Drug delivery, formulation

PolarisQB, Fujitsu partner on drug discovery

24-Mar-2020 By Jenni Spinner

The two companies are combining their technologies to speed the process of bringing to market treatments for Dengue fever and other diseases.

Thermo Fisher Scientific sets sights on Qiagen acquisition

10-Mar-2020 By Jenni Spinner

The purchase is aimed at expanding the company’s specialty diagnostics offerings in sample preparation technology, assay capabilities, bioinformatics and more.

Parexel acquires pharma modeling firm

03-Mar-2020 By Jenni Spinner

The Boston-based drug development firm has purchased Model Answers, a pharma consulting and technology firm in Australia.

In-vitro models reduce ‘risk and cost’ for topically-delivered generics

05-Feb-2020 By Vassia Barba

Developers of generic drugs administered with topical drug delivery methods benefit from MedPharm’s in-vitro models to safely demonstrate bioequivalence.

Bristol-Myers offloads manufacturing plant to Catalent

13-Jan-2020 By Nick Taylor

Catalent buys Italian manufacturing and packaging plant from Bristol-Myers Squibb, adding oral solid, biologics and sterile product capacity.

FDA puts spotlight on compounded drugs, opens educational center

07-Jan-2020 By Vassia Barba

In an aim to improve quality assurance and control of compounded medicine, the US FDA opens a Compounding Quality Center of Excellence.

Bridge chooses Catalent for opioid addiction treatment manufacture

19-Dec-2019 By Vassia Barba

Catalent completes clinical production of opioid addiction therapeutic developed by Bridge using Zydis technology and gets exclusive license ahead of regulatory filing.

BerGenBio taps into Piramal’s platform to develop leukemia treatment

09-Dec-2019 By Vassia Barba

Piramal to support the development of BerGenBio’s treatment for acute myeloid leukemia, after the US FDA granted the candidate fast track designation.

Entera tips contract manufacturing investments to give it an edge

03-Dec-2019 By Nick Taylor

Entera Bio tips investments in manufacturing to give it an edge by driving down the cost of making its products.

Zosano readies contract manufacturers for pre-approval inspections

25-Nov-2019 By Nick Taylor

Zosano Pharma prepares contract manufacturers to host pre-approval inspections to support filing for approval of migraine drug.

People on the Move: Outsourcing-Pharma roundup October ‘19

01-Nov-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

This month’s people on the move includes a new therapeutic lead at Advanced Clinical, with plans to create a network of investigation sites, as well as CEOs at AIT Bioscience and Pharm-Olam, who discuss plans for moving forward.

HistoIndex expands AI-based digital pathology platform

31-Oct-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

The Singapore-based company recently expanded its AI-based digital pathology platform to support preclinical discovery and drug development programs.

CAS offering accelerates drug development by connecting formulators to ‘critical insights’

07-Oct-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

CAS collates the world’s largest collection of formulations – a ‘one-stop-shop’ that will help formulators innovate faster and solve problems, ultimately reducing drug development timelines, says project lead.

A-Alpha Bio raises $2.8m to solve ‘major problems’ in early-stage drug development: CEO

25-Sep-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

A-Alpha Bio raises $2.8m from venture capital firms and angel investors to further develop its technology – and initiate drug discovery and optimization partnerships with pharmaceutical companies.

Elsevier developing risk calculator for DDIs ‘aligned with pharma’s needs and challenges’

24-Sep-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

To improve patient safety and reduce risk, Elsevier is developing an improved drug-drug interaction risk calculator in collaboration with several pharma partners, including Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, and Servier.

AI in drug development: ACRO, DIA, and Owkin to talk use cases and what comes next

18-Sep-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

There has been a lot of discussion surrounding the use of artificial intelligence in drug development – with several deals, alliances, and partnerships made so far this year. Here, Outsourcing-Pharma takes a look back at some of these announcements, as...

What’s next for M&A? Precision medicine, diagnostics, new customers to disrupt pharma services market

06-Sep-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

Increasingly complex clinical trials are putting pressure on CROs to expand their service offerings in what has been a historically monolithic space – with diagnostics also continuing to play a more important role in the market, says industry expert.

People on the Move: Outsourcing-Pharma roundup August ‘19

04-Sep-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

The last month of summer saw several hires, including a lead for Worldwide Clinical Trials’ Japan operations, CEO appointments at CordenPharma and LabConnect, and Altasciences’ new CSO, who joins the company from Syneos.

Orgenesis reports record revenue as it looks to develop scalable processing solutions for cell therapies

03-Sep-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

Orgenesis is developing a ‘distributed’ processing solution – backed by its point-of-care cell therapy platform and CDMO business – to provide approved cell therapies to patients at a fraction of today’s costs, says company executive.

SP Scientific partners with i-Dositecno, integrates its fill-finish offering

26-Aug-2019 By Vassia Barba

SP Scientific partners with Spanish i-Dositecno to offer complete aseptic vial and syringe fill-finish lines to clients in Europe and North America.

Traceability is key in the growing global cold chain market

14-Aug-2019 By Maggie Lynch

As the pharmaceutical industry grows globally, the market for cold chain technology, solutions, and innovations is working to keep pace.

People on the Move: Outsourcing-Pharma roundup July ‘19

02-Aug-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

CordenPharma has a new CEO, Arbour Group advances plans to expand in RTP, Ashfield brings on a former Iqvia VP, and Recursion adds to its c-suite after raising $121m this month.

Consortium creates a ‘behavioral biomarker’ through AI models

23-Jul-2019 By Maggie Lynch

The AI technology company BlackThorn joins a consortium to develop predictive models for neurobehavioral disorder clinical trial inclusion criteria.

Lonza taps Rockwell to digitize Capsugel manufacturing operations

18-Jul-2019 By Maggie Lynch

Lonza to use Rockwell Automation technology as it digitizes the operations and manufacturing environments at nine of its Capsugel facilities to bring “new levels” of operational efficiency.

LGM expands its services for section 503B APIs

15-Jul-2019 By Vassia Barba

LGM expands its service offerings to further support companies that supply APIs to compounding pharmacies under the FDA’s 503B section.

Reactor malfunction results in employee death at India-based CRO

11-Jul-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

One worker has died at GVK Bio’s Hyderabad site after a reactor malfunctioned, though the root cause remains unknown, according to the CRO.

Emergex develops synthetic hand-foot-and-mouth vaccine

10-Jul-2019 By Vassia Barba

In collaboration with a research center, Emergex will apply its synthetic development approach on a vaccine against hand, foot and mouth disease.

People on the Move: Outsourcing-Pharma roundup June ‘19

03-Jul-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

Newly-minted Signant Health named a new CTO, Parexel bolstered its Japan presence, and BioAgilytix’s CEO was appointed to the board of FSD Pharma – a company developing products based on cannabinoids – among other people on the move in June.

Phastar taps Medidata’s platform and announces additional global offices

26-Jun-2019 By Maggie Lynch

Phastar expands globally, adding offices in Japan and the US, and enters a partnership with Medidata to transform its increasing data points into insights.

DIA 2019: Genetics, big data, AI, and separating the hope from hype

19-Jun-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

New this year to the discussion at DIA is the conversation around data ownership, as the industry continues to face a deluge of information from more sources than ever.

The next chapter: Saga raises $4.24m to develop precision oncology genomics testing

11-Jun-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

Saga Diagnostics AB secures venture-backed financing to advance its precision oncology genomics testing technology, which is being used to monitor patient responses in clinical trials, among other applications.

Aptar scoops up two pharma services firms in $50m deal

11-Jun-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

Aptar Group acquires two pharmaceutical services companies, Nanopharm and Gateway Analytical, to boost its analytical, testing, and development capabilities.

STA Pharma completes clinical supply of PhoenixMD’s breast cancer treatment

10-Jun-2019 By Maggie Lynch

Clinical trial supply for the first targeted treatment of triple-negative breast cancer completed through PhoenixMD and STA Pharmaceutical agreement.

ElevateBio secures $150m to move cell and gene therapy companies forward amid ‘overwhelming’ CMO demand

06-Jun-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

ElevateBio’s BaseCamp facility will provide “bench-to-bedside” services to its portfolio and partner companies – as the demand for cell and gene therapy CMOs “far outweighs the capacity,” says CEO.

Global oncology market is being driven by decades of investment coming to fruition: Iqvia report

05-Jun-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

The global oncology market last year set several records, though the industry continues to struggle with long development timelines, which in 2018 averaged 10.5 years from patent filing to regulatory approval and launch, according to a recent Iqvia report.

PE firm Ampersand acquires German CDMO Vibalogics

03-Jun-2019 By Maggie Lynch

The private equity firm Ampersand Capital has acquired Vibalogics with plans to increase development and manufacturing capabilities for complex viral products.

Scientist.com teams up with VC firm to create marketplace for biotech

03-Jun-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

The online marketplace for outsourced R&D services Scientist.com partners with 5AM Ventures to help researchers save time and money – as the industry is "caught between a rock and a hard place," says CEO.

Catalent unveils OneBio Suite for biologics development

03-Jun-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

Catalent is unveiling its OneBio Suite for the integrated development, manufacturing, and clinical supply of biologic drugs.

A ‘truly translational mindset’ requires the correct tool for the correct job: Synlogic

29-May-2019 By Maggie Lynch

Translational research faces new challenges – and opportunities – with the rapid growth in precision medicine and new drug modalities, as the industry looks to quickly bring new treatments to patients.

BBK Holdings opens European subsidiary to support clinical trials

21-May-2019 By Maggie Lynch

BBK Holdings, parent company of BBK Worldwide, has established BBK Patient Experience Limited to support patient data protection in clinical trials and add to its footprint in the EU.

Immunologix boosts Translational Sciences division with new recruits

13-May-2019 By Maggie Lynch

Immunologix bolsters its scientific expertise with two new hires to build on its bioanalytical biomarker programs created from the launch of its Translational Sciences division.

Inhalation product solutions offering launched by Recipharm

13-May-2019 By Maggie Lynch

Recipharm is launching inhalation product solutions following its acquisition of Sanofi’s inhalation manufacturing business and increased use of inhaled drug products.

Wacker Bio licenses its E. coli based production strain to PhaseBio

06-May-2019 By Maggie Lynch

Wacker licenses E. coli based production strain to PhaseBio for the manufacture of antibody fragment.

ACRP 2019

Getting out of its own way: How pharma can use tech to transform

02-May-2019 By Maggie Lynch

Debbie Profit, vice president of applied innovation and process improvement at Otsuka Pharmaceuticals addressed ACRP in April and discussed the various technologies that could ‘transform’ the pharmaceutical industry.

Catalent installing new tableting, encapsulation equipment as part of $40m investment

29-Apr-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

Catalent is installing new equipment to increase its formulation capabilities and capacity to manufacture controlled-release tablets and capsules.

A $20bn industry by 2024?

AI for drug discovery will be driven by biopharma and the rise of Asian tigers, says Insilico CEO

17-Apr-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

China-based pharmaceutical companies betting big and small biopharma able to quickly innovate will drive the use of AI for drug discovery – a market some analysts predict will reach a valuation of $20bn by 2024.

Manufacturing and the microbiome: Lonza, Chr. Hansen set out to pioneer the live biotherapeutic products industry

11-Apr-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

Bringing together the food industry’s know-how and pharma’s manufacturing expertise, the new joint venture from Lonza and Chr. Hansen is positioned to pioneer the live biotherapeutic products space – addressing medical needs not met with ‘conventional’...

Catalent expands HME capabilities at drug development center of excellence

08-Apr-2019 By Maggie Lynch

Catalent Pharma invests $5m in drug development center of excellence to expand its hot melt extrusion capabilities for formulation and drug delivery method optimization.

CDMO collaborates with synthetic DNA provider for biologic drug development

08-Apr-2019 By Maggie Lynch

Twist Bioscience, a synthetic DNA provider, enters a strategic collaboration with LakePharma to bolster antibody discovery and optimization for biologic drug development.

People on the Move: Outsourcing-Pharma roundup March ‘19

29-Mar-2019 By Melissa Fassbender

The industry in March saw new c-suite appointments at CRF Bracket, PCI Pharma Services, George Clinical, and Paragon Bioservices – as well as moves to boost medical device and DMPK services at Premier Research and Sygnature Discovery, respectively.