Processing equipment

Capsugel expanding Encap plant on rising HPAPI demand

23-Jul-2015 By Dan Stanton

Capsugel is doubling the size of a facility in Scotland to support demand for the encapsulating of drugs containing high-potency active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPIs).

Hovione upping spray drying capacity to support rise in low solubility drugs

08-Jul-2015 By Dan Stanton

A new unit will up Hovione’s spray drying capacity 20% as it predicts a surge in demand for such a service in overcoming drug solubility issues.

Capsugel completes $25m SDD expansion at Bend site

02-Jul-2015 By Dan Stanton

Capsugel has pledged to continue investing internally in drug delivery R&D after completing construction of a spray-dried dispersion (SDD) commercial manufacturing site in Oregon.

GSK investing $60m in greener manufacturing at Singapore amoxicillin plant

01-Jul-2015 By Dan Stanton

GSK is investing £38m ($60m) in enzymatic manufacturing at an antibiotic facility in Singapore which the firm says is greener and more efficient than traditional approaches.

Small-scale will be the next big thing says UK’s CPI

24-Jun-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Small-scale production techs will dominate biopharma says the UK organisation tasked with developing the £20m “biologics factory of the future” and the £38m National Biologics Manufacturing Centre in Darlington.

Ireland backs PAT for next-gen manufacturing

11-Jun-2015 By Fiona BARRY

Irish researchers are using Process Analytical Technology (PAT) to find faster, cheaper pharma manufacturing methods, say the nation’s scientists.

AstraZeneca signs onto JV to build $125m manufacturing facility in Algeria

08-Jun-2015 By Zachary Brennan

AstraZeneca has partnered with two Algerian companies, AHT Health and Hasnaoui Finance, to create a joint venture with the aim of building a new $125m manufacturing facility in Algeria.

Ex-Sanofi site offering manufacturing space for SME pharma in London

01-Jun-2015 By Dan Stanton

An ex-Sanofi site in the UK has been redeveloped to offer start-up and small pharma access to manufacturing space.

EC competition concerns will not stop $17bn Sigma-Aldrich deal, says Merck

28-May-2015 By Dan Stanton

Merck KGaA is confident it will close the $17bn acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich in mid-2015 despite competition concerns from the European Commission (EC).

Industry calls for global alignment of qualification and validation guidelines

21-May-2015 By Dan Stanton

EFPIA and EGA say European Commission GMP guidance should be more closely aligned with guidelines elsewhere to help international drugmakers understand the recently updated requirements.

Janssen and Rutgers expand R&D as continuous manufacturing picks up steam

20-May-2015 By Dan Stanton

Despite pharma being “highly regulated and slow to change,” continuous manufacturing will soon be realised, says Rutgers University which has received an R&D grant from J&J.

Lack of talent will hamper continuous manufacturing adoption, says MIT Prof

13-May-2015 By Dan Stanton

A lack of scientific talent will hold pharma back from adopting continuous manufacturing despite the imminent opening of regulatory pathways, says an MIT Professor.

Update

Hospira to lay off 100 following closure of Clayton, NC plant

07-May-2015 By Zachary Brennan

Hospira’s closure of its manufacturing facility in Clayton, North Carolina, which it says is a cost rather than a quality issue, will result in the laying off of 100 employees, according to a WARN notice posted Wednesday.

Three-way collaboration to offer packaging serialisation ahead of EU Directive

06-May-2015 By Dan Stanton

Schott, Heuft and GEA have teamed up to offer drugmakers a serialisation service for primary packaging to help with EU anti-counterfeiting requirements.

FDA calls on manufacturers to begin switch from batch to continuous production

01-May-2015 By Zachary Brennan

Though making the switch from batch to continuous manufacturing may be difficult, costly and time consuming, pharma manufacturers and CMOs should begin to consider the switch as in the long-run it will end up saving companies time, money and space, FDA’s...

India’s ambition to bring home API manufacture

30-Apr-2015 By Fiona BARRY

The Indian government has announced a scheme to boost home-grown production of APIs and bulk finished drugs.  

Agilent unveils Q-TOF system for routine analyses

23-Apr-2015 By Joseph James Whitworth

Agilent Technologies has launched a quadrupole-time of flight (Q-TOF) mass spectrometry system for applications including food safety and pharmaceuticals.

Tech transfer will drive pharma investment in Africa, says industry group

23-Apr-2015 By Dan Stanton

Technology transfer is the first step to bringing pharma investments to Africa, says the African Regulatory Network (ARN).

Dispatches from Interphex

Roundup of the day’s top news at Interphex

22-Apr-2015 By Zachary Brennan

The world’s top pharma and biologics manufacturing and processing companies have come together in New York this week to showcase the latest in equipment and services.

LB Bohle: Tech Center hopes to drive away hesitancy in continuous processing

20-Apr-2015 By Dan Stanton

LB Bohle has opened a multi-million euro Technology Center it says can help expedite the shift to continuous processing within the pharma industry.

‘We must not rest on our laurels’

GEA revenue growth for 2015 overshadowed by 1,450 job cuts

20-Apr-2015 By Jenny Eagle

GEA said it expects to achieve a moderate organic growth in revenue and an operating EBITDA of between €580 and €620m in the current fiscal year 2015, but its growth is overshadowed by 1,450 job cuts.

Concerns climate change will see tick-borne diseases spread to the UK are legitimate, says PHE

15-Apr-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Concerns climate change will see malaria, West Nile virus and chikungunya spread to the UK are legitimate according to Public Health England, even though no insects carrying such diseases have been detected to date.

My oh Mylan! $29bn Perrigo deal would create 'unrivalled' manufacturing network

09-Apr-2015 By Dan Stanton

Mylan has bid $29bn (€27bn) to buy Perrigo in what the firm says will create a company with “unrivalled” manufacturing and supply chain capabilities across OTCs, generics and APIs.

AbbVie bucks Puerto Rico departure trend with $30m expansion

25-Mar-2015 By Fiona BARRY

AbbVie is investing $30m (€27m) in contract manufacturing facilities in Puerto Rico and plans to create 100 jobs over the next two years.

AMRI sets sights on acquiring Indian API manufacturer, CEO says

11-Mar-2015 By Zachary Brennan

Following its three acquisitions over the last year, AMRI is now looking to extend its footprint into India further with the acquisition of a FDA-approved API site, William Marth, president and CEO of AMRI, told attendees at the Barclays Global Healthcare...

Pfizer's plant in Little Island to stay open after higher Lipitor demand

10-Mar-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Pfizer will continue to make Lipitor at its plant in Little Island, Ireland after an increase in demand for the cholesterol buster.

Wuxi lowers projections for FY 2015 due to CapEx investments, stock takes 10% hit

09-Mar-2015 By Zachary Brennan

Aggressive investment in new manufacturing capacity and new initiatives in genomics and cell therapy in 2015 is forcing CRO Wuxi to lower its expectations for 2015, and the lowered projections also seemed to have caused the company’s stock to fall by...

Production of wart drug with anti Ebola potential set to restart in New Jersey

05-Mar-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Hemispherx will make a candidate Ebola treatment being trialled by the US military at its revamped plant in New Jersey.

Assembly line could cut cost of HIV drug API production say German researchers

24-Feb-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

The HIV drug API efaverinz could be made faster and more cheaply using continuous manufacturing according to the German team behind a new ‘assembly line’ production method.

Fresenius Kabi sells cancer compounding biz to NewCo Pharma

17-Feb-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Fresenius Kabi has sold its cancer drug pharmacy network CFL GmbH to NewCo Pharma GmbH five years after spending €42m to buy compounding capacity in Germany.

PE-backed Laurus Labs sets up US drug ingredients business

16-Feb-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Warburg Pincus-backed HIV drug ingredient firm Laurus Labs has set up a US presence and development facility in a bid to win more North American customers.

London calling: Gilead to expand operations in UK capital

11-Feb-2015 By Dan Stanton

Gilead Sciences has committed S20m (€18m) to expand its presence in the UK and will double its workforce in the country.

Catalent to offer integrated services in Germany through softgel expansion

27-Jan-2015 By Dan Stanton

A coating and packaging expansion at a facility in Germany will feed the demand for end-to-end softgel services, Catalent Pharma Solutions says.

Teva: More biomanufacturing space needed to tap biologics opportunities

21-Jan-2015 By Dan Stanton

Teva must invest in its biomanufacturing network as the firm’s biologics aspirations grow beyond biosimilars, CEO Erez Vigodman told investors.

US solvent disposal definition will encourage recycling, says SOCMA

14-Jan-2015 By Dan Stanton

Critical solvents used by the pharmaceutical manufacturers have been excluded from the EPA's final ruling on waste disposal, in a move welcomed by a US industry group.

Micronization getting bigger: Fareva invests in capacity citing increasing demand

13-Jan-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Fareva has added extra micronization capacity citing growing demand and the opportunity to work with customers earlier in the development process as the driver for the investment.

Argos looks to disposables for manufacturing personalized immunotherapies

07-Jan-2015 By Zachary Brennan

Cancer and infectious disease immunotherapy developer Argos Therapeutics is collaborating with Saint-Gobain’s Performance Plastics division, to design, integrate and scale production of a range of disposables for use in the manufacturing of Argos’ lead...

Sartorius sells Intec to focus on bioprocessing and lab

05-Jan-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Sartorius AG has announced plans to sell its industrial weighing and control tech business, Intec, as part of a long-term strategy to focus on bioprocessing and laboratory equipment.

Rouble trouble: Big Pharma exposure to Russian currency volatility limited

17-Dec-2014 By Gareth Macdonald

Big Pharma firms’ exposure to Russia’s volatile rouble is limited and planned manufacturing investments will go ahead according to observers.

Immunotherapy in the UK? National manufacturing site backed by GE

17-Dec-2014 By Dan Stanton

GE Healthcare has pledged its support and technology to a national £55m ($86m) Cell Therapy manufacturing centre in Stevenage, UK, set to launch in 2017.

Asian API exporters looking to process management IT systems, says Werum

16-Dec-2014 By Dan Stanton

Asian API makers are turning to ‘out-of-the-box’ Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) to help manage documentation and control quality, according to IT solutions Werum.

Foreign investment in UK drugmaking down; ABPI tasks ex-GSK exec with reversing trend

10-Dec-2014 By Gareth Macdonald

An ex-GSK staffer charged with winning manufacturing investments for the UK says fostering innovation and “fiscal attractiveness” are vital.

update

Ice pigs might fly for drug industry says newly acquired tech firm

02-Dec-2014 By Gareth Macdonald

The company behind a new pipe cleaning technology known as ‘ice pigging’ has been bought by the UK arm of Spanish water treatment firm Agbar.

MHRA says it will review plans for new UK pharma plants free of charge

01-Dec-2014 By Gareth Macdonald

Expert advice was key to persuading AstraZeneca to build a £120m ($188m) manufacturing plant in the UK according to the MHRA, which says the same help is available to all drugmakers free of charge.

Why cashews and coconuts are Merck's green energy secret

26-Nov-2014 By Fiona Barry

Merck KGaA will run its manufacturing plant in Goa on fuel from cashews and coconuts.

Pfizer hails portable manufacturing as latest in lean

19-Nov-2014 By Fiona Barry

How can a pharma company invest in continuous manufacturing without bleeding money when it retreats from a local market? Pfizer’s answer is production pods it can roll out anywhere in the world via helicopter… and pack away again if a market turns.

'Killer experiments' and reimbursement are the keys to VC backing says Index

17-Nov-2014 By Gareth Macdonald

Investors only back drug innovators because they have to according to Index Venture Management's Kevin Johnson, who says less risky 'first to be second' firms are actually much more attractive.

Catalent to tap particle size engineering industry with Micron buy

17-Nov-2014 By Zachary Brennan

Last week CDMO Catalent acquired Micron Technologies, a provider of particle size engineering technologies, with the aim of improving its early stage tech offering.

GSK eyes emerging markets with $27m manufacturing tech investment

17-Nov-2014 By Zachary Brennan

GSK Australia will invest about $27m (€22m) in manufacturing technology to expand its Boronia site in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. 

Dispatches from AAPS

Encapsulating the problem? Machinery could save drugmakers up to $1m, says Capsugel

06-Nov-2014 By Dan Stanton

Using encapsulation machinery that is well serviced and appropriate to the type of powder being used can save drugmakers hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to Capsugel