Schott Pharmaceutical Packaging will be the first international
manufacturer of primary pharmaceutical glass packaging to establish
a production site in China, in a move that will increase supply to
Chinese injectable drug manufacturers...
Superfos has reported positive third quarter results after a
troubled start to the year. The company attributes the turnaround
to declining raw material prices and growth in European business
sales.
Ampac have developed a novel, lightweight, high-barrier pouch,
offering pharmaceutical manufacturers a new option for delivering
pulmonary drugs in a more efficient manner than traditional
container types.
Arsenal Capital Partners has acquired a majority stake in Reilly
Industries for €209 million and Velsicol Chemical for an
undisclosed fee. The purchases continue a rich vein of activity for
the private equity firm, which now hold...
Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva has signed a new three-year
agreement with Pfizer for the bulk supply of azithromycin, the
active ingredient in the antibacterial drug Zithromax.
PD-Rx Pharmaceuticals says it has completed the infrastructure of
an online, web-based pharmaceutical tracking system - called the
Pedigree Security Network - to help combat drug counterfeiting.
One of the difficulties facing the pharmaceutical industry is the
sheer volume of information that has to be incorporated on drug
labelling and packaging, which often makes designing packaging more
a function of squeezing in material,...
Researchers have developed a way of recovering catalysts used in
the manufacture of pharmaceuticals using simple magnets,
potentially doing away with the need for complex separation and
purification steps.
Merrion Pharmaceuticals has been granted a US patent for a drug
delivery technology that improves the transport of medicines across
biological membranes.
The European Medicines Agency has published updated guidelines on
the use of plastic packaging in pharmaceuticals, in a bid to help
packagers select the best and safest materials for their products.
West Pharmaceutical Services is planning to buy Israel's Medimop
Medical Projects, which develops disposable medical devices for the
mixing, transfer, reconstitution and administration of injectable
drugs.
India's Malladi Drugs and Pharmaceuticals has acquired a US company
to boost its presence in the market for pseudoephedrine, an
ingredient used in cough and cold preparations, reports Phil
Taylor.
Spending on pharmaceuticals across the 30 countries in the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has
increased by a third in real terms since 1998, reaching more than
$450 billion (€370bn) in 2003, according to new...
Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva has decided to opt out of the
proprietary medicines business and refocus its business on the
generics and active pharmaceutical ingredients sectors, reports
Phil Taylor.
Italy's fine chemicals industry organisation, Afaquim, is
organising a conference in September aimed at coordinating the
efforts of European active pharmaceutical ingredient (API)
suppliers in the face of increasing competition...
Ukraine's pharmaceutical market is growing fast, driven by both
imported products and the development of the local drug industry,
according to figures from the US Department of Commerce's BISNIS
service.
Injectable drug delivery specialist West Pharmaceutical Services
has develop a system of anticounterfeiting measures for its
Flip-Off seals, widely used for injectable drugs that are withdrawn
from vials by a syringe.
Shares in German group Altana advanced at the end of last week on
the re-emergence of rumours that it is planning to separate its
pharmaceuticals and chemicals businesses via a spin-out.
SupplyScape, a US company specialising in developing track and
trace technologies for the pharmaceutical industry, has raised $7m
in a private financing, writes Phil Taylor.
French pharmaceutical company Pierre Fabre is to invest €30 million
in its plant at Idron near Pau to bolster its contract
manufacturing activities for injectable drugs.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is planning to lend around €40
million to Germany's Impfstoffwerk Dessau-Tornau - a developer and
contract manufacturer of pharmaceutical and veterinary medicines -
to help it build a new research...
Sales of amino acids used in synthesis applications will reach
nearly $1 billion in 2009 and represent the fastest-growing
category in the $7 billion amino acids market.
A high-ranking US Food and Drug Administration official has told a
Senate advisory committee that the agency needs more authority to
force drug companies to change labelling for their drugs when
safety issues arise, writes Phil Taylor.
Thomson Scientific & Healthcare has launched a new service to
allow pharmaceutical companies to quickly create and modify drug
labels that comply with new US Food and Drug Administration
guidance due to come into play this year.
In the US, drugmaker Eli Lilly has extended its bar coding to
include individual vials of its insulin products, going beyond the
requirements of recent labelling legislation aimed at cutting
medication errors.
US drugmaker Perrigo has started selling a new nicotine gum to help
smokers quit the habit in the US, challenging the dominance there
of Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline's Nicorette product.
Akzo Nobel has reported a sharp rise in profits for 2004, but
warned that 2005 would be tough and that further divestments in its
chemicals portfolio are planned.
Merck KGaA is planning to sell its electronic chemicals business to
BASF for €270 million, freeing it up to focus on its
pharmaceutical, chemical and liquid crystal businesses.
Franklin Miller has launched a shredding system designed for the
efficient destruction of pharmaceutical materials, making it easier
for drug companies, distributors or wholesalers sitting on a pile
of expired medicines to dispose...
West Pharmaceutical Services is to sell a substantial part of its
drug delivery business to a newly formed company in return for $7.1
million (€5.3m) in cash and a 14 per cent stake in the new firm.
Irish biopharma firm Alltracel Pharmaceuticals has reinforced its
position in the dissolvable film market with a reverse takeover of
London firm Westone Products.
In-Pharmatechnologist.com's periodic round-up of manufacturing
developments from around the world sees Fujisawa expanding in
Ireland, Solvay partnering in Russia, Vietnam's machinery firms
undercutting competitors and...
The pharmaceutical industry is doing little to help people with
impaired or partial sight get information from drug labels,
according to a new study which found a font change could alleviate
the issue.
The budget committee of Italy's Lower House of Parliament has
approved a plan by the opposition to require the national medicines
agency, the AIFA, to draw up a method of establishing 'optimal'
packaging for drugs to...
The US Food and Drug Administration will start using a risk-based
approach for prioritising site inspections for certain
pharmaceutical products, the agency has announced in a final report
on its current good manufacturing practice...
What happens to medicines after their work is done, and they end up
in the wastewater stream? This remains a big unanswered question
that needs to be answered to gauge the impact of drugs on the
environment, according to presentations...
In contrast to conventional wisdom, stirring a mix of granular
ingredients faster or longer in the manufacturing of
pharmaceuticals is not the key to getting a smooth blend.
The chief executive of Akzo Nobel expects to record sales of more
than $1 billion in China within the next five years, more than
double the level at present, and is boosting its presence in the
country in anticipation.
While still a small part of the packaging giant Rexam's overall
business, pharmaceuticals has been instrumental in driving a robust
rise in sales and earnings at the company's plastics division in
the first half of the year.
Swedish packaging technology company Cypak has raised SEK30 million
(€3.3m) in its fourth major round of funding, and says it will use
the proceeds to accelerate its product development efforts.
Micap, a UK company specialising in using yeast cells to
encapsulate drugs, has entered into a collaboration with leading
medicated chewing gum company Fertin that should extend the range
of active ingredients that can be delivered...
India's Jubilant Organosys has bought two companies in Belgium as
part of a drive to improve its presence in the European market for
generic drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
Hospira, the hospital products company spun out of Abbott
Laboratories earlier this year, has acquired a manufacturing
facility that will help it grow its pharmaceutical injectable and
outsourcing business.
Novartis generics subsidiary Sandoz has continued its expansion
with the purchase of Canadian generic drugmaker Sabex Holdings for
$565 million (€459m) in cash, bringing in a new range of injectable
products.
India's Ajanta Pharma has said that it may re-enter the market for
bulk manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs),
despite pulling out of the sector in the late 1990s.
Avecia Pharmaceuticals has consolidated its position in the
evolving Japanese pharmaceutical market by forging a technology
agreement with a local company,reports Phil Taylor.
Drug companies, distributors or wholesalers sitting on a pile of
expired medicines should be able to dispose of them safely using a
new shredding system launched by Security Engineered Machinery.
St Louis, USA-based KV Pharmaceutical says that the US District
Court for the District of Minnesota has denied a motion for a
preliminary injunction by two rival drug delivery companies in a
patent dispute centring on its technology...
A formulation of the steroid drug budesonide, made using a
solubility technology developed by US company CyDex, has
outperformed one of the leading drugs for asthma on the market in a
preclinical study.