Pharma manufacturing news in brief
pharmafile | August 28, 2012 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |Â Â Agennix, Bilcare, United Drug, West Pharmaceutical Services B. Braun GroupÂ
Agennix trial failure affects Lonza and DSM, United Drug buys Bilcare ops, plus facility news from West Pharma and B. Braun and a new contract for DPT Labs.
German biotech Agennix has slashed its staff by 55% in a bid to conserve cash after the failure of its lead production candidate talactoferrin in a Phase III trial, which was also a disappointment for contract manufacturing organisations Lonza and DSM. The two CMOs recently signed manufacturing contracts to produce commercial-scale quantities of talactoferrin, a drug candidate for non-small cell lung cancer. Agennix said it would reduce its headcount to around 30 staff and close down a facility in Houston “to conserve cash as management determines the next strategic steps”.
Ireland’s United Drug is to buy the UK and US clinical trial supply businesses of India’s Bilcare in a $61 million deal that bolsters United’s packaging services operations. Bilcare – which will retain its clinical supply operations in Asia – will transfer two facilities to United, namely one in Crickhowell, Wales and another in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, which focus on formulation development, packaging, labelling and supply chain management for medicines in clinical testing.
West Pharmaceutical Services has started construction of a compression moulding facility in Sri City, India, that will be used to produce elastomeric and metal components used in primary packaging for injectable drug products. The unit is located on a 72,800 sq. m. site leased by West’s Indian subsidiary in June, with construction scheduled to begin this month. Manufacturing of metal components is due to start in 2014, with elastomeric components rolling off production lines the following year. Ready-to-sterilise parts will be available from the plant in 2016.
B. Braun Group says construction of a new 30,000 sq. m. manufacturing facility for parenteral solutions in Barcelona, Spain, has been completed. The Lean Infusion Factory Technology (LIFT) facility, which was built by Telstar, includes three production lines that make use of continuous processing technology and operates around the clock. The plant incorporates four 30,000-litre manufacturing tanks, as well as two 15,000-litre tanks, and three bottling lines.
DPT Laboratories has been awarded a contract from Imprimis Pharmaceuticals to manufacture clinical supplies of Impracor (ketoprofen) a topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) about to enter phase III testing as a pain reliever. DPT will provide As well as making Impracor, DPT will also start work on formulation analysis and validation of the various quality assurance processes and procedures required for manufacturing the product, as well as long-term stability testing.
Phil Taylor
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