Today's Top Stories DMV-Fonterra Excipients (DFE), a joint venture pairing two large dairy groups, has struck a deal to acquire India's Brahmar Cellulose in a bid to become the primary go-to supplier of lactose excipients to pharma manufacturers around the globe.
Manufacturers in India and around the globe use these purified lactose excipients as a filler in tablets, capsules and powders for medical inhalers. And DFE says it accounts for about half of the global sales of lactose excipients and 5% to 10% of oral tablet excipients.
Dutch dairy company Royal FrieslandCampina and New Zealand dairy company Fonterra created the joint venture. They say the acquisition, completed for an undisclosed price, will make the JV the "sole manufacturer and supplier of the most commonly used diluents and superdisintegrants" needed by pharma manufacturers.
"Long-term synergies will be achieved by combining DFE's current global market position and sales network with Brahmar Cellulose
extensive product knowledge and market position in India," DFE CEO Jan Jongsma said. Taking out the competition should help shorten buyers' supply chains, but there's no word what it may do to their costs. - see the DFE release
- get the story from in-PharmaTechnologist
- read the article from the Economic Times Related Articles:
FDA: 5 recalls traced to excipients in 2010
FDA system would speed excipient screening Read more about: excipients, DMV-Fonterra Excipients, India, Manufacturing Deals
back to top
The big European contract manufacturer Fareva has now established a U.S. beachhead as it pursues plans to expand into the U.S. market. The pharma manufacturer has stepped in to buy one of Pfizer's ($PFE) manufacturing facilities in Virginia. In the deal, the 500 Pfizer workers who make Advil, Chapstick and other products will now work for Fareva, which has an arrangement in place to spruce up the facility with a $42 million upgrade and add about 90 new jobs over 5 years. Local economic development officials breathed an audible sigh of relief on the news. Pfizer had announced back in the spring of 2010 that it would shutter the plant as part of a big revamp planned for its manufacturing division. In acquiring the plant, Fareva also got the contract to continue supplying Pfizer. "We have been looking for the right opportunity to expand our manufacturing footprint into North America and establish our pharmaceutical and cosmetics businesses in the United States," said Fareva CEO Bernard Fraisse. "The Henrico County site has a talented and motivated workforce and state-of-the-art manufacturing, packaging and warehousing facilities that are a perfect fit for growing our commercial portfolio in this region." Based in Luxembourg, Fareva employs 5,500 and reported $1.2 billion in 2010 revenues. The company operates 28 manufacturing facilities in Europe and around the world. - read the Henrico Citizen story Related Articles:
Pfizer shows sustainability/cost balance at packaging plant
Pfizer plant prepped before demolition to contain killer API Read more about: Pfizer, Manufacturing Plant, Fareva
back to top
Germany's BASF plans a 10% price hike worldwide on pharmaceutical excipients and active pharmaceutical ingredients. The company blamed continued increases in costs for raw materials, energy and labor for the increase, which is the second 10% mark-up for BASF this year. Any existing price contracts remain in force. The price hike covers BASF's entire portfolio of excipients, the company said in a statement, including binders such as Kollidon, coatings such as Kollicoat, and solubilization agents Cremphor and Lutrol. The generic APIs affected by the hike include commonly used ingredients like ibuprofen, caffeine and pseudoephedrine. BASF has been economizing wherever it can, trying to remain competitive on price, spokesman Ralf Fink told in-Pharma Technologist. "However, the significant cost increases of the past quarters cannot be offset by any short-term measures," Fink said. Acknowledging that price increases "are truly a burden to the overall industry," Fink wouldn't say whether he thought BASF's competitors would follow suit with their own prices. The BASF increases take effect today. - see the release from BASF
- get more from in-Pharma Technologist Related Article:
Raw material sourcing meets cGMP testing, distribution Read more about: raw materials, API, excipients, BASF
back to top
Two contract manufacturers plan triple-digit job cuts, with a combination of layoffs and voluntary buyouts. Contract Pharmaceuticals is winding down its Buffalo, NY, plant, purchased from Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY) in 2005. By the end of the year, another 128 workers will be laid off. Meanwhile, United Drug plans 150 job cuts at a plant in Ireland as part of a recently announced streamlining program. In Buffalo, Contract plans two stages of layoffs. Forty-seven jobs will be cut at the end of November, and the remaining employees will be let go by year's end. As Outsourcing-Pharma points out, these cuts represent three-fourths of the plant's remaining 161 employees. The Buffalo operations will be consolidated with a Contract plant in Ontario. At the time the Buffalo plant was slated for closure, 260 employees worked there. The company had bought the 415,000-square-foot plant from BMS thinking it could attract enough business to justify the expansion, but the faltering economy interfered with those plans, according to executives. United Drug attributes its cuts to government decisions to cut healthcare spending. The CMO said austerity moves have significantly pinched sales, forcing it to shed jobs and make other streamlining moves; it announced plans to restructure earlier this month. "We are embarking on a business transformation program in order to remain competitive in the market," a spokesperson told Outsourcing-Pharma. "Up to 150 full- and part-time staff may be impacted by the changes." The exact number of employees cut depends on the outcome of United Drug's voluntary redundancy program and on its ability to move staffers to posts elsewhere in the business. - see the Outsourcing-Pharma news
- get more, also from Outsourcing-Pharma Related Articles:
U.S. tax reform or not, offshore beckons
The other dark side of Merck's 13,000 layoffs
Cut jobs not likely to reappear Read more about: Contract Manufacturer, layoffs, Contract Pharmaceuticals, United Drug
back to top
Promega is building a new cGMP facility that will turn out FDA-regulated molecular biology products. The 260,000 square-foot plant will bring 100 people onto the company's payroll, Contract Pharma reports. Based in Madison, WI, the company plans to use most of the new space for manufacturing, including fixed production lines and flexible manufacturing areas. The plant will help Promega grow, particularly in products for diagnostics makers, such as sample prep systems and reagents used in medical tests, the company said. "Molecular biology opens doors not only to new understanding of life, but to practical applications that enhance the health of our citizens," CEO Bill Linton said in a statement. "This building is our next step in expanding our product supply capabilities worldwide." Promega is using environmentally friendly construction practices in building the new facility. Geothermal heating and cooling, bio-retention stormwater ponds, and dark-sky compliant lighting are among them. - read the release from Promega
- get more from Contract Pharma Related Article:
CDI, Promega to collaborate on in vitro assays Read more about: cGMP, Promega
back to top
| 
