Manufacturing news in brief
pharmafile | January 21, 2014 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |Â Â BASF, Heidelberg CSAT, Markem-Imaje, SEPIPROD and Micro-Sphere/NanoMaterials Technology, SPL, Shenzhen HepalinkÂ
Shenzhen Hepalink buys SPL and Markem-Imaje takes over Heidelberg CSAT, plus a new science park in the UK and updates from BASF, SEPIPROD and Micro-Sphere/NanoMaterials Technology.
Product identification and traceability specialist Markem-Imaje has acquired German labelling company Heidelberg CSAT, a subsidiary of print engineering group Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, for an undisclosed sum. Markem-Imaje president Serge Kral said the acquisition expands Markem-Imaje’s technology portfolio and broadens the market reach of CSAT’s solutions. CSAT specialises in digital printing systems for the industrial, commercial and pharmaceutical label printing and packaging market.
Construction has now started on a new 70-acre biomedical science park sited on the former AstraZeneca Charnwood campus in Loughborough, UK. The site was acquired by plastic recycling group Jayplas in 2012 and – when completed – will encompass 450,000 sq. ft. of multipurpose laboratory space, a pilot production plant, offices, warehousing and car-parking facilities. AZ exited Charnwood in 2011 with the loss of around 1,200 jobs. Jayplas has said it is already attracting interest in the site, with one corporation negotiating a tenancy that could create upwards of 300 jobs.
BASF and SEPIPROD have become the latest two excipient suppliers to be certified according to the recently-developed EXCiPACT standard, which indicates the company is compliance with Good Manufacturing Practice and Good Distribution Practice standards. Regulations in the US and EU now require pharmaceutical manufacturers to either audit starting material suppliers themselves for compliance, or cite recognised third-party audits. EXCiPACT was set up last year to provide a uniform standard for those audits. Last year Merck KGaA and Hedinger GmbH became the first two suppliers to be certified under the scheme.
China’s Shenzhen Hepalink Pharmaceutical has reached an agreement to acquire Scientific Protein Laboratories of the US for $337.5 million. The deal will consolidate Shenzhen’s position as a leading supplier of heparin, an active ingredient used as an anticoagulant. The takeover is due to complete in the first half of 2014. Waunakee, Wisconsin-based SPL said it expects its management and 240-strong workforce to remain in place after the deal closes.
Swiss spray-drying specialist Micro-Sphere has joined forces with Singapore’s NanoMaterials Technology to provide development and manufacturing services to pharmaceutical, skincare and cosmetic companies. The two forms will collaborate on development or manufacturing projects, with Micro-Sphere contributing expertise on emulsification and spray-drying and NMT bringing its proprietary high gravity controlled precipitation (HGCP) technology to the table.
Phil Taylor
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