With IMS Health's annual forecast for the pharma industry
predicting slower approvals, more black box warnings and the
continuation of the 'wave of genericization,' the shift by
pharma firms to refocus and reinvent...
There are lessons to be learned about the importance of rigorous due diligence of pharma contractors, now that Inyx' customers are facing possible supply issues and a scramble to find alternative manufacturers after the firm's collapse.
Pfizer, Savient Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceuticals, NPS
Pharmaceuticals and MicroCHIPS have all had people on the move in
the world of pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Sanofi-Aventis has had to take Inyx USA to court after it failed to
deliver on a contract manufacturing and supply agreement, a
situation that Aventis feared could "seriously harm its
interests". There may be important lessons...
Despite often attracting a barrage of negative publicity,
particularly in regard to a perception of putting profits before
people, big pharma firms are still capable of showing their human
side in times of crisis.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is planning to strip itself down closer to
the bare bones of the business through further outsourcing and
offshoring, with hopes of making itself into a lean, mean, pharma
machine.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has emerged as the latest pharma firm to
announce closures and job cuts along with its third quarter
results, yet another casualty of generic competition and product
safety scares.
As it faces an increasingly uncertain financial future, Pfizer's
reaffirmation that it plans to retain its focus on cutting costs,
including outsourcing and offshoring, comes as no 'Kindler
surprise', unlike the firm's...
We've all cringed at stories of people dumping their partners via
text message but in the world of business, Pfizer seems to have
taken things to a new level when its Exubera partners were
allegedly left to find out the product...
A new report has outlined a series of recommendations for
government policymakers to help mitigate the potential risks of the
burgeoning synthetic genomics area.
A new foot-controlled PC mouse aims to increase researchers'
efficiency by removing the need for repetitive glove removal and
hand washing before using laboratory computers.
ViRexx, Aesica, Velcura Therapeutics, Helix BioPharma and Avalon
Pharmaceuticals have all had people on the move in the world of
pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Several big drug-makers are voluntarily recalling some of their
cough and cold products for under-two-year-olds in the US as a
precautionary measure against overdosing on the drugs.
Three more individuals have been sentenced following last month's
exposure of the largest counterfeit drugs conspiracy ever to be
encountered in the UK.
The excessive use of a popular influenza drug, and the
associated build up of its waste in the environment, is
heightening the risk of creating viruses in nature that are
resistance to the therapy.
Investors in Bristol-Myers Squibb were in a frisson of excitement
earlier this week as speculation mounted - not for the first time -
that the firm could soon become the target of a major
pharmaceutical acquisition.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been called into
question again after the release of a damning report, this time
suggesting the agency is inadequate in its safety monitoring of
clinical trials.
Pharmaceutical companies not only have to face the consequences of
a burgeoning counterfeit drug black market but have to contend with
the theft of their own manufactured drugs for illicit uses,
according to a US consumer advocacy...
The merger between Mitsubishi Chemical Holding's pharmaceutical
unit and Tanabe Seiyaku has been completed and the new entity is
looking to expand its presence outside Japan and create a more
efficient R&D and manufacturing...
Pfizer will appear this week in a Nigerian court to face
allegations that it caused the death of Nigerian children over a
decade ago when it conducted a clinical trial of its
meningitis drug Trovan (trovafloxacin) in the country.
Novo Nordisk is in the process of relocating its clinical data
management centre to India after closing down the operation in
Singapore, where it had been previously run for many years.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed plans to
phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in metered dose inhalers that
contain epinephrine, but the decision could spell the end for some
asthma treatments.
French processing and synthesis specialist Groupe Novasep is
heading to the sun with the acquisition of Bahamas-based
ingredients and intermediates firm PharmaChem Technologies.
The biggest counterfeit drugs conspiracy ever to be encountered in
the UK was crushed this week, as gang members were found guilty of
conspiracy by a UK court following a lengthy investigation by the
authorities.
The European Commission has named research-performing small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as 'the entrepreneurial stars of
Europe', and hopes to raise €800m of extra funds for them.
Yet another production site has fallen to the unrelenting axe of
big pharma's consolidation drive as Pfizer announces that its only
UK manufacturing plant is to be closed down.
It seems that the ghost of the US Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) probe has stopped haunting MDS Pharma as the firm posted
encouraging financial results in the third quarter.
Indian IT firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has bagged its
second high profile pharma outsourcing deal this year with a new
multi-year contract with Swiss drug maker Roche.
J&J has expressed its concern over patient safety as Novartis'
subsidiary Sandoz has received the green light from the European
Commission to launch the first epoetin alfa biosimilar on the EU
market.
Reformulations of pseudoephedrine- and ephedrine-containing drugs
in the UK look unlikely following the announcement of less extreme
restrictions on the sale of the pharmaceuticals.
A new guide on the prickly issue of electronic data archiving has
been published for the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, the
latest offering from the International Society for Pharmaceutical
Engineering (ISPE).
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is following the growing
pharma industry trend by embracing outsourcing as part of a
cost-saving drive - a move that is attracting strong opposition.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) have made
further moves in their plans to boost their presence in Singapore,
a region growing in popularity for biopharmaceutical research and
manufacture.
