Long reads
Enhancing solvents' sustainability
Increased recycling and replacing toxic solvents with greener alternatives will reduce environmental impact
Curbing industry’s carbon emissions
Replacing fossil-fuelled furnaces with renewable electrical heating and cutting carbon from some heavy industries could make a serious dent in climate targets
Industry adopts quantum computing, qubit by qubit
Companies looking to solve complex chemistry problems are among early adopters of quantum technology
Profiles
HexagonFab cracks nanomanufacturing for pocket diagnostics
HexagonFab’s founders say their graphene-based sensors are set to become the lab tests that don’t need a physical lab
Profile: Oxford nanoSystems’ heat transfer coatings
Nanospiked coatings drastically increase heat exchangers’ efficiency and can be applied after manufacturing
Fighting fake medicines
RxAll’s handheld scanner assesses drug quality in real time via a smartphone
Building a biological biocide
Aqualution Systems produces stable hypochlorous acid, a natural biocide up to 300 times more effective than bleach
Opinion
Has x-ray had its day?
Will the giant of structure determination be toppled by blasts from electron beams?
Are new drugs better than existing ones?
Should companies be made to change the way they run clinical trials?
The silent rise of the robots
Mechanical helpers have been creeping into our labs for decades
Get with the quantum program
Now is the time for industry to engage with the emerging world of quantum computers
More Business News
AbbVie to acquire Allergan in multibillion-dollar merger
Takeover deal will create world’s fifth-largest pharma company
China makes slow progress on safety
Government policy drive continues, as self-regulation also grows
US finalises guidance on biosimilars
Regulator clarifies requirements for allowing substitution between products
Industry criticises proposed US asbestos ban
Outright ban would compromise chlorine supply and public health, claims trade body
Jury awards $2bn damages in US glyphosate trial
Bayer vows to appeal third defeat over Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller, while experts suggest damages will likely be reduced
Fighting fake medicines
RxAll’s handheld scanner assesses drug quality in real time via a smartphone
Smartwound dressings spot infection early
Bacterial toxins burst dye-filled vesicles to give a visual warning
Biotech’s boom year
US government sued for delaying dichloromethane paint stripper ban
UK government sets out antimicrobial resistance plan
Battling the US opioid epidemic
Pfizer to close two manufacturing plants in India
Chinese plant closures disrupt supply chains
Bristol-Myers Squibb to buy Celgene for $74 billion
GSK and Pfizer joint venture creates new consumer healthcare giant
Bayer to cut 12000 jobs
Sartan drug contamination brings cancer uncertainty