Pharma manufacturing: news in brief
pharmafile | May 12, 2009 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |Â Â GenzymeÂ
Pharmafocus presents a round-up of developments in the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector, including new capital investments at Roche, Genzyme and Aeras, a warning letter for Procter & Gamble and a restructuring of Takeda's Irish subsidiaries.
– Swiss drug major Roche has completed construction of a $60 million expansion to its production unit in South Carolina, US. The investment included construction of a new multi-purpose production unit, which among other products will also make Roche's flu drug Tamiflu (oseltamivir). The expansion has doubled Roche's manufacturing capacity at the site in Florence and added 20 to 25 jobs to the headcount of around 300 staff.
– Biotechnology company Genzyme will expand its cell culture production facility in Geel, Belgium, with the addition of another 4,000-litre bioreactor. Genzyme will spend 46 million euros on the upgrade, which will add another eight jobs at the site. The Geel facility manufactures Genzyme's enzyme replacement therapy Myozyme (alglucosidase alfa) and B cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) drug Campath (alemtuzumab).
– Procter & Gamble has been sent a warning letter by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for unsanitary conditions at a plant that makes over-the-counter medicines and personal care products in Puerto Rico. The latter says that OTC medicines and cosmetics made at the Olay LLC plant "have been prepared, packed and held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have been contaminated with filth or rendered injurious to health". The facility makes various products sold under the Vicks and Olay brands.
– Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co is integrating its two wholly-owned Irish subsidiaries into a single operation as of July 1. Takeda Ireland Ltd will effectively absorb the other unit – Takeda Pharma Ireland – which currently operates as an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing centre. The integration of the two plants is designed to enhance productivity, allow for increased efficiency in support functions and reduce costs, said Takeda.
– Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation has opened a new manufacturing facility in Maryland, US, which it says has the capacity to satisfy the worldwide demand for tuberculosis vaccine. The 9,000-sq. ft. facility can deliver 200 million doses a year of the vaccine, according to Aeras, which describes itself as a non-profit product development partnership. Aeras gets funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
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