Golden WD-40 fights fraud with new Crown can

US-based lubricants firm WD-40 Company is celebrating its 50^th anniversary with apparently the world’s first asymmetrical aerosol can for consumer goods products.

The can, made by US-based can maker Crown, is blow-moulded in an easy-to-grip shape and allows for convenient squirting. WD-40's highly recognisable yellow shield logo is embossed onto the can. This gives a unique 3D aspect that enhances shelf presence and the tactile appeal of the package, say the makers. The new aerosol can comes in 8 oz and 11 oz sizes (236ml and 325ml).

The unique container will also help the company combat counterfeiters in China, where it has an estimated 50% market share. WD-40 reckons its counterfeiters have a quarter of the market.

The new asymmetrical shape is hard to copy, so consumers will easily tell genuine from fake packages, the company hopes. The new asymmetrical container will launch in China in September and will become standard packaging for WD-40 in the region.

In the US, the company has signed an exclusive deal with Wal-Mart to launch the 8 oz can in October 2003. It will offer the 11 oz version as a promotional item from January 2004. Depending on consumer reaction, the container may become permanent.

Drug R&D doubles as approvals plummet

Interbrew buys top Serbian brewer

Surprising Aspirin

Atkins finds a taker for its ice cream

Drugs

Drug R&D doubles as approvals plummet

New drug approvals in the US halved from 53 in 1996 to just 26 in 2002. At the same time, R&D spending nearly doubled from $17bn in 1996 to $32bn last year, says market researcher Cutting Edge Information.

Infusing market data into early product development weeds out commercially risky drugs and shapes products to better meet patient needs, it says. Industry leaders such as Pfizer, Novartis and Abbott Laboratories, are using formal tools, processes and team structures to integrate R&D and commercial players.

"The pharmaceutical industry must learn to bridge the gap between R&D and commercialisation. Market dynamics and medical science are changing so rapidly that it is difficult for the two to stay on the same page," said Cutting Edge senior analyst Jon Hess. "Until companies pay more attention to this issue, R&D costs will continue to rise while productivity wanes."

Beer

Interbrew buys top Serbian brewer 

Belgian brewer Interbrew is to buy 50% of leading Serbian brewer Apatin, and make a public offer for the outstanding shares that values the company at 262m euros.

Apatin is the largest brewer in southeast Europe, with 39% (5.7m hectolitres) of Serbia’s market. Its leading brands are Jelen Pivo and Pils light. Interbrew's Central European network now has 14 breweries.

Drugs

Surprising Aspirin

Who would believe that a relatively simple compound like acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), the active ingredient in Aspirin, would have 3500 academic papers a year written about it?

That’s what Aspirin’s maker, Bayer Healthcare, is claiming. It has just awarded the 2003 International Aspirin award, worth €10,000, to Minsheng Yuan (39) for his work on Aspirin’s effect on diabetes patients.

Originally developed as a pain killer, ASA is now used to prevent heart attacks and strokes, as a secondary prevention strategy in diabetic men and women with large vessel disease, and as a primary prevention strategy in diabetics. It is also used to treat cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, obesity, high blood lipids, etc.

Researchers have also shown its benefits in the acute therapy of myocardial infarction and the treatment of angina pectoris and migraine headaches.

Distribution

Atkins finds a taker for its ice cream

Following a cautious reception in the UK for its branded foods, Atkins Nutritionals, has signed Canada’s CoolBrands International to make, sell and distribute an expanded line-up of Atkins’ Endulge super premium ice cream products in the US and Canada. Endulge has no sugar added to reduce its carbohydrate content.

CoolBrands will first market Atkins Endulge in a range of flavours in pint (450ml) containers, as well as ice cream bars, fudge bars and frozen snacks. Future line extensions are planned for soft serve ice cream and bulk ice cream for foodservice applications.

Atkins diet inventor Robert Atkins founded Atkins Nutritionals in 1989. The fashionable carbohydrate-restricted diet has drawn warnings from nutritionists worried about its long term effects.