Pharma manufacturing news in brief
pharmafile | October 19, 2009 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |Â Â NeopharmaÂ
A round-up of developments in the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector, with facility updates from Neopharma, Nextpharma and Arch Pharmalab and new production contracts for Patheon and Angel Biotechnology.
Neopharma, an Abu Dhabi-based drugmaker, is planning to invest AED 250 million ($68 million) in a new manufacturing and R&D facility for a broad range of pharmaceutical dosage forms, including oral and injectable antibiotics, topical and ophthalmic preparations and inhaled therapies. The plant is intended to serve the Middle East and neighboring regions with central nervous system, cardiovascular and diabetes products and is due to start production in three to four years.
Arch Pharmalab has become the first Indian pharmaceutical manufacturer to implement a commercial-scale simulated moving bed (SMB) chromatography unit for purification of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The Indian firm achieved the milestone via collaboration with US firm Orochem Technologies, which develops and manufactures SMB equipment, and already has a contract in place to use it in the production of an API for an unnamed US company. SMB is faster than regular batch chromatography and is greener, using 90% less solvent.
UK contract manufacturing and development services company NextPharma has bolstered its capabilities on the other side of the Atlantic with the opening of a facility in San Diego, USA. The Clinical Trial Services unit covers all aspects of clinical trial materials (CTM) supply, including randomisation, generation of emergency letters, packaging, kitting, labelling, cold-chain storage, distribution, return accountability and destruction. The company opened an equivalent facility in Gottingen, Germany, in December 2008.
Canadian CMO Patheon has been given a contract by QRxPharma Ltd of Australia to manufacture clinical supplies of a sustained-release opioid analgesic candidate, MoxDuo CR (a fixed-dose combination of morphine and oxycodone), intended for treating patients with moderate to severe chronic pain. The product is in early-stage development and is due to start clinical trials later this year. QRxPharma is planning to file for US approval of an immediate-release version of the product in 2010.
Angel Biotechnology, a specialist in contract manufacturing of biologic drugs, has signed its fourth contract with Russian drugmaker Materia Medica Holding. The contract is valued at around £1.2 million ($1.9 million) and is for process development and Good Manufacturing Practice-based production of certain antibody products. Over 90% of the value this contract will be invoiced over the next 18 months, said Angel, which added its contracts with Materia Medica have totalled £4 million over the last two years.
Parenteral Drugs India Ltd has formed a joint venture in Mauritius via the purchase of a 51% stake in local company Mascareignes Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Co as an interim step towards making the island nation less reliant on imported drugs. PDI believes there is a potential market of 1 billion rupees ($21,500) in Mauritius, which is currently experiencing medicine shortages as demand exceeds supply. PDI has also recently set up manufacturing facilities in Nairobi, Kenya, Kazakhstan and the Czech Republic.
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