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

Sunday 27 December 2009

Ampac Fine Chemicals revenues decline

Ampac Fine Chemicals revenues declined 23% in the year ended 30 September 2009. Ampac said the decline in revenues could be attributed to declines in core product revenues from anti-viral products of 30%, central nervous system products of 14%, and oncology products of 13%.
Seeking Alpha

DSM BioSolutions will manufacture “MS1819” lipase for Laboratoires Mayoly Spindler at its Capua, Italy facility

DSM

Cobra recommends Recipharm offer

Cobra Biomanufacturing recommends that its shareholders accept the offer from Recipharm to acquire the outstanding shares. The company said it no longer has sufficient working capital to continue and that its current financing facility runs out in January 2010.
Cobra

DSM to reorganise Pharma Chemicals in Venlo

DSM will lay off 35 jobs at its Venlo, Netherlands, site in 2010 as part of a reorganisation of its Pharma Chemicals business. DSM plans to introduce a 'lean and mean' manufacturing model and is examining all the activities at Venlo. Activities that do not meet the minimum requirement will be phased out or transferred to the Linz, Austria, site. DSM puts the reorganisation down to "limited demand from pharmaceutical companies, delay in approvals and the loss of some large contracts" which have lead to increasing cost pressure.
DSM

Thursday 17 December 2009

Angel Biotechnology has signed a £0.5m phase II clinicla trial GMP manufacturing contract with a UK biotech company

InvestEgate

Avecia biologics business snapped up by Merck

Merck's UK affiliate Merck Sharp & Dohme will acquire the biologics business of Avecia for an undisclosed sum. Merck will acquire Avecia's assets in Billingham, UK. The deal does not include Avecia's US-based oligonucleotide business. Merck will honour Avecia's contracts and will discuss future manufacturing needs with customers after the transaction is closed. John McCubbins, senior vice president, Biologics and Therapeutic Protein Operations, Merck Manufacturing Division, said the deal provides Merck with "an operational facility staffed by an experienced workforce that is highly skilled in a broad portfolio of bioprocess systems."
Avecia

The US FDA has opend an office in Mexico City

UPI

The Bio-Process Systems Alliance (BPSA) has become an affiliate of Socma

Pharmaceutical Business Review

Wednesday 16 December 2009

Recipharm to acquire Cobra

Recipharm has made a mandatory offer for the outstanding shares in Cobra Biomanufacturing following its acquisition of 43.87% of the company for £437,625. The offer values Cobra at almost £1m. Cobra has said it expects Recipharm to make a loan to Cobra so it can meet its working capital requirements during the integration of the two businesses. Cobra had announced it was in sales talks last month.
Proactive Investors
InvestEgate

Teva is looking to deepen its biosimilars tie-up with Lonza

Globes

Tuesday 15 December 2009

Lonza will provide development services and cGMP manufacturing for Femta Pharmaceuticals' FM101 high affinity monoclonal antibody

Lonza

Pfenex licenses technology to Merck

Pfenex, the new spinout from Dow Chemical, has licenced its Pseudomonas fluorescens biomanufacturing technology to Merck for production of proteins for an undisclosed vaccine product. Pfenex will receive $52m in upfront and milestone payments and is entitled to royalty payments on any product sales derived from the agreement.
Xconomy

Sunday 13 December 2009

French newspaper, Les Echos, reports that SNPE is in talks to sell Isochem to German private equity house, Aurelius

Les Echos

Pentagon Chemicals has received a £2m investment from the UK's Capital for Enterprise fund

Private Equity Wire

Archimica sells site; begins investment programme

Erredue has acquired Archimica's Isso, Italy, manufacturing facility. In addition Archimica has started an capital investment programme with a €2.5m capacity expansion for API production at its Origgio, Italy, site. The company will also make investments in its other manufacturing sites.
Archimica

Dishman invests in Saudi Arabia and India

Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals and three Saudi Arabian partners, have established a joint venture to manufacture APIs in Saudi Arabia. Dishman has invested $9m for a 30% stake in CAD. The Arab Company for Drug Industries and Medical Appliances (ACDIMA) has a 15% stake, Spimaco 20% and Capital Advisory Group 25%. The facility is due on line towards the end of 2010.
Dishman is also investing $32m in four contract manufacturing plants at its SEZ and another $32m in expanding its Bavla facility.
Business Standard

Dottikon sales fall

H1 sales for Dottikon fell 42% to CHF45.3m. The company put this down to the elimination of redundant product lines and delayed commissioning of new apparatus groups. During the period Dottikon brought on-stream the expansion of its medium scale API separator capacity and large scale corrosion-resistant glass-lined steel and Hastelloy multipurpose reactor, low-temperature, and API separator capacity.
Dottikon

Wednesday 9 December 2009

Halocarbon received FDA approval to supply sevoflurane for the veterinary inhalation anaesthetic market

Halocarbon

Dow spins out biomanufacturing technology

Dow Chemical has spun out its Pseudomonas fluorescens-based Pfenex Expression Technology for producing recombinant proteins into a new company called Pfenex Inc. The Dow Venture Capital group will retain a "significant minority share" in the new company alongside Signet Healthcare Partners. San Diego, CA-based Pfenex will focus on the human health applications of the technology.
MSN

Thursday 3 December 2009

Cambrex's Charles City, Iowa, facility has received a GMP certificate from the MHRA

Cambrex

Socma names Sloan new president and ceo

Lawrence Sloan will replace Joseph Acker as President and ceo of Socma on 10 February 2010. Sloan previously served as President of the Adhesive and Sealant Council (ASC), a trade association representing the adhesive and sealant industry. Sloan started his career at Air Products & Chemicals in and later worked for Nalco Chemical Company.
Socma

RL Fine Chemicals is investing almost $1m in a formulation R&D unit

Pharma Biz

Avecia customer, Dyax has received FDA approval of its recombinant protein DX-88 for use in hereditary angioedemia

Contract Pharma

Teva will use Codexis biocatalysis technology to manufacture three generic products

Codexis

Zach System receives FDA warning letter for failing to take action after shipping potentially contaminated products

FDA News

Dishman adds HPAPI lab in Netherlands

Dishman Netherlands has opened its high containment cGMP laboratory in Veenendaal, The Netherlands. The laboratory includes dedicated clean rooms with the capability to scale up to 1kg. Dishman expects an FDA compliance audit in H1 2010.
Outsourcing Pharma