Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Monday, 15 February 2010
Albemarle to provide manufacturing for PharmaCore customers
Albemarle will provide manufacturing services for PharmaCore customers with projects that require high volume capacity. The alliance will allow seamless technology transfer when customers require higher volumes of APIs and active ingredients.
Albemarle
Saturday, 13 February 2010
Aurelius acquires Isochem
German private equity house Aurelius has acquired Isochem from SNPE for €8m. SNPE will take on €50m in debt from Isochem. The deal is subject to approval by the SNPE board. Unions at Isochem are opposed to the deal and are expected to call for a strike. Aurelius was one of five potential acquirers and was given exclusive negotiating rights in December.
Les Echos
Cambrex sales decline in Q4
Cambrex sales decreased by 9.9% in Q4 2009 and full year sales were down 5.3% on 2008. The company said the decrease is primarily due to lower volumes of an API that utilises its polymeric drug delivery technology, lower sales of two APIs manufactured under long-term supply agreements and lower custom development revenues.
Cambrex
Year ends with an upturn for SAFC
Sigma-Aldrich's fine chemicals business, SAFC, had its best quarter of 2009 in Q4, meeting the company's expectations of improved sales as the year ended. CFO, Rakesh Sachdev, put this down to "continued demand for adjuvant products for the H1N1 vaccine production and industrial media for pharmaceutical customers, as well as customer efforts to push early stage clinical trials".
Seeking Alpha
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
EFCG welcomes excipient amendments
The addition of excipient GMP requirements to the draft amendments of the EU falsified medicines directive has been welcomed by the European Fine Chemicals Group.The European Commission's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) has proposed GMP requirements for excipients in its draft opinion.
In-Pharma Technologist
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Dishman restructures Carbogen Amcis
Dishman is restructuring its Carbogen Amcis subsidiary. Staff levels have been cut by 20% and a new CEO - currently working at another company in the sector - will join in March. Q3 sales at Carbogen Amcis fell 27% this year and the company expects to save CHF8m through the restructuring.
Business Standard
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
SynCo signs US deal
SynCo Bio Partners will provide process validation and GMP commercial manufacturing services to support the commercial launch of two separate biopharmaceutical products, from an unnamed company, for the US market. The recombinant proteins will be produced in E. coli.
SynCo BioPartners
UKTI and Chemspec USA
UK Trade and Investment is considering running a UK pavilion at the inaugural Chemspec USA show in Philadelphia in May 2011. For further information contact Tricia Francis.
Watson acquires Eden
Eden Biodesign has been acquired by Watson Pharmaceuticals for $15m. Watson had previously acquired 36% of the business through a previous acquisition last year. Following the acquisition Eden will continue to offer contract manufacturing services.
Business Week
Tough year for Lonza in 2009; cautiously optimistic for 2010
Lonza's full year results showed a 8.4% fall in sales in 2009 compared to 2008. The company said that clinical results had driven order reductions for its biopharmaceutical manufacturing business. CEO, Stefan Borgas remains optimistic for the future and said the company's previously announced re-engineering would help generate cash flow in 2010.
In-Pharma Technologist
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Albemarle fine chemicals sales decline
Sales for Albemarle's Fine Chemicals segment were down 10% - to $146m - in Q4 2009 compared to 2008. The company has seen fine chemicals sales and profitability steadily increase over the past three quarters. Mark Rohr, Albemarle's Chairman, President and CEO, said the company was looking at a number of bolt-on acquisitions to continue growth, primarily in its fine chemicals business.
Seeking Alpha
Monday, 25 January 2010
Merck builds pharma salts plant
Merck KGaA has started construction work on a pharmaceutical inorganic salts manufacturing plant in Darmstadt, Germany. The €30m investment will add 50% to the company's current capacity and is expected to be online in mid-2011.
Merck
Thursday, 21 January 2010
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
German grant for downstream processing research
A German research consortium including Rentschler Biotechnology and Boehinger Ingelheim has received €3.2m to develop a pioneering scalable purification method that could cut the cost of downstream protein processing by up to 90%.
Euro Biotech News
Monday, 18 January 2010
Dishman to build four API plants
Dishman plans to build four new API plants, two of which are due to be operational by March 2011 and two by 2012. Dishman will invest $27.4m on the expansion, the majority of which will be from the previously announced fundraising. J R Vyas, Dishman's managing director, said the new plants will increase capacity 400m3.
Economic Times
Lonza closes API plant
Lonza will close its API manufacturing facility at Riverside, PA. Production will be moved to Lonza's other facilities in Europe and China. The closure will affect 175 employees and cost €94.5m.
In-Pharma Technologist
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Dishman seeks 20% growth in CRAMS
Dishman is expecting growth of about 20% for its CRAMS segment in the next year according to cfo V V S Murthy. He put this down to easing of inventory rationalisation by big pharma and increasing outsourcing to India.
DNA India
26 drugs approved in 2009
The FDA approved 26 new drugs in 2009 - just one more than in 2008. Of these seven were biologics and 19 small molecules according to analysts at Washington Analysis.
Wall Street Journal
Monday, 4 January 2010
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
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
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
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
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
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
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
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
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
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
Thursday, 26 November 2009
AZ to out source all API manufacturing
AstraZeneca plans to outsource 100% of its API manufacturing within seven years, it told analysts at a recent briefing. The company currently outsources about 80% of its API manufacturing with three preferred suppliers in Europe and suppliers in India. The additional outsourcing is expected to come from India where the cost base is lower, said Executive Vice President for Operations, David Smith, although the company expects to introduce greater quality control and supplier audits.
AstraZeneca
Sunday, 22 November 2009
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Agencies failing to monitor API quality
Guy Villax, board member of the European Fine Chemicals Group, has once again raised the subject of API quality. Speaking at the AAPS meeting earlier this month Villax said that enforcement of API quality is in "disarray" and that regulatory agencies were failing to properly police the supply chain.
In-Pharma Technologist
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Jubilant to expand, sell
Jubilant Organosys plans to spend $54m on capacity expansion plans in the current year. Most of the money will be spent on debottlenecking and a small amount on R&D. In addition the company expects to have sold its performance polymers business by end March 2010.
Business Standard
Reuters
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Carbogen Amcis restructures
Carbogen Amcis plans to restructure its Swiss operations. Early phase services will be consolidated at the company's Aarau site, while the Hunzenschwil site will focus on new technologies, such as micro-reactors and crystallisation. Late phase and high potency services at the Bubendorf facility, will be expanded, due to increased market demand. The changes would result in the loss of up to 40 positions.
Carbogen Amcis has seen a significant increase in the number and rate of progress associated with later phase projects, but there has been a substantial decline in the number of early phase projects being generated.
Dishman Pharma, Carbogen Amcis' parent company saw 2Q revenue decrease 12% mainly due to a disappointing quarter at Carbogen Amcis.
Carbogen Amcis
Money Control
Cambrex sees 3Q sales rise
Cambrex 3Q sales rose 2.3% to $57.8m. The company said the rise was primarily due to higher volumes of an API that utilises its polymeric drug delivery technology but was partially offset by lower sales of two APIs manufactured under long-term supply agreements.
Cambrex
