Fill & finish, packaging

Cost, risk, on-time and in-full: Defining value in the customer-supplier relationship

19-Oct-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

Pharmaceutical companies are more likely than their suppliers to cite cost improvement over time as the most effective metric for measuring supplier performance, according to a recent report.

Pfizer CentreOne expands contract manufacturing in Japan

18-Oct-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

Pfizer’s contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) is now offering services in Nagoya, Japan.

Ex-Hurricane Ophelia & Ireland-based manufacturing: Pfizer, Roche & Takeda update

18-Oct-2017 By Flora Southey

Storm Ophelia hit the Green Isle this week, forcing the closure of schools, public institutions, and a number of drug manufacturing sites across the country.

Outsourcing-Pharma's Hiring and Firing Roundup September '17

02-Oct-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

This month’s roundup includes several executive level positions and two new hires at Envigo and Bracket.

update

AmerisourceBergen pleads guilty to distributing misbranded drugs

28-Sep-2017 By Gareth Macdonald

AmerisourceBergen (ABSG) has pleaded guilty to distributing misbranded injectable cancer drugs processed at an unregistered facility in Alabama and agreed to pay $260m (€220m).

Irvine Scientific expansion to offer dry powder media lots up to 7,000kg

28-Sep-2017 By Dan Stanton

Irvine Scientific has expanded its cell culture dry powder facility in California to support the projected increase of biotherapeutic production.

The track & trace big question: Can we get around aggregation? Or should we get ready?

27-Sep-2017 By Flora Southey

Implementing ‘aggregation’ – the term used to describe pharmaceutical product unit-to-case hierarchy – is not mandatory in Europe, however industry delegates say there is incentive to push its adoption.

Dutch CPO boosts bottling capacity

25-Sep-2017 By Flora Southey

Contract packaging organisation (CPO) Tjoapack has invested in an additional bottling line at its facility in Ennen-Leur, the Netherlands.

Outsourcing-Pharma's State of the Global Pharmaceutical Contract Services Industry

Outsourcing plans, demand, and relationships: readers weigh in on the state of the industry

07-Sep-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

The global pharmaceutical contract services industry continues to face several challenges and changes, from ubiquitous consolidation among all industry players to uncertainty in a turbulent political climate.

Navesta opens LKR1.4bn sterile drug plant in Sri Lanka

04-Sep-2017 By Gareth Macdonald

Navesta Pharmaceuticals had opened a sterile drug manufacturing facility in Horana, Sri Lanka.

Vial-up: Althea adds fill/finish capabilities in California

31-Aug-2017 By Staff Reporter

A vial filling line at Ajinomoto Althea’s manufacturing site in San Diego will maximise yield and reduce product loss, the CMO says.

Althea adds new aseptic fill/finish line amid cost concerns

28-Aug-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

Ajinomoto Althea, Inc. has added a new aseptic fill/finish line in response to client's concerns regarding active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing costs.

Child-resistant blister packaging gets a redesign

28-Aug-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

Keystone Folding Box Co. has designed a new child-resistant paperboard pack, which it says fits in line with manufacturer’s sustainability objectives.

Hikma upping injectables capacity by as much as 500% by end of 2017

22-Aug-2017 By Dan Stanton

Hikma has ramped up capacity at manufacturing facilities in the US and Portugal manufacturing to meet the growing demand for its lyophilised and oncology products.

Corning collaborates for Merck & Co and Pfizer-tested vials

14-Aug-2017 By Flora Southey

Corning has penned separate collaboration agreements with Italy-based Stevanato Group and Germany-headquartered Gerresheimer to supply glass packaging for injectable drugs.

STA: merger with WuXi division follows single source contract provider trend

01-Aug-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

STA Pharmaceutical has merged with WuXi AppTec’s Pharmaceutical Development Services (PDS) to create a “more complete and integrated platform.”

Smithers extends accreditation scope for medical device testing

26-Jul-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

Testing services provider Smithers Pira has extended its ISO/IEC 17025:2005 scope of accreditation for medical devices.

PCI 'ahead of the curve,' expands serialization capabilities at UK-based facility

13-Jul-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

PCI Pharma Services continues to expand its serialization capabilities following an extended regulatory deadline that will provide much-needed “breathing room” for the industry.

Merck unveils EU plant cuts and consolidation plan citing Sigma's US strategy

13-Jul-2017 By Gareth Macdonald

Merck KGaA has announced a plan to close some EU production sites and invest in others, citing the centralization strategy employed by Sigma-Aldrich as inspiration.

Pharma finance

It's a seller's market as buyers narrow therapeutic focus, says inVentiv

07-Jul-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

Biopharmaceutical dealmakers are narrowing in on therapeutic areas as company’s look to lead specific markets or gain a technical advantage.

EC says Merck and Sigma-Aldrich broke M&A procedures and could face $170m fine

06-Jul-2017 By Gareth Macdonald

German Merck and Sigma-Aldrich broke EU merger procedures and could face a fine equivalent to 1% of the combined firm's annual revenue according to the European Commission

Thermo Fisher takes rain check: storm closes clinical packaging site

05-Jul-2017 By Flora Southey

A storm in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, US has forced Thermo Fisher Scientific’s clinical package and storage facility to close temporarily.

Avista supporting cGMP manufacture of hapten for opioid vaccine development

26-Jun-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

Avista Pharma Solutions, Inc. has been contracted to manufacture an opioid-derived small molecule, which is a component of a conjugate vaccine being developed to treat opioid addiction.

Corning life science focus: '21st century glass for 21st century drugs'

21-Jun-2017 By Dan Stanton

Corning says it is on the brink of capturing an increased share of the $12bn glass quality and packaging markets through material advancements in the space.

Label concept combines first-opening indication, blinding for clinical trials

19-Jun-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

Schreiner MediPharm’s new Flexi-Cap for Clinical Trial Supplies provides anti-counterfeit protection with blinding for transparent containers.

Q&A with the 'Medical Futurist'

'If only everyone's supply chain was as regulated and secure as pharma’s'

05-Jun-2017 By Dan Stanton

3D printing, augmented reality and deep learning algorithms will shape the future of the pharmaceutical supply chain says Dr Bertalan Mesko, the Medical Futurist.

Jindal Poly Films rumoured to buy European assets of DuPont Teijin Films

02-Jun-2017 By Jenny Eagle

India's largest polyester-based packaging film company Jindal Poly Films Ltd (JPFL) is allegedly in talks to buy the European production assets of DuPont Teijin Films (DTF) for an estimated $300m.

Valium blister pack tampering leads to Australian recall for Roche and Apotex

01-Jun-2017 By Dan Stanton

Roche has recalled all batches of Valium 5mg tablets in Australia after finding evidence of product tampering within its supply chain.

People on the move

Outsourcing-Pharma's Hiring and Firing Roundup May '17

31-May-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

This month’s roundup includes new executive leadership teams, hires on both sides of the Atlantic for CRO Smithers Viscient, a new VP and medical director at Clinipace, among others.

Pharma finance

The changing landscape of the CRO industry

30-May-2017 By Jason Monteleone, Guest contributor

How we classify CROs has seemingly changed overnight.

LSNE tapped for drug substance manufacturing, fill/finish services

25-May-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

LSNE Contract Manufacturing has signed a manufacturing supply agreement with Selecta Biosciences, Inc. through which the CDMO will advance Selecta’s lead candidate, SEL-212.

CDMO Recro expands manufacturing capabilities at former Alkermes site

24-May-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

Recro has added a new tablet manufacturing suite that enables it to compress single- and bi-layer tablets at commercial speeds.

Coming to America: Evolving pharma landscape brings CPhI to Philadelphia

16-May-2017 By Dan Stanton

With almost 40% of attendees coming from outside the US, the political climate has had no effect on the latest CPhI franchise which starts today in Philadelphia.

Patheon spends $26m to up capacity for liquid and freeze-dried drugs

09-May-2017 By Gareth Macdonald

Patheon NV has completed a $26m-expansion of its Greenville, North Carolina manufacturing site at which it will make lyophilised pharmaceuticals.

Romaco's PE owner sells majority of stake to China-based Truking

02-May-2017 By Staff reporter

Romaco GmbH owner DBAG has sold most of its stake in the processing technology firm to Truking Group.

ABL to fill live virus-based MCMs for BARDA

10-Apr-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

ABL, Inc. will provide fill/finish services for live virus-based medical countermeasures (MCM) as part of the five-year contract worth up to $50m.

US FDA hits Indoco with warning due to leaky glaucoma drug

05-Apr-2017 By Dan Stanton

Leakage problems for of an ophthalmic drug has landed contract manufacturer Indoco Remedies with a US FDA warning letter at its plant in Goa.

Sharp investing more than $25m in US, UK operations

03-Apr-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

Sharp Packaging Services has purchased Daiichi Sankyo’s packaging facility in the US and is tripling its UK-based clinical packaging business.

Pfizer CentreOne: service expansions one step in fulfilling pledge to grow capabilities

28-Mar-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

Pfizer CentreOne has recently expanded its fill-finish and highly potent solid oral dose service offerings at two of its contract manufacturing facilities as it aims to fulfill a promise to grow its capabilities.

Half of CMOs unprepared for serialisation requirements, says Tracelink

28-Mar-2017 By Dan Stanton

As many as 400 contract manufacturing organisations (CMOs) will not be ready for upcoming US and EU track-and-trace regulations, says supply chain services firm TraceLink.

PCI triples serialization capacity as 'crunch time' commences

13-Mar-2017 By Melissa Fassbender

PCI Pharma Services has tripled its serialization capacity ahead of US DSCSA and EU FMD deadlines with follow-on investments planned to finalize its serialization infrastructure.