Pharma manufacturing news in brief
pharmafile | April 16, 2010 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |Â Â Â
A round-up of news in the pharmaceutical manufacturing arena includes the removal of CFC-based MDIs from the US market, facility news from Ampac, MSD Biologics UK, Blu Pharma and Patheon, and Boston Scientific’s alleged failure to meet tax-relief employment objectives.
The US Food and Drug Administration is taking seven metered dose inhalers off the market because they still make use of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) propellants, instead of more environmentally-friendly hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) alternatives. The move is the culmination of a gradual phase-out of CFCs in MDIs for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that has been ongoing for several years. The remaining products still using CFCs should be off the market between now and the end of 2013.
Ampac Fine Chemicals has bought a pharmaceutical chemicals manufacturing facility in LaPorte, Texas, which it says has boosted its production capacity for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and intermediates by 30%. Ampac said it paid $475,000 for the facility, which has commercial-scale hydrogenation, azide, cyanide, and phosgene chemistry capabilities.
MSD Biologics UK, formerly known as Avecia, has been given £2 million in government funding to upgrade its commercial manufacturing facility in Billingham, near Middlesbrough, in a move that will create 75 jobs, according to development agency One North East. The award is part of a £60 million package given by the government to support the local economy in the wake of a major steel plant closure.
US generic drugmaker Blu Pharmaceuticals has officially opened a new manufacturing facility in Dorado, Puerto Rico, which it acquired from Biovail Corp in January 2010. Blu says it will invest $60 million in the plant in the next three year. The plant – now known as Blu Caribe – will employ 250 people when at full capacity and will make a range of generics including antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin.
Contract development and manufacturing specialist Patheon says it is adding a softgel capsule capability at its manufacturing facility in Cincinnati, USA, to complement its existing production of hard gelatin capsules. The company has also appointed Edgar Jaynes, formerly of Banner Pharmacaps, as its associate director of pharmaceutical development services to run the unit.
Medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific has been slammed in the Massachusetts press amid claims the firm did not create 330 jobs it promised four years ago in return for state tax incentives. The Boston Globe says the company has actually cut its headcount at the Marlborough site by 100 over that period. The revelation has prompted calls for the law to be changed so that public funds can be reclaimed in such cases.
