Pharma production news in brief

In-PharmaTechnologist.com's periodic round-up of developments in the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector sees Schering-Plough expanding in Japan and plant news from Germany, Mexico and Vietnam.

Schering-Plough's Japanese subsidiary Schering-Plough KK has completed a project to expand its production plant in Shiga. The expansion of the plant, which supplies S-P products in Japan, will provide the capacity to meet the projected expansion of the company's business in Japan, particularly with regard to the production and packaging and tablets. The expansion will also improve compliance with Japan's Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards and enhances safety at the plant.

A biomanufacturing centre that will produce products for the pharmaceutical and other industries is to be built in Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam with the help of the Cuban government, according to a report from the Vietnamese News Agency. The centre will also train researchers and conduct scientific research to help raise Vietnam's biotechnology expertise to international standards.

US-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals has agreed to sell one of its manufacturing facilities in Mexico City, Mexico, to Inmobiliaria Zerboni. The company will retain another production facility in Mexico City, and last month sold off a facility in Spain. Valeant implemented a manufacturing restructuring last year to reduce the firm's network from 33 sites to five by the end of 2006. With the completion of this sale, it will have 12 sites remaining. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Germany's AMINO said that its production facility in Frellstedt has been awarded a Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certificate for leucine. The facility is dedicated to pharmaceutical-grade amino acid extraction and purification and provides integrated production, including validated production equipment and processes and clean rooms for open product handling.