Ubiquitous In Receipts
Endocrine Disrupters: Researchers detect BPA in every receipt that they collected from seven U.S. cities.
Mapping Drugs In Human Tissue
Clinical Chemistry: Mass spectrometry imaging provides view of an inhaled drug in human lung tissue.
Skeletons Come To Light
Fluorescence Imaging: Monitoring cells as they dissolve bone may lead to disease treatments.
Analyzing Nuclear Processes
ACS Meeting News: Analytical chemists devise ways to watch radioactive streams.
JACS Research In C&EN
Indole Changeup Yields Elusive Alkaloid
ACS Meeting News: Cyclization and nitrene insertion star in synthesis.
Prefab Synthesis Moves Ahead
Organic Chemistry: First stable alpha-boryl aldehydes ease preparation of complex small molecules.
Multiple Bradykinin States Revealed
The peptide adopts at least 10 conformers in solution, explaining why its structure had only been partially characterized.
Scaling Up The Axinellamines
A quicker, more efficient, and stereocontrolled route to a key intermediate streamlines natural product syntheses.
A Revamped Vancomycin
Medicinal Chemistry: Modified compound shows promise against hard-to-treat bacteria.
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