New contract manufacture for high-potency drugs
create a new company specialising in the contract manufacturing of
highly active pharmaceutical products.
The new company, called Amareg, specialises in two primary areas, cytostatic drugs for cancer and corticosteroids.
High-potency products are a growth category in the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) sector. They are an attractive specialisation for contract manufacturers as they have not yet been hit by the general overcapacity in the industry, largely because the need for contained production presents a cost barrier to new start-ups.
New data presented at the INFORMEX meeting in January suggested that around 10 per cent of drugs in development now come under the highly-active category, up from about 5 per cent in the 1990s.
Amareg has taken over the workforce and facility at Regensburg and its operation will be run by Wulfing, the majority shareholder.
The facility can handle the production of oral dosage forms, liquids and creams, right up the packaging stage. Amareg guarantees the absence of cross-contamination at the cytostatics plant, as production is all carried out in closed systems. For instance, integrated granulation and drying are carried out in one vessel.
Other players in the highly active API sector include Helsinn, EaglePicher, Tetrionics, Irix, Solutia, Lonza, Aerojet and Torcan (part of Avecia).
