Patheon to offer cytotoxic services through BSP deal
BSP Pharmaceuticals' cytotoxic development and manufacturing
services as part of a marketing agreement that the two firms have
signed.
The agreement, which saw Patheon obtain an 18 per cent interest in the Italian firm, stipulates that Aldo Braca, current president of Patheon Europe become BSP's new president and CEO. For a transitional period Braca will fill both roles. According to Patheon, cytotoxic drug products play a significant and expanding role in the world's pharmaceutical market, particularly in oncology indications. Currently, cancer drug sales in the UK, US, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Japan, the world's top seven national pharmaceutical markets, generate $9.6bn (€6bn) a year and are expected to be worth $12.8 bn by 2009. "Cytotoxic manufacturing represents a major market opportunity, and a capability that Patheon does not have in its network. With these agreements in place, Patheon can now offer its clients a complete suite of services, which now includes cytotoxics in contract manufacturing and formulation development," commented Patheon CEO, Wes Wheeler. Patheon, which said that it already works with more than 300 of the world's leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, hopes that the new cytotoxic development offering will help broaden its client base. Restructuring operations continue In recent months, Patheon has been carrying out considerable restructuring, including moving its corporate headquarters from Toronto in Canada to Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. The company is also building a new laboratory in the US state. Patheon's integrated development and manufacturing network comprises 11 drug production facilities and six development centres across North America and Europe. Patheon's services range from preclinical development through to commercial scale manufacturing of a wide variety of dosage forms including parenteral, solid, semi-solid and liquid medications. The firm's various technology platforms are capable of making single-use disposables, liquid-filled hard capsules and a variety of modified and delayed-release technologies. The US firm's offering also includes pre-formulation, formulation, analytical development, clinical manufacturing, scale-up and commercialization capabilities that allow it to take customers products from candidate stage to the clinic.
