SAFC partners to improve pharma raw material supply
The globalisation of the raw material supply chain has increased the risks involved, leading to high profile contaminations such as diethyl glycol and prompting increased vigilance from suppliers and buyers.
Cherokee has analytical laboratories and large-scale current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) compliant manufacturing, which SAFC believes can help protect the supply chain and complement its expertise in sourcing reagents and excipients.
Gilles Cottier, president of SAFC, explained: "This agreement is a win-win situation, not only for SAFC and Cherokee Pharmaceuticals, but also for our respective customers.
“In marrying SAFC's sourcing capabilities, which bring significant cost and quality benefits to the table, with Cherokee Pharmaceuticals expertise in analytical testing and cGMP manufacture and storage, we are providing top level, high-quality resourcing that will support our US customers throughout their respective supply chains, enabling them to both streamline and improve their risk mitigation strategies."
Under the terms of the partnership SAFC will source the raw materials using its network of over 10,000 active suppliers, with Cherokee taking responsibility for analytical testing, storage, packaging and distribution services.
Cherokee’s site
Cherokee’s parent company PRWT Services acquired the Riverside, Philadelphia, US facility that will be used in the partnership from Merck & Co in 2008.
The partnership will use the site’s fully cGMP validated facility, which can house cooled, frozen and hazardous substances. In addition the site’s location and dedicated rail link make it suitable as a distribution hub for pharma companies based on the east coast.
