Onyx contracted for API R&D and manufacturing by UK cancer charity

22-Jul-2014 - Last updated on 23-Jul-2014 at 12:26 GMT

Onyx Scientific has been contracted to develop and manufacture APIs for clinical trials by charitable group Cancer Research UK.

Under the new agreement – financial terms of which were not provided – Onyx will provide solid-state chemistry, process development, analytical and active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing services to support upcoming Phase I trials.

The UK-headquartered contract manufacturing organisation (CMO) has been working with Cancer Research since 2011, when it was selected to improve the production unspecified drug candidates.

This previous collaboration was critical to the Sunderland-based CMO winning the new contract according to Cancer Research’s supply manager, Nigel Westwood.

“Over the last few years, the team at Onyx Scientific has worked proactively with us on several challenging synthetic chemistry projects and provided exceptional value for money, which has led to us to select them for several new projects based on their competitive costs and ability to delivery on time.

He added that: “Having sufficient quantities of API available in a timely manner is critical for our drug development activities. Onyx Scientific is a reliable partner that can meet deadlines and deal with complex chemistry in a cost effective manner.

Specifics of the manufacturing were not provided, however Onyx did confirm that the projects will be supported by its facility in the UK and its India based owner IPCA Laboratories.

Denise Bowser, commercial director at Onyx Scientific, said: ‘We are delighted to be working again with the team at Cancer Research UK on this major project as it clearly indicates confidence in our technical expertise, customer service and ability to deliver on time.”

News of the new deal comes just a month after Onyx confirmed that it plans to invest in continuous flow manufacturing technology to give customers the ability to explore alternatives during research.

At the time Bowser said: “The move to continuous flow manufacturing has been seen by a handful of companies in the sector to date so we feel that we are very much at the forefront of technological advances when it comes to the development and production of API.

“For us, it makes better use of our space, gives us a quicker output and provides greater flexibility in the manufacturing of compounds as well as delivering considerable cost savings, which we can pass onto clients.”