Globalisation

Bioceros joins PER.C6 network as only EU cell generation partner

11-Feb-2009 -  Crucell and DSM Biologics have added fellow Dutch firm Bioceros to the PER.C6 vendor network to provide manufacturing and support capacity in line with increased demand for the cell line....

Pliva axing 790 employees; still looks to grow

10-Feb-2009 -  Pliva is laying off 790 employees over the next 12 months following its acquisition by Teva but still intends to significantly increase API and finished product output over this period.

Prosecutions loom for 110 drugmakers in India

04-Feb-2009 -  Regulators in India’s Maharashtra state have compiled a hit list of 110 drugmakers that they intend to prosecute for sub-standard manufacturing practices, according to media reports.  

Bill calls for more inspections funded by pharma fees

04-Feb-2009 -  A bill has been introduced to the US House of Representatives that would require pharmaceutical manufacturers pay a fee and have their facilities inspected more frequently.

Biological E’s new vaccine campus inaugurated

03-Feb-2009 -  Dr Rajashekar Reddy, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, India presided over the inauguration ceremony for Biological E’s new INR3bn ($61m) vaccine and biopharmaceuticals manufacturing campus. 

WHO mulls comments from counterfeiting talks

02-Feb-2009 -  The WHO’s review of comments during a discussion of plans to redefine “counterfeit” will focus on “public health impacts of substandard, spurious, and falsely labelled products,” according to the organisation. ...

CEE could gain from Asia’s reputation for fakes

22-Jan-2009 -  A new report suggests the large numbers of fake drugs produced in China could drive CMO customers away and see Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) emerge as a contract manufacturing...

FDA outlines ‘best practice’ for importers

21-Jan-2009 -  The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a draft guidance on the measures pharmaceutical and other manufacturers should take to make sure imported FDA-regulated products are in line...

News in brief

Drug CEOs hope to kickstart economy at April summit

19-Jan-2009 - CEOs from Pfizer, GSK and Abbott Laboratories are among those who will meet in to discuss the new business practices that must be put in place to adapt to the...

FDA launches global supply chain pilot scheme

15-Jan-2009 -   In the latest part of its “beyond our borders” scheme, the US FDA is asking drugmakers to volunteer supply chain information for drugs and APIs sourced outside the USA....

Asian pack machine demand a boon US and EU industry

15-Jan-2009 -  The market for packaging machinery is set to grow 5 per cent a year and be worth $40bn (€30.3bn) by 2012, driven partly by a hike in demand for drug...

Teamwork future of GMP inspections, says EMEA

14-Jan-2009 -  Despite criticism in certain quarters, joint GMP inspections represent the best use of resources in an increasingly globalised market, according to the EMEA.

News in brief

HHS/FDA set to open Indian offices

14-Jan-2009 -  Two new HHS/FDA food and drug safety offices in Dehli and Mumbai, India are the latest outpost of the US regulators “beyond our borders” campaign that has already seen it...

News in brief

Cuban prostate cancer vac sees clinical progress.

12-Jan-2009 -  Heberprovac, a prostate cancer vaccine being developed at the Camaguey Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Centre has completed the initial phases of a clinical trial, according to the Cuban News Agency. ...

GSK’s high-tech vaccines packaging plant plan

12-Jan-2009 -  An open house at GSK’s plant in Pennsylvania, US gave the world its first glimpse of the facility that the firm hopes will become the global hub of its vaccine...

Europe’s last paracetamol plant closes its doors

06-Jan-2009 -  As 2008 drew to a close and people the world over welcomed the New Year, few would have noticed the passing of Europe’s paracetamol industry as Rhodia closed the doors...

MonoSol targets MENA through Hikma deal

18-Dec-2008 -  MonoSol Rx and Hikma are teaming up to sell thin film pharmaceutical products in the emerging Middle East and North African (MENA) drug markets. 

CTx selects IDBS for drug development kit

16-Dec-2008 -  Australian drug development firm Cancer Therapeutics (CTx) has selected IDBS’ E-workbook and ActivityBase platforms to manage its global drug development programmes. 

News in brief

Eisai’s UK investment to create 300 UK jobs

04-Dec-2008 -  Eisai says that its £60m expansion of its R&D facility in Hatfield in the UK will create 300 new jobs, swelling its workforce to 500. 

Actavis selects Malta as Africa waypoint

03-Dec-2008 -  Icelandic generics firm Actavis plans to use Malta as a distribution hub for the supply of drugs to the emerging African pharmaceutical market, according to reports in the Maltese press....

News in brief

Qatar and Egypt plan new drug plant

03-Dec-2008 -  Qatar and Egypt are to set up a new drug manufacturing plant at a facility in Qatar, according to BusinessIntelligence. The new facility will begin by producing soluble drugs for...

Teva and Servier raided by EC

27-Nov-2008 -  European facilities owned by Israel’s Teva Pharmaceuticals and French drugmaker Servier are among the firms raided by the EC’s competition unit earlier this week, according to media reports. ...

ScinoPharm’s easy-filter irinotecan gets US patent

26-Nov-2008 -  Taiwanese API maker ScinoPharm has been granted a US patent for new crystalline forms of irinotecan which are designed to allow for easier filtration during production processing.

Further twists in heparin scandal

26-Nov-2008 -  A member of the US Congress has called on the GAO to launch an investigation into the FDA’s handling of the heparin crisis, citing “unanswered questions concerning [the] deaths”....