NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE PHARMACEUTICAL FINE CHEMICAL AND CUSTOM MANUFACTURING SECTOR

Tuesday 30 December 2008

The FDA has approved Ferring Pharmaceuticals' degarelix which is manufactured by Rentschler Biotechnologie

FDA

Jubilant Organosys will buy back $253m foreign currency convertible bonds

Business Standard

FDA approvals up in 2008

The FDA will approve 21 drugs in 2008, up from 18 last year. However, the agency has missed its targets for 15 other products.
Washington Post

Dow-Rohm & Haas merger under threat

The $15.4bn merger between Dow Chemical and Rohm & Haas is under threat following the collapse of Dow's deal with Kuwait. Shares in both companies dropped.
Bloomberg

Dishman breaks ground for SEZ, plans JVs

Dishman has broken ground for its Pharma, Fine Chemicals and Engineering Special Economic Zone (SEZ) on a 300 acre site near Bavla-Bagodara. The $205m investment is due to be operational in 2010 and is expected to provide employment to 50,000 people. Dishman plans to use 40% of the site in joint manufacturing ventures with global pharma companies.
Desh Gujarat
Economic Times

CMC Biologics delays expansion

CMC Biologics has postponed its previously announced plans to expand its Bothwell manufacturing facility.
In-Pharma Technologist

Albemarle aims for $40m savings

In response to falling demand, Albemarle is planning a series of measures to achieve $40m in annualised cost savings in 2009. The company plans to achieve the savings by accelerating its cost reduction programs and resizing its business footprint.
Forbes

Dishman changes financing plans

Dishman Pharmaceuticals has failed to raise $30m from the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation. The company will now use non-convertible bonds to fund its aggressive expansion plans.
Economic Times

Thursday 18 December 2008

FDA Commissioner von Eschenbach will retire on inauguration day

Wall Street Journal

Good year for Ampac, sees future growth

American Pacific's Ampac Fine Chemicals business saw revenues increase 19% to $124.2m in the year ended 30 September 2008 primarily driven by increased volume for anti-viral products. The company sees a decline in demand in 2009 but believes the pharmaceutical fine chemicals market will continue to present growth opportunities in the longer term as the pharmaceutical industry continues to outsource. Ampac expects to meet its growth in the segment through strategic acquisitions and to a lesser extent investment in our facilities.
American Pacific

Cefic groups welcome API inspection programme

Cefic's European Fine Chemicals Group and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Committee have welcomes the establishment of an International Cooperative API Inspection Programme. The programme is designed to coordinate inspection resources from Europe, USA, and Australia in higher risk countries - especially in Asia - and aims to prevent counterfeit APIs reaching patients.
EFCG

ReceptoPharm will produce clinical trial materials for Celtic Pharma's CB-24

Outsourcing Pharma

Thursday 11 December 2008

Hovione buys Pfizer plant

Hovione has acquired Pfizer's Loughbeg, Ireland, API manufacturing facility. Following the deal is due to be completed by April 2009, Hovione will provide manufacturing for Pfizer. The facility will employ 70-80 staff - a reduction of about 150 on current levels. Over the next two years Hovione will transfer products from its Loures, Portugal site and validating processes for new compounds in expectation of drug approval.
RTE

BASF has opened an applications laboratory for pharmaceutical excipients and APIs in Mumbai, India

BASF

Actavis' Bulgarian MBO

Actavis will sell its Razgrad, Bulgaria, production company to the management. The facility will then be used for contract manufacturing generic APIs.
In-pharma Technologist

Chemists at the University of Bristol have developed a method of producing enantiomers of chiral tertiary alcohols

Chemical & Engineering News

Dow cuts back

Mirroring the recent actions by BASF and DuPont, Dow Chemical is to close 20 plants and idle 180 more. In addition the company will make 5000 redundancies, some of which will come through sell-offs.
Bloomberg

Synthetech saw revenues rise and losses decrease in its 2009 Q1

PR Newswire

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has acquired API manufacturer Chattem Chemicals

Financial Express

Pharmaterials will commence manufacture of products for Phase I trials in 2009

Outsourcing-Pharma

WuXi PharmaTech will discontinue biologics manufacturing at its Philadelphia facility

Outsourcing-Pharma

Thursday 4 December 2008

BASF a step closer to finalising Ciba acquisition

BASF

DSM wins NicOx deal, Archimica loses out

NicOx has selected DSM to manufacture the API for its potential blockbuster, Naproxcinod, which has completed its phase III trials. The API will be produced in DSM's Linz, Austria, facility. As a result of the agreement with DSM, NicOx has ended its API supply agreement with Archimica.
Reuters

Monday 1 December 2008

Management buy-out for Seal Sands site

The Evonik fine chemicals custom manufacturing site at Seal Sands, UK, has been acquired by the site’s management. In future the site will operate as an independent limited company - Fine Organics - and will continue to manufacture products for Evonik.
The Chemical Engineer

Lonza does not expect its operating profit growth this year and next to match targets through 2013

Bloomberg