Piramal Healthcare is switching its UK API making operations to Morpeth, Nothumberland after a downturn in the Indian CMO’s international business cut capacity utilisation at its former base in Huddersfield to just 35 per cent.
Pfizer will pay an out of court settlement to resolve a long-running case alleging that it carried out an illegal trial of its meningitis drug Trovan (trovafloxacin) in Nigeria that resulted in the death of 11 children.
Falling sales to hospitals are forcing Cardinal Health to cut 1,300 jobs from the clinical and medical products units that it plans to float under the CareFusion banner later this year.
Patheon and India’s Kemwell have formed an alliance under which they will refer and market each others' services to development and manufacturing clients
Bayer Technology Services GmbH, an affiliate of Germany's Bayer, has opened its first regional office in India, enlarging its presence in the fast-growing Asian markets.
Eli Lilly’s pursuit of outsourcing deals continues unabated with the pharma major entering into a cardiovascular R&D collaboration with Zydus Cadila that has been described as a “new paradigm for global alliances”.
Porsolt, a French contract research organisation (CRO) specialising in preclinical pharmacology services, has said it plans to open a new facility in Europe as well as boost its presence on the other side of the Atlantic.
The committee set up by Patheon to review the unsolicited bid by private equity firm JLL to take control of the firm has asked for advice on the legality of the move.
Novartis is looking to buy an additional 39 per cent of its majority-owned subsidiary Novartis India for around 4.4bn rupees ($87m), or 351 rupees per share.
The International Pharmaceutical Excipient Council (IPEC) has unveiled plans to set up a worldwide Federation later this year to address the increasingly global excipient supply chain.
The global economic downturn, impending blockbuster patent expiries and the wave of consolidation sweeping the pharmaceutical industry will drive demand for Patheon’s restructuring service according to CEO Wesley Wheeler.
Regulators in the UK and Australia have issued GMP certificates for Ranbaxy Laboratories' Paonta Sahib plant after a joint inspection deemed manufacturing practices were up to code.
Vetter Pharma-Fertigung (VPF), a specialist provider of pre-filled injection systems, has formed a new subsidiary, Vetter Pharma International (VPI) to take charge of sales, marketing and customer services.
SGS Life Science Services opened a new microbiology testing laboratory in Shanghai, China to offer cGMP compliant API testing services for method development and validation.
Michael Schmitt, president of Alcan Global Pharmaceutical Packaging, believes a recovery in the global economy, the increasing demand for quality and the emergence of markets like India and Brazil will be key drivers for the packaging sector over the...
Alastair Riddell, CEO of UK firm Stem Cell Sciences (SCS), says the US governments’ reversal of the ban on federally funded stem cell research “opens up a market that was inhibited, restrained and impeded under the Bush administration.”
Pall CEO Eric Krasnoff says delayed drug industry capital expenditure and moves to conserve inventory in the current global gloom caused life science sales to fall 8 per cent for the second quarter.
The International Pharmaceutical Excipients Council (IPEC) – currently represented by divisions in Europe, the Americas, Japan and China – could see sister organisations open up in Latin America and India in the coming months.
The US green light for federally funded embryonic stem cell research is being hailed as a victory by the US drug industry, which predicts it will open the flood gates for novel medications and help revitalise the sector.
Patheon chief Wes Wheeler says the drop in Q1 losses the firm recently reported is due to the “restructuring activities and rigorous cost containment efforts” it enacted towards the end of last year.
UK drugmaker SkyePharma may reduce the workforce at its production plant in Lyon, France by a third after “long-running” underutilisation of its manufacturing capacity.
Two approvals in a week for drugs made at Ranbaxy’s New Jersey OHM Laboratories subsidiary have eased the generics firm’s North American regulatory woes and strengthened its position in the expanding US market.
Tigermed is continuing with its plan of partnering to become the top Chinese CRO through an alliance with MacroStat to improve its range of statistical services, further broadening its business.
With M&A activity dominating Big Pharma's agenda at the moment, the contract research market is having to evolve and adapt to the turbulent environmnet. Outsourcing-pharma asked Frost & Sullivan analyst Barath Shankar to offer his opinion...
Indian generics firm Piramal Healthcare says it "has no intention to dilute current ownership levels," but has not commented on rumours that it is in talks with French firm Sanofi Aventis.
Three plants owned by contract packaging maker Alcan have been cleared to produce containers for pharmaceutical products under the International Organization for Standardization’s ISO 15378:2006 guidelines.
Daiichi Sankyo, the Japanese drug firm that bought a controlling stake in India’s Ranbaxy last year, says it had no knowledge of FDA concerns that led to a block on ANDA reviews for drugs made at the latter’s Paonta Sahib facility.
Ranbaxy’s problems with the US FDA were ratcheted up a notch yesterday when the agency halted its review of products made at the firm’s plant in Paonta Sahib, India after uncovering “untrue statements” in ANDA’s and NDA filings.
Pandemic influenza vaccine manufacturing technology will be made available to developing countries through a collaboration between the WHO and Schering-Plough.
An active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) pilot project, implemented by the Pharmacopoeial Discussion Group (PDG) last summer and aimed at harmonising API monographs, should generate its first results before the end of the year.
The proposed FDA funding for 2009 has given a boost to the agency, with $300m more being offered than the agency requested to ensure the safety of products.
The Indian pharmaceutical and biotech sectors may see more M&A activity this year with rumours that GSK, Sanofi Aventis and Merck KGaA are on the look out for potential deals.
Barack Obama’s support for R&D tax credits to boost innovation is designed to assuage Big Pharma’s fears about a ban on “authorised generics,” and new “comparative effectiveness" tests, according to Datamonitor’s Sandra Reynolds.
Indian process technology firm ACE Technologies has won the contract to sell and service GEA Pharma Systems’ range of Courtoy tablet presses to local drug manufacturers as part of the latter company’s Asian expansion plan.
Despite going through a difficult period PharmaNet is continuing to expand through the opening of another office in Latin America, which reinforces its commitment to the region.
Valois Pharma is installing precision plastic molding capabilities at its manufacturing facility in Congers, New York, US as part of ongoing efforts to modernise its global manufacturing operations.
French drug major Sanofi Aventis is in talks about taking over market leading Brazilian generics firm Medley, according to reports the country’s Valor Economico newspaper.
Crucell and DSM Biologics have added fellow Dutch firm Bioceros to the PER.C6 vendor network to provide manufacturing and support capacity in line with increased demand for the cell line.
PPD has reached an agreement to buy AbCRO, which it hopes will strengthen its position in the thriving Central and Eastern European (CEE) clinical trials scene.
Pliva is laying off 790 employees over the next 12 months following its acquisition by Teva but still intends to significantly increase API and finished product output over this period.
Regulators in India’s Maharashtra state have compiled a hit list of 110 drugmakers that they intend to prosecute for sub-standard manufacturing practices, according to media reports.
Dr Rajashekar Reddy, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, India presided over the inauguration ceremony for Biological E’s new INR3bn ($61m) vaccine and biopharmaceuticals manufacturing campus.
A US federal appeal court has reinstated lawsuits by Nigerian families against Pfizer in a move that could have wide ranging implications for companies conducting clinical trials abroad.
Almac Sciences, part of global contracting group Almac, chose this year’s Informex in San Francisco, US to showcase its solid state chemistry (SSC) services to drugmakers in North America.
Indian IT company Satyam continues to be rocked by the fraud scandal, with media reports claiming that GSK and Novartis are on the verge of taking their business elsewhere.
Canadian contract manufacturing organisation PharmEng International, which has been hit by dwindling cash reserves in recent months, got a boost last week when its subsidiary Keata Pharma was awarded a C$3m research grant.
