Manufacturing news in brief
pharmafile | March 19, 2010 | News story | Manufacturing and Production | Angel Biotech, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Fresenius Kabi, Haselmeier, Patheon, W.R. Grace, excipients
Developments in the pharmaceutical manufacturing arena in the last week include facility news for Dr Reddy’s, Dishman, W. R. Grace, Haselmeier and Fresenius Kabi, first-quarter results for Patheon and a new contract for Angel Biotech of the UK.
UK contract manufacturing organisation Angel Biotechnology was been awarded two new contracts from ReNeuron to produce stem cells for use in a first-in-man clinical trial of ReN001, a therapy for stroke patients. Angel will manufacture further drug substance lots of ReN001 for administration to patients in the trial, along with manufacturing process validation services. The cost of the drug product manufacture is being met by a recently-awarded grant from the UK Government.
Canada’s Patheon saw revenues rise 5% to $155 million in the first quarter ended January 31, 2010, but the figures were propped up by favourable currency exchange rates and otherwise would have dipped 1%. Net losses expanded to $11.1 million from $9.6 million a year earlier. The primary cause of the lacklustre results was weak demand at Patheon’s Pharmaceutical Development Services (PDS) division, although the contract manufacturing unit performed well. The firm is optimistic about 2010, however, saying PDS demand is getting firmer and it expects 2010 sales to exceed the figure for 2009.
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has opened a manufacturing plant in Mexico to produce pharmaceutical-grade methyl ether polyethylene glycol (mPEG) alcohols, a material used in the production of PEG polymers used to improve the delivery of large-molecule and increasingly peptide and small-molecule drugs. The mPEGs will be activated at Dr Reddy’s facility in Mirfield, UK, and offered for sale under the PEGtech brand name.
Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals’ active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing facility in Bavla, India has been approved by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). The site, located 30km from Ahmedabad, covers 300,000 sq. m. and manufactures both APIs and pharmaceutical intermediates.
W. R. Grace & Co has been given a certification of quality for a facility in Maryland, USA, which makes pharmaceutical grade silica for use as an excipient. The Baltimore unit has been accredited as meeting the quality standards laid out in the Good Manufacturing Practice guide developed by the International Pharmaceutical Excipients Council (IPEC) and Pharmaceutical Quality Group (PQG). The audit was carried out by IPEC America’s auditing body IPEA.
Haselmeier, a Swiss manufacturer of auto-injection pens, has officially opened a new 3,000 sq. m. manufacturing facility in the Czech Republic to meet what it says is growing demand in the pharmaceutical industry for self-injection devices. The plant will employ 90 workers and is due to start shipping product by the end of this quarter. Haselmeier helped develop a new pen for insulin therapy that was launched by Berlin Chemie and Menarini at the start of 2009 under the BerliPen areo 2 brand.
Fresenius Kabi has opened a fully automated, high-bay logistics facility at Graz in Austria to handle distribution of its products in Austria, Eastern Europe and other world markets, according to its engineering partner SSI Schaefer. The temperature-controlled warehousing unit is located near a Fresenius Kabi manufacturing plant in Graz which makes sterile liquid pharmaceuticals, including infusion therapies, parenteral nutrition and imaging agents.
Related Content
Prange Group and Adragos Pharma to acquire Fresenius Kabi’s manufacturing site
Prange Group and Adragos Pharma have announced the signing of definitive agreements with Fresenius Kabi …
Dr Reddy’s rocked by negative patent infringement ruling, shares hit one-year low
India-based pharmaceutical firm Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has been hit by an unfavourable ruling in a …
Patheon acquires state-of-the-art manufacturing facility from Roche
Patheon, a provider of drug development and delivery to the pharmaceutical and biopharma sectors, announced …
