Catalent sells French solid dose plant to Bavaria
Located just north of the French capital Paris, the good manufacturing practice (GMP) approved facility is fitted out for the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), oral forms and non-sterile oral liquids.
Cornell Stamoran, Catalent’s VP of strategy and corporate development, told Outsourcing-Pharma that: “Shortly after the separation of Catalent from Cardinal Health in mid-2007, we reached a decision that Osny's specialised capabilities were not well aligned with the future of Catalent.”
He stressed that Catalent “remain[s] optimistic about the future prospects for outsourcing for advanced dose forms, such as our liquid filled softgels and Zydis fast dissolve tablets, where a majority of our oral technologies segment business is concentrated today.
Stamoran added that, in Catalent’s view, the specialised manufacturing and handling know-how offered by both its modified-release oral dose plant in Winchester, Kentucky and the Osny site under Bavaria’s ownership “will continue to meet specific niche needs of the global pharma industry, for both branded and generic products.”
The Osny unit, which was renamed Osny Pharma SAS when the deal closed on March 31, is expected to retain its workforce and customer base.
In a press statement Catalent’s VP of modified release technologies, Ian Muir, said that: “We are pleased that Bavaria has acquired this business, as we believe they, along with the strong local team in place, will continue to provide the facility’s customers the high degree of quality and compliance they have received in the past.”
These thoughts were echoed by Bavaria’s managing director, Hans Magnus Andresen, who said that the firm is very excited about the acquisition. He explained that the company had been very impressed by the management and operating teams at Osny.
Andersen added that: “[the] site will focus strongly on keeping its loyal customer base satisfied and continuously optimize its production processes without losing its keen eye on delivering top quality products.”
Catalent and Siga develop process for anti-smallpox drug
In other Catalent news, the firm was named by US drug developer Siga Technologies as a key partner in developing the manufacturing process for its new anti-biowarefare product ST-246.
The two firms made three pilot batches of the anti-smallpox product ST-246 comprising a total of 350,000 capsules, equivalent to around a tenth of the commercial scale manufacturing runs that Siga is planning.
Eric Rose, Siga’s CEO, commented, "SIGA has achieved another major step required by the FDA before commercialising ST-246,” adding that "many people worked hard at SIGA and Catalent to achieve this goal.”
