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Sanofi seeks collaborators for €200m biotech plant

05-May-2009 - French drug major Sanofi Aventis has unveiled plans for a €200m ($268m) biotechnology investment at its manufacturing facility in Vitry-sur-Seine near Paris, under its collaborative Biolaunch project.

SAFC and Vivalis launch high yield EB66 media

28-Apr-2009 - SAFC and Vivalis have launched a new media designed to allow the latter’s commonly used virus producing EB66 cell line to grow at higher cell densities and produce higher yields.

Xspray grows with demand for manufacturing tech

28-Apr-2009 - Xspray has doubled its personnel and laboratory space in response to demand for its manufacturing service, which is designed to overcome the drawbacks associated with micronisation.

China ramps up stem cell efforts just weeks after US research U-turn

23-Apr-2009 - Construction of a new stem cell research and processing plant began yesterday in China’s Eastern Jiangsu province as part of a joint project between the Chinese government and Shenzen Beike Biotechnology.

FDA approves high titre manufacture of Tysabri

20-Apr-2009 - The FDA has approved Biogen Idec to manufacture Tysabri using a high titre process but the product’s sales have been “negatively impacted” by the cases of patients developing PML.

Alliance launches animal-free culture supplement

06-Apr-2009 - Novozymes and Millipore have launched an animal-free culture supplement, which has been designed to reduce risk and regulatory pressures in upstream biopharmaceutical processes.

Bayer’s engineering affiliate opens up in India

01-Apr-2009 - Bayer Technology Services GmbH, an affiliate of Germany's Bayer, has opened its first regional office in India, enlarging its presence in the fast-growing Asian markets.

ESS’ Taskmate adds robotics to tube filling and closing

01-Apr-2009 - ESS Technologies’ says its unique robotic loading system improves the speed, efficiency and accuracy of pharmaceutical manufacturers’ tube filling and closing operations.

SDTech and Malvern team up on process optimisation

31-Mar-2009 - Custom micronisation and milling firm SDTech has bolted on particle size analysis to its suite of drug industry offerings through a new collaboration with UK analysis specialist Malvern Instruments.

Pall’s Lego-like Stax system attracts biotechs

31-Mar-2009 - Pall’s Stax single-use depth filter attracted interest from a “number of biotechnology companies” at Interphex, according to director of marketing Ian Sellick who explained how the system can save space, time and money.

Drugmakers still confused by CFR-21 parts 210 and 211, says West

30-Mar-2009 - Since coming into effect late last year, US Code of Federal Regulations-21 parts 210 and 211 testing rules have been the subject of much confusion in the pharmaceutical industry, according to West Pharmaceutical Services.

Flexibility is key for processing sector says Millipore

26-Mar-2009 - Flexibility is going to be a key driver for the pharmaceutical market in the next few years, according to Millipore's VP of downstream processing Paul Chapman.

Snapshot of technologies at Interphex 2009

24-Mar-2009 - St Patrick’s Day celebrations weren’t the only thing bringing people together in New York last week as the pharmaceutical manufacturing and outsourcing industries gathered at the Jacob K Javits convention centre for Interphex 2009.

Vetter launches VPI subsidiary

24-Mar-2009 - Vetter Pharma-Fertigung (VPF), a specialist provider of pre-filled injection systems, has formed a new subsidiary, Vetter Pharma International (VPI) to take charge of sales, marketing and customer services.

Honeywell wins US Shire contract

23-Mar-2009 - Industrial manufacturing specialist Honeywell has been contracted to manage and control production processes at the newly constructed US operations of UK biotechnology company Shire.

Cel-Sci’s contract cold filling process could improve biologics

16-Mar-2009 - US Biotechnology firm Cel-Sci has unveiled a new manufacturing process, cold 4°C Aseptic Filling, that it claims can improve the shelf-life and potency of biologic drugs produced using stem cells.

Second lyophilizer goes online at Formatech in Andover

16-Mar-2009 - US CMO Formatech has brought a new Virtis Benchmark 3000 luophilizer into service at its manufacturing facility in Andover, Massachusetts, boosting capacity by 13,000 vials per production run.

Falling biopharma sales hurt Pall’s Q2; but Asia shows promise

16-Mar-2009 - Pall CEO Eric Krasnoff says delayed drug industry capital expenditure and moves to conserve inventory in the current global gloom caused life science sales to fall 8 per cent for the second quarter.

Driam launches cycled continuous tablet coating system

12-Mar-2009 - German coating technology specialist Driam hopes its new Driaconti-T continuous tablet coating platform will win over manufacturers wishing to improve process efficiency in times of economic gloom.

UCB taps Proteros for crystallography services

11-Mar-2009 - Belgian biopharmaceutical company UCB has contracted Proteros Biostructures of Germany to provide support in the structure-based discovery of small-molecule drugs.

Tabletting delay caused lethal allopurinol contamination, say HK chiefs

10-Mar-2009 - Macao Health Bureau director Lam Ping-yan says tabletting delays at Euopharm Laboratories' plant in Hong Kong, China may have led to contamination of the hyperuricemia drug Purinol (allopurinol) linked to several deaths.

ESS' Monoblock sets big record for small bottles

03-Mar-2009 - ESS Technologies has extended the range of its Monoblock platform with a new bottle feeder capable of accurately filling and capping up to 120 small pharmaceutical liquid bottles a minute.

CML and Novacta team up to target process outsourcing sector

03-Mar-2009 - UK firms Cambridge Major Laboratories (CML) and Novacta Biosystems are to collaborate and develop a range of process development, custom synthesis and biocatalysis offerings for the pharmaceutical industry.

Symetix launches compact eagle-eyed tablet QC system

02-Mar-2009 - Symetix has launched a compact high-volume optical inspection system that is capable of verifying the colour, size and shape of capsules and tablets and removing defective products.

Ignore a form 483? Not wise say FDA

26-Feb-2009 - It is not compulsory to respond to form 483s detailing deficiencies at a facility but the FDAs latest guidance fully recommends companies do so to avoid being issued with a warning letter.

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