The most recent news on pharmaceutical industry hires, promotions, acquisitions and other events includes Lonza, Medidata, Vetter, and Almac Group.
The most recent news on pharmaceutical industry hires, promotions, acquisitions and other events includes Lonza, Medidata, Vetter, and Almac Group.
CDMO Bora Pharmaceuticals chairman and CEO Bobby Sheng was honored as CEO of the Year at the recent CPhI Pharma Awards. The honor is given to the C-suite executive who shows excellent leadership skills, an ability to boost performance, knack for engaging staff and customers, and commitment to furthering the wider pharma industry.
Sheng said, "Winning such a prestigious award is an incredible acknowledgement not just of me, but of the work, values and expertise of the whole team at Bora Pharmaceuticals. I am incredibly proud of the growth we have achieved thanks to the excellent customer service, technical agility, and niche capabilities that the team at Bora provide to our customers across North America, Asia and Europe.”
Lonza is investing $93m in eight facilities around the globe. The move is expected to expand capsule manufacturing capacity within its Capsugel portfolio by about 30b capsules each year.
This investment is expected to be made over two fiscal years, 2020 and 2021. The company reports the expansion supports the strategic position of capsules within nutrition and support introduction of new dosage technologies, such as lipid multi-particulates (LPM) technologies and new time-release capsule solutions.
Medidata, a Dassault Systèmes company, has acquired the digital biomarker business of MC10. The acquired company’s technologies reportedly will enhance Medidata’s capabilities of integrating data from wearable sensors – including clinical grade metrics – to help customers virtualize clinical trials.
According to Anthony Costello, senior vice president of mobile health for Medidata, “Incorporating remote biometric data capture and analysis that includes the MC10 nPoint Biostamp, alongside other leading mobile devices, will further strengthen the Medidata platform and help propel the digital transformation of life sciences.”
Almac Sciences, a member of the Almac Group, has appointed Dan Bayston vice president of small-molecule API. Dan has been with the company’s global chemical development and scale-up team for 17 years.
Stephen Barr, Almac Sciences president and managing director, commented, “Dan’s experience, credentials and working relationship with both his team, and the wider business unit, makes him a well-respected leader. This promotion is well deserved and I, and the rest of the sciences’ executive team, look forward to working with him in his new role.”
Global CDMO Vetter has moved into its new corporate headquarters, located in Ravensburg, Germany. According to the company, the opening of the new headquarters signifies the company’s continued stability in progress despite challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are relying on sustainable and future-oriented activities with the focus on our customers and their patients,” said Vetter managing director Peter Soelkner. The new building (which cost an estimated 50m€ and is designed to house about 1,000 employees) features a company restaurant, cafeteria and about 40 conference rooms.
CDMO TriRX has completed the purchase of a facility in Segré, a former Merck-owned plant. The FDA and EU GMP-compliant site is located in a major biopharmaceutical hub, easily accessible from nearby Angers and Paris.
The biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility is situated on a 30,000-square-meter site. Capabilities include sterile and non-sterile manufacturing, filling and packaging; solutions, suspensions and ointments; aseptic compounding; non-sterile filling in small and large bottles; non-sterile compounding of liquids and ointments; and more.
Mobile nursing specialist Illingworth Research Group has hired Chris Wells as director of patient concierge services. Wells is expected to leverage his health-sector experience to help patients by powering up PatientGO's patient-centric capabilities.
"Patient-centricity means delivering a 360-degree experience to the patient, and that's exactly what PatientGO provides. Our goal is to enable an even more positive, rewarding, and compassionate trial experience to patients and their families," Wells said.
Valicare, a subsidiary of Syntegeon, has recruited Christin Erbach to join the staff as senior GMP consultant. She brings more than a decade of years of clinical service experience, as well as expertise in auality management and legal pharmaceutical requirements.
“Her specialized knowledge in the area of clinical services combined with her legal background is an outstanding addition to Valicare’s consultancy business,” said Hans-Georg Eckert, site manager of Valicare in Frankfurt. “She will strengthen our competencies regarding the first GMP steps and the legal requirements for clinical products, addressing special needs for each development stage; this way, we are able to extend our approach of accompanying products along their complete life cycle.”
CRO/CDMO Avomeen has named Luke Miller its new senior vice president of lab operations. Miller brings more than 25 years of experience in lab operations and leadership in the biopharma and CDMO fields, including tenures at GlaxoSmithKline and Metabolon.
“Luke brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in operations strategy, team development, and lab design and optimization,” said Mark Harvill, CEO of Avomeen. “His leadership and expertise will be invaluable as we continue to grow and expand our life sciences and nicotine service offerings and teams, ensuring our clients receive the exceptional service they have come to expect from Avomeen.”
Romaco Kilian has appointed Stefan Krömer managing director, alongside co-managing director Jens Carstens. In his new role, he will oversee the tablet press manufacturer’s operation and administration in Cologne, Germany.
“With Stefan Krömer, we have gained a highly qualified manager with extensive top-level experience for the management of Romaco Kilian," said Jörg Pieper, CEO of Romaco Group. “Due to his proven expertise in process optimisation, controlling and production planning, Mr. Krömer will make a vital contribution to Romaco Kilian’s future growth.”
