Breaking News on Pharmaceutical Technology

West laying off 100 staff

04-Nov-2009 - West Pharmaceutical Services is laying off 100 staff as part of restructuring efforts after its third quarter results fell short of expectations, despite operating profit increasing by 45 per cent.

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ThermoSafe and Storopack form EU focused partnership

03-Nov-2009 - Insulated packaging specialist ThermoSafe Brands has formed a supply partnership with German firm Storopack Hans Reichenecker in an effort to expand in Europe.

Sales down but profit doubles at MWV healthcare

29-Oct-2009 - Profits doubled at MWV’s healthcare division in the third quarter, despite slightly lower sales, as the packaging company’s efforts to focus on high return opportunities and maximise production efficiency paid dividends.

Qualitest expands recall to all Accusure insulin syringes

28-Oct-2009 - US generics firm Qualitest Pharmaceuticals has recalled all Accusure insulin syringes after reports that the needles may detach from the syringe.

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Unilife tagets pharma with Unifill brand

28-Oct-2009 - US headquartered Unilife is targeting pharmaceutical companies with its new Unifill RTF safety syringe and product range and has begun seeking international trademarks.

3Ms Drug delivery sales slide in comparison with strong 2008

27-Oct-2009 - Drug delivery device sales for Q3 were one of the few low points for 3M’s healthcare business, falling 5 per cent year on year.

2D barcodes make faking less attractive, says EFPIA

26-Oct-2009 - The EFPIA hopes a pilot 2D barcode labelling scheme will make drug counterfeiting less attractive for fakers and help improve patient safety.

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US doctors say drug labels lack key information

22-Oct-2009 - Drug labelling approved by the US FDA often lack key information, according to two physicians quoted in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

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Schott plans 24/7 RTF syringe production at US plant

19-Oct-2009 - The US arm of packaging giant Schott has added ready-to-fill (RTF) glass syringe manufacturing capacity at its facility in Lebanon, Pennsylvania in a $14m (€9.4m) expansion designed to meet growing demand.

Stralfors says pack service plan can help drugmakers hit deadlines

15-Oct-2009 - Packaging group Stralfors says its recent collaboration with Novo Nordisk proves that its service plan is ideal for projects with strict time-to-market requirements.

3M opens first Asia-Pacific R&D lab in Singapore

08-Oct-2009 - US firm 3M Drug Delivery Systems has set its sights on the Asia-Pacific region, with a new lab in Singapore which, it says, will help it better serve both local and international markets.

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Coldpack hopes Pharma Pouch gets a warm reception

06-Oct-2009 - Insulated packaging specialist Coldpack says its new Pharmaceutical Pouch product can help ensure drugs are kept at the correct temperature during transportation.

Rexam consolidates pharma pack operations into Healthcare unit

05-Oct-2009 - Rexam has merged its Pharma, Primary Packaging and Prescription units into a new Healthcare division to keep pace with the increasingly globalized drug manufacturing industry's regulatory demands.

Waste reduction boosts demand for deblistering, says Sepha

29-Sep-2009 - Northern Irish Packaging specialist Sepha says increasing pressure to reduce waste is driving drug industry demand for its range of Press-Out deblistering technologies.

West opens its first manufacturing site in China

28-Sep-2009 - West has opened its first manufacturing facility in China to meet rising demand but the process has taken since 2006 and been “very tedious”, its president of West Asia Pacific told Outsourcing-Pharma.

Gerresheimer invests in plastics with two new plants

22-Sep-2009 - Gerresheimer is increasing its presence in the pharmaceutical plastics business, which it believes is increasingly important, by opening an R&D centre in the US and a production facility in Spain.

Flexible packing boost following mLLDPE resin launch

21-Sep-2009 - The North American launch of a new range of mLLDPE resins will result in greater lightweighting, cost savings and sustainability for flexible packaging in the region, said manufacturers LyondellBasell.

MWV hopes Med-Easy packs will be a hit among EU patients

17-Sep-2009 - US packaging group MeadWestVaco (MWV) has launched its Med-Easy pharmaceutical packaging solution in Europe in an effort to appeal to patients who need to take their treatments on the move.

LyondellBasell announces LDPE plant closure on demand slump

16-Sep-2009 - LyondellBasell is to close a low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant in the UK by the end of the year on continued weak demand and as it seeks to phase out uneconomic facilities from its global operations.

Space-age tech to tackle pharma counterfeiting

15-Sep-2009 - Researchers have combined crime research and space-age technology to create an anti-counterfeiting system that they claim is cheap, quick and non destructible.

Biologics boost for $2.7bn needle-free delivery market

14-Sep-2009 - Demand for new delivery options for biologic drugs will drive an expansion of the $2.7bn needle-free technology market over the medium-term, according to a new report by industry analysts Kalorama Information.

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Pharmworx, MSO and Sun collaborate on anti-counterfeiting solution

10-Sep-2009 - Pharmworx and MSO Packaging have teamed up to form a multi-layered brand protection solution, designed to help fight counterfeiting in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food sectors.

Speed and flexibility claimed for new top load case packer

09-Sep-2009 - The new, fully automatic top load case packer from end-of-line packaging specialist Brenton significantly improves packing speeds compared with manual operations while boosting flexibility, claims the company.

Cloud Packaging meets shorter run trend with Toll takeover

07-Sep-2009 - Cloud Packaging Solutions has said the acquisition of Toll Packaging will boost its ability to meet the increased demand for shorter packing runs triggered by the current global economic crisis.