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Hanningfield Process Systems are extremely proud to announce an association with US-based manufacturer Stainless Motors Inc.
Hanningfield will act as the UK representative for the company’s range of stainless steel electric motors, enabling vast advantages to be gained from the considerable industry expertise and high-quality manufacturing skills synonymous with both organisations.
Colin Ellis, Managing Director of Hanningfield Process Systems spoke of his "immense delight that Stainless Motors Incorporated have placed their trust in ourselves...we look forward to a long and fruitful relationship."
With immediate effect, Hanningfield are able to provide all Stainless Motors Inc. products throughout the United Kingdom. If you are interested in speaking to a member of our technical team regarding any such products, please contact us on +44 (0) 1702 549777 or via info@hanningfield.com.
Hanningfield Launch 'Investors in People' Initiative 20/08/2008
Hanningfield's commitment to quality ensures we constantly seek to help our staff fulfil their potential, by giving them the necessary training and resources to design and manufacture products we are proud of.
Consequently, Hanningfield has decided to further extend such dedication and launch an initiative to attain the 'Investors in People' standard, which is aimed at recognising companies who strive to improve through the completion of thorough and demanding training programmes. The pursuance of such accreditation will ensure all Hanningfield staff are trained to an exceptional standard, enabling us to continue to provide innovative and expertly engineered process solutions, helping to benefit both ourselves and our customers.
Moreover, as part of this drive, Hanningfield has decided to review its health and safety programme to ensure that our workplace not only complies but surpasses the standards now expected. As a result, Hanningfield has employed the assistance of health and safety expert, John Gibbs, to help with the successful implemenation such improvements.
New 'Heavy-Duty' Lift System Design 05/08/2008
Hanningfield Process Systems are proud to launch the latest addition to their 'Uni-Hoist' range of lift systems. The brand new design of our heavy-duty system enables Hanningfield to deliver the optimum in materials handling solutions, catering for loads of up to 1,250kgs.
With over 150 lift-systems installed worldwide, the 'Uni-Hoist' is considered by many to be Hanningfield's signature product. Consequently, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies has approached Hanningfield to provide them with this latest hoist-system, which is thus due to be installed the week commencing 11th August 2008.
Colin Ellis, Managing Director of Hanningfield Process Systems, said of the latest development; "We are incredibly proud of the new hoist design and that a major pharmaceutical company has already put such faith in our capabilities. This latest innovation is a true testament to the determination of our workforce, who consistently strive to improve the quality of engineering we are able to provide."
Uni-Cap Launch 27/07/2008
Following the positive feedback received from a series of successful trials, Hanningfield is proud to officially launch the latest product in its range of dust containment solutions; the Uni-Cap. The silicone rubber caps offer the ultimate in hygienic powder-transfer, helping to protect both operators and the process environment.
Easy to clean and available in various sizes, the Uni-Cap is an ideal and cost-effective solution to powder transfer problems. For more details on this, or how Hanningfield can help to improve various aspects of your powder transfer system, please feel free to contact us.
Big Pharma self-medicates in a bid to lift ailing returns 27/07/2008
Richard Wachman
The Observer
Big pharmaceutical companies are looking for new sources of profit. Many blockbuster medicines are coming off patent and prices for prescription drugs are falling as governments and health insurers demand bigger discounts. In the US, the public has turned against the drug firms, which for years could push through huge price increases thanks to their marketing clout and influence on Capitol Hill.
Revealingly, Tachi Yamada, former boss of research and development at GlaxoSmithKline, was reported recently as saying that it used to be an industry in which \\\'it was almost too easy to be successful\\\'. Now life is harder for Big Pharma which must also battle with regulators demanding higher standards in the wake of a number of high-profile health scares.
But the companies are not standing still. Only last week, Swiss giant Roche bid more than $40bn to take full control of its US biotech partner Genentech in a move that commentators said was indicative of the insatiable appetite of the pharmaceuticals for new drugs to offset the decline in their own product pipelines. They are spending more on research and development than ever, but productivity has slumped for reasons that go beyond tighter regulatory scrutiny and oversight.
R&D is more complex and, consequently, more expensive. Drugs multinationals must also grapple with the harsh truth that \\\'there are fewer unmet clinical needs today than 20 years ago\\\', according to Alan Shepherd of IMS, the healthcare consultancy. \\\'A lot of the big breakthroughs have already been made, although important research continues in fields such as oncology,\\\' he says.
Shepherd\\\'s point is illustrated by the massive growth of \\\'me-too\\\' drugs, medicines that are only slightly different from market leaders, launched with the aim of grabbing a share of an already lucrative market. In his book, The Truth about the Drug Companies, Marcia Angell notes that we now have six branded medicines to lower cholesterol, \\\'all variants of the first\\\'. Angell quotes Dr Sharon Levine of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Group, who says: \\\'If I am a manufacturer and I can change one molecule and get another 20 years of patent rights, why would I be spending money on... looking for brand new drugs?\\\'
Roche\\\'s move on Genentech, however, will give the Swiss control of new specialist products, as well as scope to make cost savings of more than $800m, boosting the bottom line and, importantly, bolstering its pipeline of drugs undergoing clinical trials.
With fewer blockbusters coming to market, Big Pharma must look elsewhere to lift profits. GlaxoSmithKline, the British group under new chief executive Andrew Witty, unveiled a plan last week to generate revenue by selling generic medicines in developing countries, where analysts say there is enormous untapped potential.
Witty\\\'s plan to sell generics via a venture with Aspen of South Africa not only strengthens its profile in countries such as India, but also underlines a trend for Big Pharma to reduce its dependence on a handful of top-selling patented medicines and to diversify into generics. Experts say global generics are worth $70bn, about an eighth of a world drugs market of $550bn. But with medicines valued at $150bn coming off patent by 2015, the generics sector is expected to grow in the years ahead. Already in Russia generics account for about two thirds of the value of all drug sales, says Mark Purcell, an analyst with Morgan Stanley.
Simon Friend, head of PricewaterhouseCoopers\\\' pharmaceuticals division, says: \\\'Five years ago, Big Pharma saw generics as the enemy; now, the business is viewed as part and parcel of what they do. Companies are diversifying to have a foot in both camps.\\\'
Novartis was the first big patented drugs company to make a splash in generics, paying $8bn to acquire Hexal of Germany in 2005. The sector is also expanding from within: Israeli group Teva, is bidding for Barr, a US rival.
For now, though, the drug companies remain highly dependent on blockbusters: GSK generates 40 per cent of turnover from just two products, Avandia and asthma drug Advair. Past concern about the safety of Advair has hit both sales and GSK\\\'s stock price.
So desperate is Big Pharma to secure future profits that some groups, such as Roche, are diversifying into diagnostic equipment to become more broadly defined \\\'healthcare\\\' groups.
Elsewhere, cold winds are blowing from the US, where Barack Obama is threatening to hole Big Pharma below the waterline. Obama wants Medicare to bulk-buy drugs for the elderly and sick to drive down prices that on average are twice as expensive as in Britain. As things stand, doctors order drugs on a case-by-case basis from individual companies that \\\'charge the earth\\\', says one analyst.
Predictably, Big Pharma is squealing, but with polls showing credit-crunched Americans are more concerned about healthcare costs than Iraq, they should, perhaps, expect the worst.
Gene Variation May Raise Risk of HIV, Study Finds 25/07/2008
A genetic variation that protected people in sub-Saharan Africa from a now-extinct form of malaria could also have left their ancestors more vulnerable to HIV, according to a new study by US and UK researchers. The variation in a single unit of DNA could account for 11 percent of the HIV infections in Africa, they suggest.
Among those who carry this single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), the surface of red blood cells lack the Duffy antigen receptor that receives a signal from the hormone CCL5, part of the immune system\'s regulatory system. About 10,000 years ago, it conferred protection to humans against the malarial parasite Plasmodium vivax. More than 90 percent of Africans and about 60 percent of African-Americans lack the receptor.
The study involved Air Force members whose HIV infections have been followed for 25 years. African Americans who carried the SNP were 50 percent more likely to acquire HIV than African Americans who did not. However, the disease among carriers progressed more slowly, researchers noted.
The finding "would be pretty exciting if it holds up," said David B. Goldstein, a geneticist who studies HIV at Duke University. "If the results are confirmed, it would mean that selection for resistance to malaria has created vulnerability to infection with HIV-1."
The exact mechanism promoting HIV infection is not certain, said Dr. Sunil K. Ahuja, director of the Veteran Administration HIV/AIDS Center-San Antonio. However, CCL5 is known to obstruct HIV\'s proliferation, and the red blood cells act like a sponge for CCL5, which may help prevent HIV infection.
The study, "Duffy Antigen Receptor for Chemokines Mediates Trans-Infection of HIV-1 from Red Blood Cells to Target Cells and Affects HIV-AIDS Susceptibility," was published in Cell Host & Microbe (2008;4:52-62).
Welcome to the new Hanningfield Process Systems website 25/07/2008
We are proud to launch our new-look website, which is not only aesthetically more pleasing, but also contains vastly improved navigation and many beneficial features, such as downloadable brochures for various products. Hopefully this will better represent to you the nature of our company and help you to understand the products and services we offer.
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