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Shares of the biotech firm NicOx have been pummeled after an EU panel rejects their anti-inflammatory treatment naproxcinod. The French company said it would drop its European application for the treatment after an expert panel gave it the thumb's down. This comes on the heels of a US FDA rejection as well, and caused shares of the company to drop 34% following the announcement.

The FDA had serious issues with the safety of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory painkiller, and said that the developer never made a successful case that the new therapy did not raise blood pressure. Hopes had been high that naproxcinod would succeed where Celebrex had failed, and become a blockbuster drug. However, the rejections have instead caused the company to cut its workforce by 50% and abandon its US HQ.

Goodwin Biotechnology, Inc. is a fully integrated contract manufacturer of monoclonal antibodies and vaccines; Goodwin Biotechnology has the experience and expertise in development of recombinant proteins and antibody drug conjugates.

Goodwin Biotechnology has almost 20 years of experience in the field of biotechnology whereas RAFAGEN, Inc. is a well known leader in cell line engineering for protein monoclonal antibody drug production; RAFAGEN's main aim is the development and commercialization of next generation gene expression systems.

PhD, Soo Young Lee, Senior vice president of Goodwin Biotechnology Inc. expressed that by collaborating with RAFAGEN for cell line engineering they can expand their horizons and capabilities as biological contract manufacturing company.
Both the companies recently announced their collaboration agreement for the cell line engineering and biological contract manufacturing.

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Tanzania has the best technology regulator regimes which are likely to be destabilized for commercial interests. Mr Moses Shaha, Regional Chairman Eastern and Southern Africa Small Scale Farmers' Forum (ESAFF), said that the relaxing regulations which govern GMOs are counterproductive as biotechnology companies focus on commercial interests. ESAFF is an umbrella organization of activists opposed to GMOs. The future of biotechnology regulator regime is debated and many experts and activists are giving their opinions about the biotechnology.

This financial year, Govt. has allocated 30 billion for research under Commission for Biotechnology. Tanzania Alliance for Biodiversity members consider that Biosafety regulations for biotechnology should be based on precautionary principle. The Alliance conducts and supports similar movements in South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, and Uganda, to resist the Africa-wide pressure from the US-driven biotechnology industry.

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