The Optima Group's presence at this year's Interphex show in New
York was significant as it gave In-PharmaTechnologist.com the first
look at the Group's recently implemented shift in focus, resulting
in a product range...
The new Automated Emitted Dose (AED) system from Astech allows for
in-line emitted dose testing of inhalers, saving time and money by
generating results from the production line which determine whether
full batch production should...
Robin Engineering Services has made its first foray into selling
machinery exclusively for the pharma industry in a deal with Indian
manufacturer Chamunda. The partnership will slash the cost of
tableting machinery and fluidised bed...
Chemical manufacturing giant BASF is building an alkylethanolamine
(AEOA) plant at its US site in Louisiana, as increasing American
demand pushes the company to increase worldwide production
capacities for these important intermediates...
Promed is due to start operations at its new research centre in
India, New Deli, this month, in a move that will bring the company
closer to becoming a global provider of drug development and supply
services.
Analytic technology company Ometric is promising to revolutionalise
quality control with software that achieves real-time, in-line
final product testing at a rate of five tablets per second,
minimising product recalls, reducing waste...
SAFC, a member of the Sigma-Aldrich Group, has launched a supply
solutions business, which aims to combine its Specialties business
with the manufacturing site that was acquired from Degussa last
year. The move is the latest step...
UK's Biotrace has signed a deal giving US company Pall Corporation
exclusive global marketing and distribution rights to its range of
microbiological air monitoring products for the pharma industry in
order to broaden the geographic...
Fine chemical and pharmaceutical intermediate manufacturers may be
affected by supply disruptions due to ongoing UK shortages of
natural gas. Price spikes in gas are becoming both higher and more
frequent in the UK.
Patheon has resumed normal production of Omnicef antibiotic powder
after it voluntarily suspended production in September at it
facility in Carolina, Puerto Rico, due to a US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) manufacturing warning.
Patheon has received the 2005 Contract Manufacturing Company of the
Year Award from consultancy firm Frost & Sullivan, in
recognition of its customer service and innovative market growth
strategies.
Specialty chemical company Avecia featured prominently at the
recent CPhI Expo in Madrid, announcing investments and activity,
which hint at the business of custom synthesis of APIs and advanced
intermediates coming back into favour.
Lanxess has said it will spin-off its Fine Chemicals operations
into a separate business unit that is expected to become
independent as of the second quarter next year.
Proditec exhibited its new automatic visual tablet inspection
system at the recent CPhI, designed to provide the first
alternative to manual pharmaceutical tablet inspection for smaller
laboratories.
AssurX have launched a software process for document control, which
will enable pharmaceutical manufacturing companies to streamline
their approach to monitoring safety issues and overall quality
control efforts.
In response to the increasing demand for high potency APIs,
Omnichem is increasing its Class V handling capabilities with an
expansion of their facility in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
Codexis has achieved a second technical milestone, earlier than
expected, in a collaboration with Pfizer aimed at developing new
biocatalysts for the manufacture of the number one drugmaker's
products.
The production capacity for biopharmaceutical manufacturing will
expand an average of 48 per cent over the next five years for
mammalian and microbial production systems, according to an
industry survey.
Generics manufacturer Andrx Corp has become the latest generic
drugs manufacturer to fall foul of the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) because of quality issues at a manufacturing
plant.
Millipore continued its shopping trip for new businesses last week
with the purchase of NovAseptic, a Swedish company specialising in
aseptic processing equipment used in the production of
pharmaceutical and biologic drugs.
Information technology giant IBM has developed a software
architecture that promises to modernise the pharmaceutical
industry's manufacturing processes, often accused of lagging behind
those of other industries such as chemicals...
Japanese packaging machinery firm Shibuya Kogyo is close to
finalising its acquisition of Hoppmann, a move that will expand the
firm's presence within the lucrative US market.
Switzerland's Romaco has introduced a new laboratory scale product
that provides vacuum mixing, dispersion and homogenisation and
should be of particular value for formulation development in the
pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors.
Contract manufacturing company Patheon has completed its $350m
(€259m)acquisition of Puerto Rican rival Mova Pharmaceuticals,
first announced in November.
The European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) has set up a new
umbrella group to represent the fine chemicals industry and provide
forum to tackle the volatile environment facing the sector.
Freeman Technology has launched the first in its range of 'plug and
play' accessories that will automate powder flow testing on the
company's FT4 Powder Rheometer, after adding in a shear test
function earlier this...
Italian packaging machinery company IMA has expanded its business
in the US market with acquisition of Nova Packaging Systems, which
makes automatic machines for the bottling of capsules and tablets.
Curvaceous Software will showcase its recently launched process
analytical technology (PAT) package at next week's World Pharma IT
congress in London, UK.
BASF says it has entered into a multi-million pound management
buyout deal for its specialist pharmaceutical ingredients
manufacturing business at Cramlington in Northumberland, UK.
China's packaging industry is currently undergoing a growth rate
that is set to turn the sector into one of the country's leading
industries, report Simon Pitman and Phil Taylor.
Cardinal Health has said that it will not be proceeding with a $100
million (€78m) information technology and manufacturing facility in
Longford, Ireland.
BASF has claimed a first with the launch of a new pellet form of
triphenylphosphine (TPP), used in the production of active
pharmaceutical ingredients, that minimises dust and improves
handling and processing.
A hoped-for recovery in the second half of 2003 failed to
materialise at Lonza, causing the chemicals and custom
manufacturing firm to post steep declines in sales and profits for
the full-year.
Millipore has developed a new set of labels for its filter products
that should make it easier for its biopharmaceutical customers to
comply with the obligation to keep accurate batch production
records.
French company Kalix has launched a new system called the Universal
Feeder which increases the production capacity of its machines for
filling and cartoning pharmaceuticals and cosmetics in tubes.
Canada-headquartered contract manufacturing company Patheon is now
offering the largest capacity in Europe for lyophilisation,
following the completion of a €60 million investment programme at
its facilities in Monza and Ferentino...
Japan's Takeda is to invest Y15.0 billion (€117m) in its plant at
Hikari City, in anticipation of the closure of its Shonan facility
in at the end of March 2006.
Packaging is one of the last remaining unclaimed frontiers for
manufacturing companies and improving this function could save
millions of dollars a year, says 3M
Australia's Biotechnology Frontiers is awarded a A$780,000 grant to
develop a microbiological quality control tool that can be used in
the pharma and food industries.
The shift towards full automation with ready-to-use separation
devices is the first step on the path to a completely disposable
manufacturing process, says Millipore
Pharmaceutical company mergers and acquisitions plus industry-wide
cost cutting has squeezed investment into manufacturing, which may
lead to GMP non-compliance and fines, warns a new report.
Swiss chemicals group Lonza has said that a new small-scale
production plant at its Visp site will come on stream in July and
will boost its services in the area of exclusive manufacturing of
pharmaceutical products.
UK firm Cobra Bio-Manufacturing has announced its intention to
undertake a placing and open offer to raise £4.65 million (€6.45m)
to fund the purchase of an additional manufacturing plant in
Cowley, Oxford.
Celsis International of the UK, a specialist in diagnostic systems
to detect and measure microbial contamination for the
pharmaceutical, personal care and food industries, has signed up
Boots Manufacturing (BM) as a new customer.
In the US this week, supplier of botanical extracts for the
pharmaceutical industry Pharmachem Laboratories announced that it
has acquired 'the largest botanical extraction facility in North
America, producing extracts for the...
US manufacturer of vitamins, minerals, herbs and supplements
D&E Pharmaceuticals, has launched a contract manufacturing
services initiative, principally aimed at small to medium sized
nutraceutical suppliers.
"The current confluence of negative factors facing the chemical
manufacturing industry could be called 'the perfect storm',"
said Andrew N. Liveris, president of Dow Chemical company's
Performance Chemicals...
