Processing equipment

Thawing market heats up: Biocision expands cell therapy tech offering

29-Jan-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

Biocision has revamped its cell thawing platform to accommodate larger vial sizes and started developing an automated system for cell therapies in cryopreservation bags.

Novartis: Centralised manufacturing unit will harness tech, not reduce network

28-Jan-2016 By Dan Stanton

Plans to centralise its manufacturing operations will optimise use of new technologies across Novartis’s divisions without resulting in any additional facility closures, the firm says.

Hermes adapts food coating technique for API taste masking

26-Jan-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

Hermes Pharma has added hot melt coating capabilities to its offering and hopes the food industry technique will win it pharma customers with unpleasant tasting APIs.

UK pharma manufacturing output to grow in 2016 says EEF

12-Jan-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

UK pharma manufacturing output increased last year according to EEF, which says lower costs and a legacy of R&D investment will drive further growth in 2016.

Thermo Fisher to expand cellular analysis toolbelt in $1.3bn 'sensible' deal

12-Jan-2016 By Dan Stanton

Thermo Fisher will expand its antibody, multiplex RNA, and protein analysis tech offerings through the $1.3bn acquisition of Affymetrix.

One by one: Continuous manufacturing gets broad support

12-Jan-2016 By Melissa Fassbender

Continuous manufacturing (CM) offers several benefits over traditional pharma manufacturing, including real-time monitoring, says expert.

Waters to open analytical lab in UK biohub

07-Jan-2016 By .

Waters Corporation will offer an open access analytical laboratory and technology support  to biotechs based at a former AstraZeneca site in the UK.

Kalbe Farma to build Indonesian facility to tackle import challenges

06-Jan-2016 By Natalie MORRISON

Kalbe Farma has launched construction plans for a local raw materials facility in a bid to tackle import challenges.

B. Braun seeks World Bank loan to support construction of Indonesia parenterals plant

04-Jan-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

B. Braun has asked the World Bank for a €55m loan to support construction of a parenteral drug manufacturing facility it is building in Indonesia.

Labelling survey reveals deep inefficiencies

21-Dec-2015 By Phil Taylor

Almost half of all manufacturers have reported production downtime resulting from barcode labelling problems, according to a new survey.

IPO ready BeiGene adopts GE tech for China cancer biologics plant

16-Dec-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Nasdaq-bound Chinese biopharma BeiGene has chosen GE Healthcare’s Flexfactory platform for the monoclonal antibody (mAb) plant it is building in Suzhou.

AstraZeneca commits £75m to replace warehouse and packaging unit at UK plant

15-Dec-2015 By Dan Stanton

AstraZeneca has invested £75m ($114m) to build packaging and warehouse facilities at its manufacturing site in Macclesfield, UK.

Sun selling Ohio plant in post-Ranbaxy network restructure

15-Dec-2015 By Dan Stanton

Sun Pharma has announced it will divest a plant in Ohio to further consolidate manufacturing operations following its $4bn acquisition of Ranbaxy.

Dengvaxia approval vindicates €350m 'industrial risk' says Sanofi Pasteur

11-Dec-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Sanofi Pasteur says Mexican approval for Dengvaxia vindicates the ‘industrial risk’ it took when it invested €350m in a dengue fever vaccine plant in 2009.

Danaher buys track & trace tech firm Laetus; unveils 'Fortive' name ahead of split

07-Dec-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Danaher has bought production line monitoring and coding tech firm Laetus to bolster its life science product ID offering ahead of a planned corporate split next year.

Natco suspends API production due to severe Indian floods

07-Dec-2015 By Dan Stanton

Record-breaking rainfall has forced Natcopharm to suspend operations at an API plant in Chennai.

Home-made pharmaceuticals may be possible in the near future

02-Dec-2015 By Melissa Fassbender

A homebrew engineer is raising society and ethical questions after designing an at-home bioreactor for pharmaceutical drugs.

Rise of the robots: UK pharma would gain from more automation investment says Barclays

01-Dec-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

UK drugmakers have a lot to gain from additional investment in robotic production technologies according to Barclays.

Acquired Sigma-Aldrich businesses part of Merck's Africa growth plan

26-Nov-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

New acquisition Sigma Aldrich will play a part in African growth plans in addition to giving it a presence in the preclinical services sector says Merck*.

Xellia buys ex-Ben Venue site and aims to restart production in 2017

25-Nov-2015 By Dan Stanton

Restarting production at the former Ben Venue facility in Ohio will be a “significant task” says Xellia Pharmaceuticals which plans to invest after buying the site from Hikma.

Catalent: Suspension at French plant likely due to human interference

17-Nov-2015 By Dan Stanton

Out-of-place softgel capsules have led to the suspension of manufacturing at a site in France, and Catalent says the problem is almost certainly due to malicious actions.

Indiana aspirin maker hit with Warning due to tablet inconsistencies

04-Nov-2015 By Dan Stanton

Inconsistent tablet colour and issues with compressing procedures have landed Indiana OTC maker American Family Pharmacy (AFP) with a US FDA warning letter.

Hand-held ultrasound pulse could deliver drugs through gut wall, new research

03-Nov-2015 By Anthony King

US researchers have found that using an ultrasound probe increases small molecule delivery through the intestinal tract of animal models and could help deliver drugs in human.

GSK and Pfizer team up on continuous manufacturing project

03-Nov-2015 By Phil Taylor

Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline have agreed to work together on the development of a new version of the former's continuous processing technology for oral solid dosage (OSD) drugs.

Hanson, Shimadzu combine technologies to create an automated testing system

30-Oct-2015 By Staff reporter

Hanson Research and Shimadzu have teamed up to combine their respective technologies into an automated online pharmaceutical testing system.

Graphene could strip polluting medicines from wastewater

29-Oct-2015 By Phil Taylor

Pollution caused by pharmaceuticals in wastewater is a major challenge facing the industry, but researchers in Greece may have come up with a solution.

Explosion-hit GSK plant loses GMP certificate

26-Oct-2015 By Phil Taylor

A GlaxoSmithKline plant in China that was hit by an explosion in the summer has had its Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certificate revoked by the UK medicines regulator.

AstraZeneca opens $224m Russian plant for local production

22-Oct-2015 By Dan Stanton

AstraZeneca has opened a $224m manufacturing site in Russia it says is the largest foreign pharma investment in the country.

Biogen axing 11% of workforce in plan to save $250m annually

22-Oct-2015 By Dan Stanton

Biogen will cut around 530 US jobs as part of a restructuring plan it hopes will save $250m (€221m) in operating costs annually.

Irish compounder Fannin recalls chemo drugs

19-Oct-2015 By Fiona BARRY

An Irish compounding pharmacy has recalled several batches of chemotherapy medicines because of a sterility alert.

The self-regulation society? Consultant challenges manufacturing status quo

15-Oct-2015 By Dan Stanton

API suppliers should be allowed to make process improvements without having to seek re-approval says consultant Girish Malhotra, who argues that the current rules create inefficiency and waste.

Dispatches from CPhI 2015

Ex-FDA inspector: How to avoid 483 observations during your next facility audit

13-Oct-2015 By Dan Stanton

Want to pass an FDA inspection? Do not answer back, do not volunteer information and do not sign anything, says an ex-auditor and regulatory consultant.

Final designs for UK Gov-backed facility 'weeks away' says Cell Therapy Catapult CEO

13-Oct-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

The CEO of Cell Therapy Catapult says technical designs for the new UK biomanufacturing centre will be completed in the next few weeks.

Chemical synthesis of IL-10 cytokine 90% cheaper than bioproduction, Provepep

08-Oct-2015 By Dan Stanton

Chemical synthesis of peptides and proteins can be done at a tenth of the cost of bioproduction says French chemistry specialist Provepep.

Sanofi aims to sell Allegra plant ahead of 2016 shutdown

08-Oct-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Sanofi has confirmed it wants to sell the Kansas City facility at which it makes the allergy drug Allegra (Fexofenadine).

Latest job cuts leave MannKind a third smaller than in 2014, says CFO

07-Oct-2015 By Dan Stanton

MannKind has cut more jobs in efforts to streamline operations, leaving the inhalable insulin manufacturer around a third smaller than this time last year.

Update

Pfizer commits to $194m clean-up at Wyeth EPA 'superfund' site

01-Oct-2015 By Dan Stanton

Pfizer has agreed to perform $194m (€174m) worth of clean-up work at a former-Wyeth site in New Jersey.

Novo Nordisk building its first manufacturing facility in Middle-East

Novo Nordisk injecting €70m in Iran for insulin pen production plant

22-Sep-2015 By Dan Stanton

Novo Nordisk will build a manufacturing plant for its FlexPen prefilled insulin device in Iran to cater for the local market. 

Biocon launches insulin pen, fully 'made in India' from new device plant

16-Sep-2015 By Dan Stanton

Biocon has begun commercial manufacturing at its Bangalore devices facility to support the launch of its insulin pen product, Basalog One.

Unilife cuts workforce by 17% as it shifts from R&D to commercialisation

15-Sep-2015 By Dan Stanton

Unilife has axed about 50 R&D jobs as part of a plan to reduce its operating expenses.

Cipla and Lannett add US plants as generics industry continues to consolidate

08-Sep-2015 By Dan Stanton

Cipla and Lannett have expanded their presence in the mid-sized US generics space through acquisitions totalling over $1.5bn.

The hunt for work after red October: Novo cites military experience as a big plus

02-Sep-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Novo Nordisk says nuclear submarine veterans’ “mission critical” mentality is suited to pharmaceutical manufacturing environment.

NIPER says API nano crystal formulation tech will cut drug costs

02-Sep-2015 By Anthony King

The National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) in India has created and licensed technology for producing nano-crystal based medicines that it says will cut drug costs.  

AMRI boosts opiate API biz through tech transfer and supply deal with Saneca

01-Sep-2015 By Dan Stanton

AMRI has inked a deal with Slovakia’s Saneca Pharmaceuticals to bolster its opium-derived API portfolio.

Veterans suited to pharma says Texas A&M

01-Sep-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Army training is ideal preparation for a biopharma career according to the US National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing, which is seeking former military personnel interested in learning about bioprocessing.

Xellia moves US HQ to North Carolina

20-Aug-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Anti-infectives firm Xellia has moved its North American HQ to the lyophilisation plant in Raleigh, North Carolina that it bought from Fresenius Kabi last July.

Still no plans to resume manufacturing at former Ben Venue plant

17-Aug-2015 By Dan Rosenberg

The huge former Ben Venue injectables manufacturing plant in Ohio that became the center of controversy over drug shortages a few years ago remains off line, and the company that now owns the site reiterated this week that it has no plans to resume making...

Legionella bacteria force GSK to temporarily close North Carolina plant

12-Aug-2015 By Zachary Brennan

GlaxoSmithKline was forced to briefly shutter its Zebulon, NC, manufacturing facility after the company discovered legionella bacteria in one of its cooling towers.

FDA approves first 3D-printed drug

04-Aug-2015 By Fiona BARRY

A private Pennsylvania company says it has made the first 3D-printed drug to be approved by the US FDA.

Hikma buys B-I generics subsidiary, strengthens position in US market

28-Jul-2015 By Dan Stanton

Hikma says its $2.65bn acquisition of Roxane Laboratories will make it the sixth largest firm in the US generics space.