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. ...

News in brief

Winpak wins Reynolds’ Packaging license race

31-Mar-2009 - Canada’s Winpak has gained an exclusive license to use Reynolds Packaging’s manufacturing know-how in the production of packaging for the drug and healthcare industries.

Deal bags Flugen a vaccine delivery micro-device

31-Mar-2009 -  Flugen has secured the exclusive rights to Ratio’s novel vaccine delivery technology, which is a disposable micro-device that it claims can improve efficacy and compliance.

SAFC’s Kansas culture site goes animal component-free

30-Mar-2009 -  Operations at SAFC Biosciences’ facility in Kansas, US have been made animal component-free (ACF) under a division-wide strategy to keep pace with customer demands and changing regulations. 

Indian plants offer new source for Tamiflu precursor

30-Mar-2009 -  Researchers believe they have found “more promising” sources of shikimic acid, a precursor in the production of Tamiflu, shortages of which have previously caused bottlenecks in producing the bird flu...

Target’s packaging failed to increase compliance; study

30-Mar-2009 -  A US pharmacy’s attempt to implement simpler packaging that clearly communicates information to patients has failed to improve compliance, according to a study.

News in brief

Lundbeck rumours boost Elan’s share price

30-Mar-2009 -  Speculation that drugmaker Elan is a takeover target for Denmark’s Lundbeck boosted the Irish drugmakers share price 11 per cent on Friday last week. 

Global Federation will “speak as one”, says IPEC Europe chair

26-Mar-2009 -  The International Pharmaceutical Excipient Council (IPEC) has unveiled plans to set up a worldwide Federation later this year to address the increasingly global excipient supply chain.

News in brief

Novartis bids for greater share of Indian subsidiary

26-Mar-2009 -  Novartis is looking to buy an additional 39 per cent of its majority-owned subsidiary Novartis India for around 4.4bn rupees ($87m), or 351 rupees per share.

Grassley and Torti face-off over whistleblowers

26-Mar-2009 -  Senator Grassley has raised concerns that an email by acting Commissioner Torti to FDA employees could be viewed as an attempt to suppress whistleblowers following recent releases of internal agency...

Hospira’s “Project Fuel” will cut 1,400 jobs

25-Mar-2009 -  US drug delivery specialist Hospira will reduce its workforce by around 10 per cent, or 1,400 employees, over the next 24 months as part of its $140m (€104m) a year...

GSK may move for Botox maker Allergan

25-Mar-2009 -  The pharmaceutical rumour mill is still spinning with the latest speculation that UK drug major GSK is interested in Botox manufacturer Allergan causing the US firm’s share price to leap...

News in brief

Merck ramps up biologics spending in Ireland

25-Mar-2009 -  Merck & Co is investing an additional €20m ($27m) in its biologics plant in Carlow, Ireland just weeks after it unveiled plans to create a “powerful biologics presence” through its...

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...

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. 

News in brief

UK and Australia clear Ranbaxy’s Paonta Sahib plant

24-Mar-2009 -  Regulators in the UK and Australia have issued GMP certificates for Ranbaxy Laboratories' Paonta Sahib plant after a joint inspection deemed manufacturing practices were up to code.

Watson recalls batch oversized arrhythmia drug

24-Mar-2009 - Watson Pharmaceuticals has voluntarily withdrawn one lot of its arrhythmia drug propafenone HCl in the US after the tablets were found to contain slightly higher levels of the drug’s API....

MDRNA signs deal with second Swiss major

24-Mar-2009 - US RNA interference (RNAi) specialist MDRNA has signed a non-exclusive licensing deal granting Swiss drug giant Novartis access to its liposomal siRNA delivery technology platform.

HP claims it can cut costs for 80% flexo printing

24-Mar-2009 -  Hewlett-Packard has made its high-volume digital press commercially available, which it claims can cut waste, warehousing and environmental impact compared to analogue printing.  

Skin care firm Stiefel considers $4bn sale

23-Mar-2009 -  Dermatology drug specialist Stiefel Laboratories may be looking for a Big Pharma buyer according to various media reports.

Inhaled insulin from conception to...success?

23-Mar-2009 -  With MannKind approaching US regulatory filing for Afresa in-PharmaTechnologist presents its exclusive interactive timeline spanning the rise, fall and possible resurrection of inhaled insulin treatments, covering Pfizer’s Exubera and all...

Catalent closing site in re-jigging of US ops

23-Mar-2009 -  Catalent is adjusting its packaging operations by closing one facility and simultaneously expanding another, which it believes will improve the service offered to its folding carton customers.

Schering pays $165m to settle GMP allegations

23-Mar-2009 -  Schering-Plough has agreed to pay $165m to settle a class action lawsuit that claims the company’s failure to disclose manufacturing deficiencies defrauded investors.

News in brief

PLF International appoints new sales director

19-Mar-2009 - PLF International has appointed a new sales director to drive organic growth and take the packaging machinery firm into new market sectors.

Braille standard drawn up for US pharma packaging

19-Mar-2009 - A US trade organisation has drawn up its own set of standards for Braille on pharmaceutical packaging in the absence of any legislative decision by the US.

Real-time analysis of tablet surfaces

19-Mar-2009 - UK company Paraytec has introduced a new instrument designed to allow formulation scientists to visualise – in real time – what is happening at a tablet surface when it dissolves.

pH sensor could be boon for bio

19-Mar-2009 - Sensorin has used Interphex 2009 to preview its self-calibrating pH measurement system, which it claims is the first of its kind and will help maximise yield in downstream purification processes.

SCS welcomes StemCells deal in light of US rule change

18-Mar-2009 -  Alastair Riddell, CEO of UK firm Stem Cell Sciences (SCS), says the US governments’ reversal of the ban on federally funded stem cell research “opens up a market that was...

Actavis moves towards Japanese generics market

17-Mar-2009 -  Actavis’ JV with Japan’s Aska Pharmaceuticals opens up the non-branded sector of the world’s second largest drug market  

FDA raises standards for import testing labs

17-Mar-2009 -  The safety of drugs imported into the US remains high on the FDA’s agenda, with the agency publishing new draft guidance that raises standards for labs inspecting products made overseas....

Pharmacopoeias diverging on heavy metals testing?

17-Mar-2009 -  The three main international pharmacopoeias in the US, Europe and Japan are experiencing a difference of opinion on the tricky topic of testing pharmaceutical ingredients for heavy metals. 

Meet our team at Interphex 2009

17-Mar-2009 - Planning to visit Interphex 2009 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City? Then why not visit our Booth 731 in Exhibition Hall D?

IPECs may emerge in Latin America, India

16-Mar-2009 - The International Pharmaceutical Excipients Council (IPEC) – currently represented by divisions in Europe, the Americas, Japan and China – could see sister organisations open up in Latin America and India...

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...

Roche closes manufacturing site and heads out west

16-Mar-2009 -  Roche is closing its manufacturing facility in Nutley, New Jersey and relocating its centre of commercial operations in the US to California following its $46.8bn (€36.3bn) takeover of Genentech.

News in brief

Roche and Genentech reach agreement on $47bn deal

12-Mar-2009 -  After eight months of negotiations Roche and Genentech have reached an agreement, with the Swiss pharma buying out the US biotech for $46.8bn (€36.6bn).

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. 

Bill could cripple FDA and harm patients; PhRMA

12-Mar-2009 -  The backlash against the re-importation bill has begun, with PhRMA warning that the legislation could cripple the FDA’s ability to protect patients and open the door to counterfeits.

Pfizer and GSK may feel impact of Wyeth vs. Levine ruling

12-Mar-2009 -  Drug giants Pfizer and GSK may be among the first affected by last week’s US Supreme Court ruling upholding a product liability lawsuit against Wyeth despite FDA approved labelling....

Obama overturns stem cell research funding ban

11-Mar-2009 -  The US green light for federally funded embryonic stem cell research is being hailed as a victory by the US drug industry, which predicts it will open the flood gates...

Re-importation bill would punish big pharma’s actions; Dorgan

11-Mar-2009 -  Following the proposal of his bill re-importation bill Senator Byron Dorgan has accused some of big pharma of taking actions that would be illegal under the Act and outlined the...

Genzyme accused of cGMP deficiencies by FDA

11-Mar-2009 -  The FDA has found “significant objectionable conditions” at the Genzyme manufacturing facility that makes Lumizyme, creating another issue in the product’s approval process.

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...

News in brief

AMPAC site boosts continuous process capacity

10-Mar-2009 -  AMPAC Fine Chemicals has inaugurated its kilogram scale current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) compliant facility, which can handle batch or continuous processing.

Merck moves for Schering in $41bn mega-merger

10-Mar-2009 -  The year of the mega-merger continues with Merck & Co’s move to buy Schering-Plough for $41.1bn, with the intention of boosting its pipeline, entering new markets and creating a “powerful...

MannKind picks up the pieces of Pfizer’s failure

10-Mar-2009 -  MannKind is trying to buy a Pfizer insulin facility for $33m (€26m) as it continues to push Afresa towards commercialisation but, like many things in the saga, the deal might...

SkyePharma mulls 30% cuts at Lyon Geomatrix plant

09-Mar-2009 -  UK drugmaker SkyePharma may reduce the workforce at its production plant in Lyon, France by a third after “long-running” underutilisation of its manufacturing capacity.

Breaking News

Merck & Co to pay $41bn for Schering Plough

09-Mar-2009 -  Merck & Co is to buy fellow US drug major Schering Plough for $41bn (€32.6bn) to boost its pipeline in the face of impending patent expiry for key products.

Roche raises Genentech bid to $45.7bn

09-Mar-2009 -  Roche has upped its offer for Genentech to $93 a share, believing that this will be sufficient to bring the drawn out takeover to a close.

US approvals provide some respite for Ranbaxy

09-Mar-2009 - Two approvals in a week for drugs made at Ranbaxy’s New Jersey OHM Laboratories subsidiary have eased the generics firm’s North American regulatory woes and strengthened its position in the...

Wyeth’s appeal failure could impact US drug labelling

05-Mar-2009 -    Yesterday’s US Supreme Court decision upholding a $7m damages award to a Vermont woman who sued Wyeth means that drugmakers are still vulnerable to State consumer liability lawsuits despite FDA...

C&QP partners to launch Evolution of GMP services

05-Mar-2009 -  Evolution is collaborating with C&QP to offer a more comprehensive range of GMP services to clients, covering plant and equipment qualification, calibration and maintenance.

Acusphere slashes staff as funding flounders

05-Mar-2009 -  Acusphere has laid off two thirds off its staff, with manufacturing employees among the affected, and closed its headquarters, citing financing difficulties as the cause of the cutbacks.

Piramal won’t “dilute ownership,” or comment on Sanofi rumours

04-Mar-2009 -  Indian generics firm Piramal Healthcare says it "has no intention to dilute current ownership levels," but has not commented on rumours that it is in talks with French firm Sanofi...

News in brief

FDA inflicts another setback on Genzyme’s Lumizyme

04-Mar-2009 -  The version of Genzyme’s treatment for Pompe disease manufactured in 2000L bioreactors, Lumizyme, has suffered a further delay, with the FDA calling for more information.

Genentech to Roche: We’re equipped for hard times

04-Mar-2009 -  Genentech believes a far-sighted approach to patent expiration, unique and life saving drugs and an unrivalled scientific culture will protect it from recession and ensure greater growth than Roche envisions....

FDA pushes graphics on product labels

04-Mar-2009 -  Use of graphs and tables depicting pharmacokinetic attributes is among the recommendations made in the FDA’s latest guidance on clinical pharmacology labelling of prescription drugs.

Sinovac’s fill and pack plant gets SFDA GMP nod

03-Mar-2009 -  Sinovac’s recently opened vaccine filling and packaging facility in Beijing, China has received SFDA GMP certification, which the firm says will increase production capacity to around 40m doses a year. ...

"Anywhere, anytime" – Genentech challenges Roche

03-Mar-2009 -  Genentech used its investor meeting to retaliate against criticisms made by Roche, saying it will debate its financial model “anywhere, anytime with anyone”.

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.

News in brief

Dr Reddy’s targets US in downturn

03-Mar-2009 -  Indian generics firm Dr Reddy’s plans to focus on the US, the world’s biggest drug market, and cut back in other regions to help it weather the global economic storm....

“Untrue data” from Ranbaxy plant news to Daiichi

02-Mar-2009 -  Daiichi Sankyo, the Japanese drug firm that bought a controlling stake in India’s Ranbaxy last year, says it had no knowledge of FDA concerns that led to a block on...

News in brief

Obama names Kathleen Sebelius as choice for HHS

02-Mar-2009 -  President Barrack Obama has named Kansas Govoner Kathleen Sebelius as his choice for US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary.

ISO 15378:2006 award is competitive advantage for French plants, says Alcan

02-Mar-2009 -  Three plants owned by contract packaging maker Alcan have been cleared to produce containers for pharmaceutical products under the International Organization for Standardization’s ISO 15378:2006 guidelines.

Elan cuts jobs, shelves biofacility

02-Mar-2009 -  Faced with a tougher operating environment, Irish drugmaker Elan has decided to slash staff numbers by 230 – or around 14 per cent of its total workforce – shelve the...

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.