Thursday, 30 April 2009
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Senators want FDA to inspect more foreign plants
US Senators Chuck Grassley and Edward Kennedy have introduced a Bill to require the FDA to inspect more foreign drug manufacturing plants. The Senators say the FDA would get fees for conducting drug plant inspections.
Policy and Medicine
DSM pharma sales decline, profit rises
DSM's pharmaceutical facing business saw first quarter sales decline 5% to €197m, however profit for the business unit rose 3% to €11m. DSM attributed the sales decline to the disposal of a business unit at the end of 2008.
DSM
Albemarle sees sales decline
Albemarle saw sales in its fine chemicals business fall 18% to $120.8m in Q1 2009. The company attributed the decline to reduced sales in its bromine franchise.
RTT News
Sunday, 26 April 2009
SAFC sees sales decline
Sigma Aldrich saw sales for its SAFC fine chemicals business unit decline 5% against last year in Q1. The company saw a decline in orders from pharmaceutical customers during the quarter, but has a strong forward-orders book. SAFC has continued with three key expansion projects: to expand capacity for cGMP fermentation in Israel and new high-potence API capacity in Madison, WI, both of which are due onstream early in 2010, and a new viral products facility in Carlsbad, CA, which is due onstream soon.
Seeking Alpha
Thursday, 23 April 2009
Lonza on target; opens 2000L facility
Lonza has confirmed it is on track to meet its 2009 financial goals. Chief executive, Stefan Borgas, said the company saw robust underlying demand in life science markets remains and an increased outsourcing in biopharma as well as in chemical APIs, but that Lonza was feeling the effect of customer supply chain optimisation.
In addition, Lonza has started-up its high-titre 2000L microbial manufacturing train in Hopkinton, MA. The train is complemented by a highly flexible purification area. Lonza has also revamped the entire Hopkinton site infrastructure.
Reuters
Lonza
PharmEng to close plant
PharmEng will not be able to file its annual audited financial statements by the filing deadline of April 30, 2009. The company will also close its Sydney, Nova Scotia manufacturing facility effective May 8, 2009.
Market Wire
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Mixed reception for UK Budget
The UK Chemical Industries Association said the UK Budget "will be a major disappointment to chemical and pharmaceutical businesses across the UK". Chief Executive, Steve Elliott is "particularly angry that existing money has not been redirected to help temporary lay-offs and short time working".
Elliott also welcomed the £750m Strategic Investment Fund to support emerging technologies and high tech manufacturing. This fund was also cautiously welcomed by the BioIndustry Association, which said "it is essential that the fund is now implemented rapidly" to ensure that companies in the sector can benefit.
Chemical Industries Association
BioIndustry Association
Hovione opens Ireland plant
Hovione has opened the API manufacturing site in Cork, Ireland, which it agreed to acquire from Pfizer in December 2008. Hovione will continue to perform some manufacturing for Pfizer, which has manufactured Lipitor at the site for more than 10 years. However, the facility will mostly be used to address Hovione's own production needs.
Hovione
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
Excelsyn wins Queen's Award
Excelsyn has won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2009, in the International Trade category, in recognition of a near-trebling of its export earnings, which now account for 82% of sales.
Daily Post
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Thursday, 9 April 2009
CIA and ICC sign MoU
The Chemical Industries Association and Indian Chemical Council have signed a memorandum of understanding to encourage the development of trade between the UK and India.
CIA
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
Monday, 6 April 2009
Shire closes plant outsources manufacturing
UK pharma company Shire is phase out manufacturing at its Owings Mills, MD, facility over the next three years. Shire plans to outsource the manufacturing to a North Carolina-based manufacturer as the company moves away from in-house manufacturing.
Baltimore Sun
Piramal Healthcare relocates custom manufacturing
Piramal Healthcare has closed its API contract manufacturing facility in Huddersfield, UK. Piramal will move the manufacturing jobs to its Morpeth, UK, and Ennore and Ahmedabad, India sites. The move will cost &3163;10m but the company expects to see profits in its custom manufacturing business improve by 6-8% by 2010-11.
Business Standard
Thursday, 2 April 2009
SOCMA changes name
SOCMA has changed its name to the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates. Previously known as the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association, SOCMA believes the change formally broadens the scope of its activity to reflect service to the batch, custom and specialty chemical industry. Following changes to its charter all categories of SOCMA membership are now available to companies involved in batch, custom and specialty rather than just synthetic organic chemical manufacturing.
Pharmaceutical Business Review
Johnson Matthey to close Irish plant
Johnson Matthey plans to close its fine chemical manufacturing facility in Ireland and consolidate manufacturing of prostaglandin products at its US facility. The company said that in the quarter to the end of March its Fine Chemicals & Catalysts Division's sales excluding precious metals were ahead of the same period last year helped by favourable exchange translation and that good sales of active pharmaceutical ingredients offset some weakness in catalysts and chemicals.
Reuters
