BioFocus DPI takes the guesswork out of your drug discovery. The UK-based company specializes in pre-clinical drug discovery services, assay development and screening, and compound management (including storage and delivery). The company's major clients include Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, and GlaxoSmithKline. BioFocus was founded by a group of Wellcome scientists in 1997, and about a decade later was acquired by Galapagos. It now operates as that company's services division. Formerly known as BioFocus, the firm added DPI to its name after Galapagos acquired the drug discovery business of Discovery Partners International and merged it with existing BioFocus operations.

Peptimmune is pepped up about stopping the immune system when it malfunctions. The research-stage biotechnology company is focused on developing pharmaceuticals that treat medical conditions in which the body essentially attacks itself. Peptimmune conducts research and development programs on potential drug candidates targeting autoimmune and inflammatory ailments such as Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. The company partners with other pharmaceutical firms in some of its drug development efforts; it also relies on venture capital investors to help fund its research.

Millennium Pharmaceuticals wants to be "the" drug company for the new millennium. Its cancer drug Velcade is approved as a treatment for multiple myeloma (a type of blood cancer) and Mantle Cell Lymphoma (or MCL, an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma). The company has more than a dozen other candidates in the pipeline, most of them cancer-related. Millennium's oncology-focused sales force, in partnership with Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ortho Biotech, sells the drug in the US; Ortho Biotech is responsible for sales in Europe and in other countries where Velcade is approved (except Japan, which is covered by Janssen). Takeda Pharmaceutical acquired Millennium Pharmaceuticals for $8.8 billion in 2008.

Falcon Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. company specializes in making generic equivalents of ophthalmic drugs that treat a range of eye conditions, as well as otic (ear) and nasal ailments. Its lead product, Timolol GFS, is a generic equivalent of Merck's glaucoma treatment Timoptic-XE gel. Falcon Pharmaceuticals company also offers anti-infective, steroid, anti-viral, anti-allergy, and anesthetic pharmaceutical products without the markup typically associated with brand names. Falcon Pharmaceuticals is a subsidiary of eye care products company Alcon.

Bioniche Life Sciences is seeking its niche in the development of drugs for both humans and animals. The firm has three divisions: Human Health, Animal Health, and Food Safety. The Bioniche Animal Health division sells products to improve livestock breeding and to boost livestock immunity without antibiotics. Bioniche's Food Safety division works to improve food and water quality by developing technology to prevent infections and diseases in animals that are passed on to humans. The company's Bioniche Therapeutics segment is developing pharmaceuticals to help humankind; it focuses on urology, oncology, and immune system disorders.

Sanofi-Aventis U.S. is just a subsidiary, but it's still one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the US. As the US operations of European drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis, the company develops, manufactures, and markets pharmaceutical products. Its production facility in Kansas City, Missouri, is one of Sanofi-Aventis' primary manufacturing sites, and it produces pharmaceuticals for sale in the US and around the world. Some of its key products include sleep aid Ambien, cancer drug Taxotere, and blood thinner Plavix. Sanofi-Aventis US markets its parent's products in the US through its 8,000 field sales professionals.

Fluidigm Corporation was founded as Mycometrix Corporation in 1999 and changed its name to Fluidigm Corporation in June 2001. The company is based in San Francisco, California. Fluidigm Corporation develops and distributes systems based on the properties of integrated fluidic circuits to control precisely fluids on a nano volume scale. The company's product line includes the TOPAZ system, which is used for protein crystallization; and the BioMark system, which is used for genetic analysis.

BG Medicine wants to fill big gaps in diagnostic medicine. The biosciences researcher primarily provides drug research and development services to such top global pharmaceutical makers as Pfizer and AstraZeneca, US government agencies, and to the health care product divisions of companies like Mitsubishi. BG Medicine specializes in developing biomarkers, substances used to detect disease at a molecular level, that enable research into the causes of disease and the effectiveness of drugs used to treat them. Products in the planning and discovery stages include molecular diagnostic tests for heart disease, neurological disorders, and cancer.

Pharmaxis has an ax to grind with chronic respiratory and autoimmune diseases. The Australian company researches, develops, and markets therapeutic pharmaceutical products to combat these and other illnesses. Pharmaxis has received approval to market asthma treatment Aridol in select regions. The company has research and development programs for additional disease targets such as cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchiectasis, and pulmonary fibrosis. Pharmaxis acquired respiratory therapeutics developer TOPIGEN Pharmaceuticals in 2010, adding to Pharmaxis' roster of potential treatments for respiratory disorders including asthma and COPD.

AutoGenomics was founded in 1999 as Neuron Technologies and applied to go public in 2008. AutoGenomics, Inc. company developed a genetic testing system called INFINITI that scans DNA samples for genetic disorders, infectious diseases, cancer, and pharmacogenetics (a patient's genetic likeliness to have an adverse reaction to a drug). AutoGenomics found about 25 uses for the INFINITI, but only four have been approved by the FDA for diagnostic use -- testing for sensitivity to the popular blood thinner warfarin, screening for the risk of developing cystic fibrosis or cervical cancer (for women with HPV), and testing for a gene that blocks common drugs from working.

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