French Healthcare logistics firm DGX Pharma has won a new
multi-year contract from Japan's Sankyo Pharma to provide logistics
and distribution services for its drug products in the French
market.
Partnerships in drug delivery need to fairly reflect the risk all
parties take but there must also be a champion to drive the project
forward, according to Pfizer's director of drug delivery.
The pharmaceutical and life sciences industries are flushed with
quality IT services, with eight companies that have a specialist
life science/pharmaceutical focus being featured in the top 20 of
the first-ever listing of the world's...
After a ruthless battle between US states, Novartis has selected
Holly Springs in North Carolina for its vaccine manufacturing plant
which will use novel cell culture technology to dramatically speed
up production - the first facility...
Biotechnology firm Alexion has acquired a Dow biomanufacturing
facility in Rhode Island as it gears up for the commercialisation
of its blood disorder drug Soliris, yet the move does not signal
the end of the company's contract...
Sales, sales, sales has been the focus of drug manufacturers so far
this year, while interest continues to remain high on the topics of
India and generics.
Biopharmaceutical firm Nektar has agreed to fork out $25m (€20m) to
settle a patent lawsuit by the University of Alabama in Huntsville
(UAH) concerning the company's PEGylation delivery technology
currently used in eight approved...
Northfield Laboratories, a company specialising in the development
of human hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers, has splashed out $6.7m
(€5.2m) to buy a plant it previously leased in Illinois, as it
edges closer to commercialising its...
European healthcare organisations are being driven to outsource
more and more IT operations due to escalating financial burdens,
increasing complexity of IT systems, and new government
initiatives.
Maryland is no longer in the running for a $500m (€392m) vaccine
manufacturing plant Novartis is seeking to build in the US, as
speculation about which state will host America's first cell
culture-derived influenza vaccine plant...
Despite the uncertainty about its direction, German pharmaceutical
company Altana has opened a new tablet production facility in Cork
as it tries to cope with demand for Pantoprazole, its blockbuster
stomach ulcer drug.
Nomeco, Denmark's biggest pharma wholesaler, has won a large
pre-wholesaling and logistics contract with Iceland's Actavis
covering the Nordic countries, typifying the regional shift in this
evolving sector of pharmaceutical...
Although patent expirations are set to increase the size of the
generic drug market, the impact of greater scrutiny from healthcare
policymakers means that generic manufacturers may make more drugs
but not necessarily more money.
As financial pressures continue to plague the pharma industry,
firms should consider taking more advantage of sourcing staff in
cheap labour markets in order to save a buck.
New guidelines for the import and manufacture of medical devices in
India have now come into effect, aimed at increasing world
confidence in medical devices made in the region.
A report on the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) enforcement
record by US Democratic lawmakers has highlighted a plunge in the
number of warning letters the agency has sent to drug manufacturers
since 2000, citing several...
Determined to slash operational costs, Eli Lilly has decided to
shut down its pill and tablet manufacturing plant in Basingstoke
and boost production in its remaining three dry product sites.
FFF Enterprises has just been awarded a new contract to distribute
GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK's) flu vaccine in the US, making it the
largest flu vaccine distributor for the second year running.
Pharmaceutical wholesalers in Europe need to evolve to meet the
changing pharma market and a world of opportunity awaits for those
willing to think beyond their traditional business model and move
to compete in the outsourcing arena.
The traditional adversarial relationship of wholesalers with
manufacturers must change to true partnership if both are to
achieve better profits and secure the integrity of the drug supply
chain, delegates of the annual general meeting...
China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) has authorised
Shanghai Sunve Pharmaceutical and Yichang Changjiang Pharmaceutical
to produce a licensed version of Roche's Tamiflu (oseltamivir
phosphate), the first such...
Newly-formed Sentry Logistic Solutions has built its first bridge,
forming a partnership with BioStorage Technologies to offer global
biopharma companies the first cold chain storage/logistics service
that spans all phases of drug...
Continuing its aggressive entry into Europe's custom manufacturing
arena, Nicholas Piramal (NPIL) has today acquired Pfizer's
manufacturing facility in Northumberland, in a deal that could earn
it more than $350m (€280m)...
In the company's largest investment of its kind in Asia,
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has decided to build a new vaccine
manufacturing plant in Singapore, as several products in its
pipeline approach commercialisation.
Determined to reduce costs in its manufacturing operations,
Schering-Plough has announced the loss of 1,100 positions in
manufacturing sites in Puerto Rico and New Jersey, aiming to save
$100m (€78.1m) a year.
Following a charm offensive by several US states, Bristol-Myers
Squibb (BMS) has selected Devens, Massachusetts to build a
significant manufacturing facility for several of its biologic
drugs, ending months of speculation about the...
Canadian contract manufacturer Patheon saw pre-tax profits remain
idle in the second quarter of 2006, leaving it struggling to find
ways to boost profitability.
Medidata Solutions has opened a new clinical data centre and
enlisted the help of consultancy firm C3i to provide its customers
with faster and more secure electronic clinical trial support as
demand for these services continues to...
Troubled contract sales and marketing firm PDI has recently won a
much-needed new sales contract and made two new top executive
appointments as part of ongoing efforts to turn its flagging
business around.
Determined to transform itself from a chemical distributor to a
drug firm, Schweizerhall has sold its chemical business unit to
Brenntag for SFr93m (€60m), allowing it to pay for financial
obligations, invest in its pharma division,...
The stage is ready for the biggest acquisition in BASF's 140-year
history after Engelhard's management agreed to recommend their
shareholders accept the German chemical group's $5bn (€3.8bn)
takeover bid.
Pfizer has sold a large manufacturing plant in Puerto Rico to
biopharmaceutical firm Abraxis for $32.5m (€25.4m), as it continues
to consolidate its manufacturing operations.
Sentry Logistic Solutions has debuted on the pharma scene,
launching a new range of services dedicated soley to the cold-chain
logistics, storage and packing of bulk pharmaceutical and
biotechnology components and finished products.
Pliva, Eastern Europe's biggest drug maker by sales, saw its
profits take a massive dive in the first quarter of 2006, as a huge
loss of royalties could not be offset by the relatively small
growth in its generics business.
Preliminary data from the first year of the EU's greenhouse gas
trading scheme has highlighted disparities in the allocation of
plant outputs and in the tracking of carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions, yet, all in all, pharma has...
Swiss biopharmaceutical firm Biopartners has got the thumbs up from
the European Commission for its biosimilar drug Valtropin, making
it only the second biogeneric drug to have been approved in Europe
after Sandoz's Omnitrope...
Cardinal Health has implemented a series of business reshuffles and
cost cutting measures in the hope of pulling itself out of poor
profitability after disappointing third quarter results.
Animal rights activists have continued their campaign of
intimidation after it was revealed the GlaxoSmithkline (GSK)
shareholders were sent letters demanding they sell any shares held
within the company.
The US government has awarded five-year contracts totaling $1bn
(€780m) to five drug companies to develop and produce cell-based
vaccines to fight influenza, in preparation for a possible bird flu
pandemic.
Celesio has bought a 30 per cent stake in Pharmexx, the number two
contract sales organisation in Europe, in a bid to get a foothold
in this market segment and diversify its business.
Ferring has opened a new production plant in Switzerland as it
tries to cut costs by centralising its manufacturing network.
In-PharmaTechnologist.com visited the site to see how the drugmaker
is streamlining its supply chain.
Drug giant Merck & Co has seen flat sales and a rise in
operating costs in the first quarter of 2006, as its restructuring
initiative, which contract manufacturers welcomed, takes its toll
on the company.
Determined to focus on its fuels and lubricant additives business,
specialty chemical firm Lubrizol has sold its active pharmaceutical
ingredient (API) and intermediate compounds division to Auctus, a
German private equity firm.
GE Healthcare has launched a new contract offering that it claims
will cut the cost of running the service operations in life science
R&D labs by up to 20 per cent, at a time when pharma and
biotech firms are facing intense cost...
US packaging specialist, Comar, chose Interphex, New York, to
launch its new custom design and production service for
pharmaceutical packaging, offering customers a free initial
consultation.
After three acquisitions in two months, inVentiv Health has now
expanded capacity in two of its divisions to meet the needs of its
jump in client base.
Momenta, a US biotech company whose polysaccharide technology for
the delivery and improved formulation of existing drugs promises
lucrative revenues, is worried its generic version of
Sanofi-Aventis's Lovenox may be in jeopardy...
