Hospira’s new management team are pumping a large chunk of the $375m (€280m) it will invest in manufacturing upgrades into its troubled Rocky Mount, US, site.
Under new management, the firm will invest 80 per cent of the sum in the North Carolina injectables, sterilisation and filling plant – with some operations in remediation since FDA inspections in June and August 2010 flagged up contamination due to equipment failiure.
The firm plans to spend a large part of the cash on hiring 153 new staff members for the site, 25 of which it hopes to have filled by December 19th.
The plant will continue to operate in the meantime, and estimate up to 70 per cent of operations will continue as normal.
Aveo Pharmaceuticals has inked a deal with Boehringer Ingelheim to manufacture ficlatuzumab.
Under the agreement, Boehringer will produce ficlatuzumab – Aveo’s Phase II novel HGF inhibitory antibody for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Aveo will continue to develop and market the compound, and says it hopes the partnership will help boost it into large-scale process development.
“We believe Boehringer Ingelheim is an ideal manufacturing partner based on its expertise in monoclonal antibodies,” said Elan Ezickson, executive VP and chief business officer at Aveo.
“This agreement is further evidence of the progress we are making in the clinical development of ficlatuzumab, and we look forward to working with Boehringer Ingelheim to prepare for the manufacturing activities for ficlatuzumab that would support Phase 3 and beyond.”
Shasun hopes its new API manufacturing plant in India will help it hit target revenues of more than $388m (€290m) by 2015.
The pharma has injected $19m into the new facility in Vizag, and expects almost $100m return over the next three years.
The firm has also set its sights on customs synthesis, contract research and the introduction of new generic drugs and branded formulations to achieve its goal.
"Ninety per cent of our revenues come from exports to the US, UK, Japan and other regulated markets and we plan to consolidate our presence in these markets. We are also expanding our capacities in Newcastle, UK,” MD S Abhaya Kumar told PTI.