Bulk ingredients

Rebooting HAL part of Indian plans to boost API capacity and cut reliance on China

19-Feb-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

The Indian Government wants to build API production capacity and revive state run manufacturer Hindustan Antibiotics to cut reliance on Chinese imports.

Fresenius Kabi sells cancer compounding biz to NewCo Pharma

17-Feb-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Fresenius Kabi has sold its cancer drug pharmacy network CFL GmbH to NewCo Pharma GmbH five years after spending €42m to buy compounding capacity in Germany.

PE-backed Laurus Labs sets up US drug ingredients business

16-Feb-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Warburg Pincus-backed HIV drug ingredient firm Laurus Labs has set up a US presence and development facility in a bid to win more North American customers.

Enteris plans to beat established API CMOs on lead times

16-Feb-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Enteris Biopharma says it can compete with established API CMOs by offering shorter lead times and greater flexibility.

Ex-Unigene execs who run Enteris add API contracting service to delivery tech licensing business

12-Feb-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Enteris BioPharma has broadened its business beyond drug delivery tech licensing and launched a contract API manufacturing service.

Penn is mightily pleased with safety record

10-Feb-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Banishing kettles, 'Gemba walks' and encouraging employees to report near misses have helped Penn Pharma to remain accident free at its high potency compound manufacturing facility in Wales.

Cambrex: ‘Either we invest now or turn away API business”

09-Feb-2015 By Dan Stanton

Ongoing demand for large-scale APIs combined with high capacity utilization has driven Cambrex Corporation to allot up to $85m (€70m) for manufacturing expansion in 2015.

Dispatches from InformEx

What helps an outsourcing partnership? Be up front about the bad news

06-Feb-2015 By Zachary Brennan

When it comes to forging solid relationships between CMOs (contract manufacturing organizations) and drug developers, one thing is clear: deviations will occur.

Dispatches from InformEx

Post-IPO Catalent turns to internal investments to meet new demands

05-Feb-2015 By Zachary Brennan

With its stock up about 35% since its IPO, Catalent is continuing to invest internally to meet the growing demands of its clients.

ScinoPharm: profits fall on higher costs, an idle plant and lower Qsymia sales

03-Feb-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

ScinoPharm was hurt by weak US demand for the weight loss pill Qsymia, higher raw material prices and costs associated with its still unapproved plant in China in 2014.

Almac announces $7m biocatalysis partnership

02-Feb-2015 By Fiona BARRY

Contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) Almac has invested $7m (€5.5m) in a biocatalysis R&D partnership with Queens University Belfast.

Johnson Matthey posts higher Q3 API profits; Pfizer patent spat continues

28-Jan-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Johnson Matthey saw demand for ADHD APIs increase in the third quarter, while sales of its pain management ingredients and bulk opiates declined.

Catalent and Mitsubishi GC team up for Asian cell line offering

20-Jan-2015 By Fiona BARRY

Catalent is taking aim at the Asian market with a partnership with Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company to make cell lines for the region.

Piramal acquires Kentucky-based CDMO for $30m

20-Jan-2015 By Zachary Brennan

India-based CMO Piramal has acquired US-based sterile injectable CDMO (contract development and manufacturing organization) Coldstream Laboratories for $30.65m.

Novartis to close Puerto Rico plant and outsource to Eli Lilly

19-Jan-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Novartis will close an OTC plant in Puerto Rico by 2019 and transfer manufacturing and packaging actives to sites in the US and facilities operated by Eli Lilly and Virbac.

One-stop-shop CMOs could fall into pharma's over-capacity curse, say experts

16-Jan-2015 By Dan Stanton

CMO consolidation is resurrecting the ‘all-under-one-roof’ manufacturing model, but will firms fall into the same inefficiency pitfalls that drove pharma to outsource in the first place?

Ocean rises for drug transportation due to cost and cold chain concerns

15-Jan-2015 By Dan Stanton

AstraZeneca and Baxter are opting to transport pharmaceuticals by ocean and land routes as costs and cold chain security drive a drop in air freight.

Lonza's biopharma focus intensified towards end of 2014

14-Jan-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Lonza signed a flurry of biopharma-related deals and launched a number of drug industry services in the final quarter of 2014 as its efforts to focus on pharma intensified.

Micronization getting bigger: Fareva invests in capacity citing increasing demand

13-Jan-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Fareva has added extra micronization capacity citing growing demand and the opportunity to work with customers earlier in the development process as the driver for the investment.

AMRI acquiring Aptuit assets, including UK aseptic site, in $60m deal

09-Jan-2015 By Dan Stanton

AMRI has paid $60m for two Aptuit facilities including an aseptic manufacturing site in Glasgow, UK which the firm says will boost its presence in Europe.

Oil slump good for API makers, until a major supplier turns off the tap says industry group

09-Jan-2015 By Gareth Macdonald

Falling oil prices are good news for firms that make pharmaceutical ingredients according to a European chemical industry group.

AstraZeneca will outsource Crestor API following UK plant closure

19-Dec-2014 By Dan Stanton

The closure of an API plant in the UK will lead to opportunities for third party manufacturers, AstraZeneca has said.

Compound interest? US FDA sets up compounding pharmacy advisory committee

17-Dec-2014 By Dan Stanton

The US FDA has set up a committee to provide advice on scientific, technical and medical issues concerning drug compounding.

Janssen updates manufacturing software systems at Belgium API plant

15-Dec-2014 By Dan Stanton

Johnson & Johnson has updated its manufacturing execution software (MES) at an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in Belgium.

'Off the shelf' stem cell firm to benefit from in-house facility, says analyst

12-Dec-2014 By Dan Stanton

Analyst firm N+1Singer has endorsed stem cell manufacturer Reneuron based on its “off-the-shelf” therapy pipeline and a new facility that will reduce the need to outsource.

Peregrine expanding own CMO to make mAb candidate rather than outsource

11-Dec-2014 By Dan Stanton

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals is expanding its contract manufacturing capacity to meet growing client demand and to produce its own monoclonal antibody bavituximab, the company has revealed.

Meda cuts Recipharm contract: Swedish plant and jobs under threat

04-Dec-2014 By Dan Stanton

Meda has terminated a manufacturing contract with Recipharm which says a facility in Sweden and up to 60 jobs could be at threat.

CMO use to grow despite Big Biopharma's in-house spend, say experts

02-Dec-2014 By Dan Stanton

Third-party manufacturers anxious about Big Biopharma investments and downbeat industry reports can relax as experts concur “it’s a time of growth for biopharmaceutical outsourcing.”

AMRI re-opens troubled sterile injectable facility in New Mexico

25-Nov-2014 By Zachary Brennan

AMRI’s Albuquerque, New Mexico sterile injectable facility has resumed full manufacturing operations following an environmental deviation. 

German CMO looks to grow US biz through rise in SMEs and virtual pharma

24-Nov-2014 By Dan Stanton

Rottendorf is looking to break from being “the best kept secret in the CMO world” by targeting the thousands of virtual and SME pharma firms in the US, according to its CEO.

Dispatches from the FT Global Healthcare and biotech conference

Experts: Outsourcing levels could push 80% if CMOs seize future demands

20-Nov-2014 By Dan Stanton

Catering for low value, high volume customers as well as the growing number of firms developing complex drugs will be a big challenge in the era of personalised medicine according to experts speaking at a London conference this week.

Wuxi manufacturing continues to roll, two new facilities on the way

17-Nov-2014 By Zachary Brennan

With biologics declared as its main driver over the next few years, CDMO Wuxi is seeing rapid manufacturing growth and planning two new facilities in the next two years.

Recipharm eyes Portugal and opthalmics with SEK1bn Lusomedicamenta buy

17-Nov-2014 By Gareth Macdonald

Recipharm has bought Portugal-based contractor Lusomedicamenta for SEK1bn ($1349m) following up on the plan to add manufacturing capacity that it outlined after going public this summer.

In-house manufacturing investments ‘trounce’ outsourcing spend, report finds

13-Nov-2014 By Zachary Brennan

Biopharma companies are not likely to outsource a larger chunk of their manufacturing than they have in the past 10 years, according to a new report from PharmSource.

Warburg Pincus buys 32% stake in Laurus citing ARVs and global opportunities

03-Nov-2014 By Gareth Macdonald

Warburg Pincus has bought a 32% stake in Indian API maker Laurus Labs Private Limited citing the ARV drug ingredients market and international opportunities as drivers.

Pharma Action crude heparin plant due to open next week

28-Oct-2014 By Gareth Macdonald

A plant being set up by Pharma Action and meat supplier Toennies will produce 15 tonnes of 100% traceable crude heparin a year.

Quality probs and rising wages will see new API hubs replace China and India says analyst

20-Oct-2014 By Gareth Macdonald

Analysts predicting a second wave of global API hubs say it will be hard for manufacturers in Latin America, Ukraine and Taiwan to avoid the pitfalls that stymied former high growth sectors in Asia.

news from cphi

CDMO strategic deals 'the new standard,' say Catalent and DPx, but big and small pharma demands differ

16-Oct-2014 By Dan Stanton

Strategic relationships with contract manufacturers are becoming the standard, but big and small pharma demands differ considerably according to the two largest CDMOs, DPx and Catalent.

News from cphi

Big Pharmas and API suppliers eyeing Brazilian Government deals says EMS

16-Oct-2014 By Gareth Macdonald

Government contracts guaranteeing market share in Brazil are starting to attract innovators like Roche, Novartis and Sanofi and may see API suppliers get long-term work according to a spokesman for Sao Bernardo do Campo-based drugmaker, EMS.

news from the edqm 50th anniversary conference

Food supplements are Europe's real counterfeit drug problem says AIFA expert

15-Oct-2014 By Gareth Macdonald

Drug active ingredients in food supplements are Europe’s real falsified medicines problem according to the head of AIFA’s counterfeit prevention team.

News from CPhI

DSM cuts out China's ATS-8 intermediate middlemen with enzyme-made statin APIs

14-Oct-2014 By Gareth Macdonald

Royal DSM has launched a statin API it claims is made using a green production method that reduces reliance on intermediate suppliers.

Capsugel’s French and Belgian Sites Receive EXCiPACT Certification

13-Oct-2014 By Agnes Shanley

The auditing company, SGS, recently certified that Capsugel’s manufacturing sites in Colmar, France and Bornem, Belgium meet Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards set by EXCiPACT for pharmaceutical excipients manufacturing.

Share API audits or see quality slump, says Hovione

08-Oct-2014 By Dan Stanton

The sharing of audit reports for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) is essential in order to help avert the global decline in quality, according to Hovione’s CEO.

Lonza goes with the Flow Chemistry with latest API platform

07-Oct-2014 By Fiona BARRY

Lonza has launched an API-making platform that uses chemical microreaction technology for continuous processing.

Baxter Transitions Biopharma R&D to a New Hub in Cambridge

07-Oct-2014 By Agnes Shanley

Baxter International plans to set up a new global R&D center in Cambridge, Mass, for Baxalta, its biopharmaceuticals spinoff, which is expected be formally incorporated next year and headquartered in northern Illinois. 

update

Consort Medical cites growing Bespak as driver for £230m Aesica acquisition

30-Sep-2014 By Gareth Macdonald

Consort Medical will buy UK contractor Aesica for £230m from Silverfleet Capital in a deal announced today.

Pharmacies banned from compounding for docs without prescription

23-Sep-2014 By Fiona Barry

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says compounding pharmacies must not manufacture medicines for hospitals and doctors’ offices, except for named patients.

Breaking news

Merck KGaA: $17bn 'Rolls Royce' Sigma-Aldrich to keep major St Louis site

22-Sep-2014 By Dan Stanton & Gareth Macdonald

The $17bn (€13.2bn) acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich is “not just a milestone but a quantum leap” for Merck KGaA, the firm says.

Public or private: Where Catalent goes, will other CMOs follow?

18-Sep-2014 By .

Following the recent IPO from Catalent, has private equity called time on the CDMO industry? Outsourcing-pharma’s Dan Stanton thinks it has for now.

Dispatches from ChemOutsourcing

CMO consolidation: Do biopharma partners see any benefits?

17-Sep-2014 By Zachary Brennan

As contract manufacturers continue to consolidate, some in the industry are questioning whether the resulting companies have the ability to offer the same services as the former individual companies.