Thursday, 30 June 2011
Prosonix secures funding
Prosonix has raised £11.4m in Series B funding to move its pipeline of proprietary mono and multi-component combination respiratory therapies through phase II clinical trials. Ventech led the round with Gilde Healthcare Partners joining existing investors the Entrepreneurs Fund, Solon Ventures and Quest for Growth. David Hipkiss, Prosonix's CEO said "these new funds will allow us to attain key performance and clinical data for our pipeline of advanced fast-to-market respiratory programs that will deliver significant added value and benefits to patients and payors alike."
In-pharma Technologist
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Senator calls on FDA to tighten outsourcing rules
US Senator Sherrod Brown has called on the FDA to tighten its oversight of outsourcing of API production by US pharmaceutical companies. The Senator said: "When drug companies outsource pharmaceutical ingredients, they also outsource drug safety standards. It's simply unacceptable to allow drug companies to skirt existing regulations by importing ingredients from countries with lax safety standards. Drug company profits cannot come at the expense of consumer safety. Pharmaceutical companies must be able to guarantee the safety of their products and trace the origin of their ingredients.”
Sherrod Brown
Fujifilm and Mitsubishi enter partnership
Mitsubishi has acquired a 20% stake in Fujifilm's Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies US and UK business units. Following the deal Mitsubishi and Fujifilm will jointly mange the two business units "to strongly promote the expansion of the biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing business". Fujifilm completed the acquisition of the business from Merck in April.
Fujifilm Diosynth Biologics
Monday, 27 June 2011
CMC expansion almost complete
CMC Biologics has almost completed the expansion of its biomanufacturing production facility in Bothell, WA. The expansion will add a 3000L bioreactor train to increase commercial manufacturing.
Pharmaceutical Business Review
CABB acquires KemFine
CABB has paid €140m to acquire KemFine from 3i. KemFine, which is headquartered in Helsinki and operates a production facility in Kokkola, Finland, had sales of €81m in 2010. Uwe Kolb, partner responsible for CABB's investors Bridgepoint’s investment activities in the German speaking countries, said: "KemFine is a good fit with our recent acquisition of CABB where our aim is to drive further growth through investments in new technology and new capacities, regional expansion projects and further bolt-on acquisitions.”
Bloomberg
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
FDA plans new approach to drug imports
The FDA has launched a plan to improve the safety of pharmaceutical products being imported into the US. The plan includes partnerships and data sharing with regulators across the world.
Wall Street Journal
Pfizer applies for QbD pilot
Pfizer is the first company to apply for the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) and the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) 'quality by design' pilot programme. The programme aims to achieve increased co-operation in drug evaluations between the agencies.
PM Live
