Genmab has put its Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, US facility up for sale, which will reduce its headcount by 300, and plans to use CMOs to cover for the loss of capacity.
Dow has used AAPS 2009 to launch low aldehyde grades of its Carbowax Sentry PEG, which are niche products aimed at formulators seeking to improve shelf life.
New US Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) monographs designed to prevent adulteration of key excipients with diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG) have been published ahead of their official implementation date in February.
US contract services firm Catalent has launched a new test service capable of detecting trace amounts of the toxic chemical melamine in pharmaceuticals.
Abraxis Health has dedicated its manufacturing facility in Phoenix, Arizona, US which is the result of a $70m (€47m) investment to give the company the nanotech and biologics capacity needed for Abraxane production.
Genzyme is evaluating to-BBB’s G-Technology as part of a research collaboration aimed at developing treatments capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB).
Welsh contract services firm Penn Pharmaceuticals has reorganised its transport and delivery infrastructure in the first phase of a £12m (€13.3m) expansion at its facility in Tredegar.
Novartis is investing $250m (€170m) to construct a facility in China focused on research, development and manufacture of APIs and has earmarked a further $1bn to expand its R&D activities in the country.
Lonza cuts 2009 earning guidance and may reduce its workforce under “Project Bond” cost cutting plan after a Q3 characterized by an “accumulation of unexpected events”
Portuguese CMO Hovione has bought an aseptic spray-drying line from US firm Acusphere and says that the demand for the technology is increasing as drug firms aim to boost bioavailability.
Novavax has entered into a deal with Xcellerex to boost production of its H1N1 vaccine, which is entering clinical trials in Mexico, using the CMO’s FlexFactory disposable biomanufacturing platform.
BASF says its new Soluplus excipient will help meet demand for solubilising agents that are compatible with hot melt extrusion (HME) manufacturing methods.
The American Peptide Company (APC) plans to set up an R&D unit at its facility in Sunnydale, California to better serve growing demand for innovative technologies.
Patients want nasal delivery devices that are portable, hygienic and can be used discretely, according to a director at Valois who delivered a talk on the company’s side-actuated product at CPhI 2009.
Critical Pharmaceuticals has received a £1.5m ($2.4m) award to develop its hGH nasal spray, the market for which could be sizeable as company’s attempt to differentiate in response to generic competition.
The EC’s plan to make excipients comply with GMP is “still alive”, according to Cargill which spoke to in-PharmaTechnologist at CPhI about its Zerose erythritol product that it claims can improve compliance.
Sygnature Chemical Services will provide synthetic chemistry services for Heptares Therapeutics GPCR drug development programme under a deal signed last week.
The USAID and USP have launched a campaign to tackle counterfeits in Cambodia and Greater Mekong Subregion, using a film to educate the population of the dangers of fakes and need to use legitimate pharmacies.
Canadian drugmaker Labopharm says its Italian API maker Gruppo Angelini has resolved all the US FDA concerns about processes used to make a once-a day version of the depression drug trazodone.
GSK and Walvax have entered into a long-term joint venture (JV) to serve the Chinese vaccine market, with the big pharma transferring technology to enable local production and building a manufacturing plant.
Hospira has acquired the worldwide rights to filgrastim and a Croatian biologics plant from Pliva, increasing its presence in the biogenerics field, and told in-PharmaTechnologist that further expansions are possible.
From Thursday onwards all formulations of the blood thinner heparin shipped in the US will be only 90 per cent the strength of previous version, according to the FDA.
Buoyed by an increase in repeat business and deals with large pharma companies Ash Stevens has begun a $6m (€4.1m) expansion of its API manufacturing facility, with further phases planned to occur over the next six years.
Ampac Fine Chemicals (AFC) has added three new commercial-scale Hastelloy liquid-liquid centrifuges to its API making business in a move that, it says, will increase batch size and lower manufacturing costs.
Philips has entered into a joint research programme to evaluate ThermoDox with MR-HIFU, a combination therapy that could provide a precise, non-invasive way to treat difficult cancers.
Bio-Path Holdings has signed an exclusive licence to develop a liposomal tumour targeting technology that delivers antisense and FAK siRNA and cuts toxicity.
Coupling interferon to a synthetic PEG molecule could increase the therapeutic’s dosing schedule from every other day to every one to two weeks, according to researchers who believe the technology has blockbuster potential.
News of Bayer’s selection of ex-Thermo Fisher Scientific boss Marijn Dekkers as its CEO was somewhat overshadowed by a new FDA warning letter about quality testing at its manufacturing facility in Bergkamen, Germany.
With Lonza and JLL competing over Patheon Outsourcing-Pharma looks at what the CMO offers to a prospective buyer, analysing its global manufacturing capacity and backlog using interactive maps and graphs.
Dutch authorities have completed validation of Solvay Biologicals cell-based production facility which the company will use to meet growing worldwide demand for influenza vaccines.
CMO Encap has expanded its colonic delivery offering and is combining the technology with liquid dosage forms to provide clients with a way to administer a wide range of therapeutics to the region.
Novavax’ VLP delivery system has been the subject of industry excitement this week after the US firm released Ph II data showing that a combination seasonal influenza vaccine based on the technology is effective and well tolerated.
The global economic crisis has drastically reduced the growth of the North America API market, but brighter days are ahead according to new research by Global Markets Direct (GMD).
Wyeth’s battles to protect the controlled-release (CR) version of its anti-depressant Effexor are a sign of things to come according to a new Espicom report identifying 30 CR drugs likely to face competition.
Chemicals firm Durect will supply drugmaker King Pharmaceuticals with two excipients used in the manufacture of the candidate anti-abuse painkiller Remoxy in an agreement signed last week.
Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma has entered into a collaboration to develop Silence Therapeutics’ AtuRNAi delivery technology which improves stability, cut manufacturing costs and increase stability.
Mantecorp is using the Control and Communication Link (CC-Link) open fieldbus network to improve the environmental credentials of its facility in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Researchers have presented new microneedle drug delivery patches, which, using technology developed in the electronics sector, could improve compliance and treat ocular diseases.
Researchers claim tobacco plants provide an economical method of manufacturing norovirus vaccine, a product that would have low profit margins, and achieve commercial scale in two to four months.
Perrigo’s API business posted a $5.4m (€3.8m) operating loss in Q4 because of restructuring charges but it believes vertically integrating production, and opening a site in India, will help in coming years.
Asahikasei’s chemicals unit has launched three new grades of pre-gelatinized starch excipients that it claims have broad application in the control of drug release, stability and disintegration.
PCAS is setting up a kilolab in California, US to target the small-scale synthesis market, which it believes will benefit its large-scale operations by establishing relationships earlier in development.
A dry powder measles vaccine formulation and inhalers that could be as affordable as needle treatments are due to enter Phase I in 2010, according to researchers at the ACS meeting.
