Lifecycle management

Sanofi to buy Genzyme for $20.1bn and performance-based CVR

16-Feb-2011 - French drugmaker Sanofi Aventis will buy Genzyme after the firms finally agree a valuation based on manufacturing performance, approvals and sales.

Novasep and instrAction team on taxane process development

09-Feb-2011 - Novasep and instrAction have partnered to develop improved methods for the production of taxane-based active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) citing growing demand for cancer treatments as key driver.

INC aims to bolster consulting arm with Avos acquisition

18-Jan-2011 - US CRO INC Research has bought industry consulting group Avos Life Sciences, citing pharma clients’ need to maximize return on R&D and minimize risk as the key driver.

News in brief

Novartis to reduce US sales force, days after denying job cut rumours

01-Dec-2010 - Novartis will reduce its US General Medicines sales force by 1,400 employees next year in preparation for impending patent loss for key products.

Celanese rolls out new customisable EVA excipient

08-Nov-2010 - Celanese has launched a new controlled-release EVA excipient and says developing enhanced formulations is key to a drugmaker’s competitive edge in today’s pharmaceutical market.

Particle Sciences boost delivery tech offering with Solumer

20-Oct-2010 - Particle Sciences (PSI) becomes provider of Solumer drug delivery tech in deal with Israeli developer SoluBest.

NovaDel pilot PK study compares oral spray to Viagra

18-Oct-2010 - Data from a study comparing an oral spray formulation of sildenafil citrate to Viagra has been presented by NovaDel Pharma.

IMS prediction: Emerging markets front 5-7 % rise in drug sales for 2011

13-Oct-2010 - IMS Health predicts that global drug sales will increase 5 to 7 per cent next year, driven by development of innovative pharmaceuticals and growth of emerging markets.

Venus to supply docetaxel to Thailand

29-Sep-2010 - Venus Remedies is supplying docetaxel to Thailand after a compulsory license was issued to make the drug more affordable.

Large pharma firms interested in Stirling delivery tech

27-Sep-2010 - Stirling Products is in discussions with three large pharma interesting in accessing its HDA drug delivery platform.

Sun set on helping Taro, after buying controlling stake

23-Sep-2010 - India’s Sun Pharma has finally acquired a controlling stake in Israeli generics firm Taro Pharmaceutical Industries, significantly expanding its manufacturing capacity in North America.

Oracle adds pharma PLM for drug development & production

23-Sep-2010 - Oracle is revising its lifecycle management package to streamline processes including scale-up to commercial production and QbD implementation.

Q Chip scaling up cGMP production using new funding

15-Sep-2010 - Q Chip is using new funding to scale up its Q-Sphera technology for cGMP production of sustained release peptide and protein therapeutics.

Sanofi files sBLA with FDA for intradermal influenza vaccine

14-Sep-2010 - Sanofi Pasteur has filed a sBLA with the FDA for an intradermal form of influenza vaccine Fluzone using a microinjection system.

Update

GSK taps Lonza for bio plant knowledge; sells R&D site to Galapagos

08-Sep-2010 - GSK will work with Lonza on the development of a UK biomanufacturing plant as part of a new MAb manufacturing contract announced today.

Actavis looks to enter biosimilars through acquisition

08-Sep-2010 - Actavis is looking to enter the biosimilars sector through the proposed acquisition of a stake in Biopartners.

Cipla looking at 25% Cipla Medpro investment

07-Sep-2010 - Indian drugmaker Cipla may invest in South Africa’s Cipla Medpro to boost manufacturing capacity and improve access to rapidly expanding African pharmaceutical markets.

Colorcon adds Turkey coating lab to tap regional markets

06-Sep-2010 - Colorcon says proximity to emerging drug manufacturing markets was key driver for new Turkey technical service lab.

NanGenex adds bench-top, pilot nano API production tech

01-Sep-2010 - NanGenex is introducing GMP bench-top and pilot plant reactors to scale-up its process for the continuous production of nanostructured active ingredients.

Genzyme rejects Sanofi’s $18.5bn bid; IPT looks at biotech’s turbulent 18-months

31-Aug-2010 - Genzyme has rejected Sanofi-Aventis' $18.5bn (€14.5bn) takeover bid, describing it as offering no improvement in price on the previous proposal and failing “to establish a basis for engagement.”

Spenser highlights chitosan advantages for XR delivery

31-Aug-2010 - Laboratory study shows succinyl-chitosan extended-release (XR) excipient could outperform commercially-available delivery technologies, says Spenser Pharmaceuticals.