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

Wednesday 28 March 2012

Angel's Cramlington facility runs again

Angel Biotechnology has completed the re-commissioning of its Cramlington, UK, facility. The company is now seeking to transfer processes from its Edinburgh facility en route to GMP certification.
Angel Bio

Monday 26 March 2012

Saltigo realignment hits Lanxess

Lanxess Q4 2011 income fell to €5m, down 80% from €26m in 2010. The company attributed this to a €20m charge for the realignment of the pharma business of the Saltigo business unit.
Lanxess

AMRI will close its operations in Budapest, Hungary, on 30 March, resulting in the loss of 100 jobs


Outsourcing Pharma

Thursday 22 March 2012

Novasep completes recapitalisation

Novasep has completed its previously-announced recapitalisation. The €310m arrangement includes €30m of new capital invested by France’s strategic investment fund, which has become a shareholder in Novasep. Additionally, Azulis invested 3 million euros in equity. The company said it now has more than €40m in cash available for financing growth projects.
Novasep

Manufacturing oversight bill proposed in US

In an effort to improve the tracking of drugs imported into the US, Senator Michael Bennet has published a discussion draft of a bill that would strengthen manufacturer quality standards by improving tracking of foreign manufacturing sites and requiring all manufacturers to register with FDA. The Senator also proposes that manufacturers submit information on the regulatory status, facility information, cGMP and "any other information deemed necessary" for imported drugs before entering the country.
US Senate

Angel Biotechnology is seeking to raise up to £1m through a placing of shares


StockMarketWire

Stuart Needleman has been named President and Chief Operating Officer of Aptuit following promotion from President, Scientific Operations


Aptuit

Wednesday 14 March 2012

Recipharm to commercially manufacture Plenadren

Recipharm will commercially manufacture Plenadren for ViroPharma. As part of the agreement, ViroPharma will investing in new equipment at Recipharm to increase the manufacturing capacity for Plenadren. Although Recipharm will be able to use the new equipment for other projects, manufacturing for ViroPharma will be the highest priority.
Recipharm

DSM extends contract with Agennix

DSM Pharmaceutical Products has extended its process development and manufacturing agreement with Agennix to include commercial manufacture of talactoferrin, an oral dendritic cell mediated immunotherapy.
Pharmaceutical Business Review

The WHO has joined the inspections alliance formed by the EMA, FDA and TGA


In-Pharm

Evonik IPO plans revived

Evonik's partial owner CVC has said that the company could now be listed by the end of June. A partner in CVC said that the robust start to the markets this year meant that the conditions for an IPO were more suitable now than when the Evonik IPO was shelved last year.
Reuters

Thursday 1 March 2012

Boehringer expands biopharma capabilities

Boehringer Ingelheim has invested €17m to expand its biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing capabilities in Biberach, Germany and Vienna, Austria. The company said the expansions will enhance state-of-the art cell line development and process development services for the contract manufacturing business. Additionally, the company has expanded its current GMP cell banking, process science, cell line development and quality laboratories.
European Pharmaceutical Review