NEWS
£662,222
Funding from Innovate UK awarded to drug delivery technology company BioMoti, pharmaceutical services concern Pharmidex and Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), under its Biomedical Catalyst funding scheme, to support preclinical studies of therapeutic approaches for hard-to-treat tumours, including advanced ovarian, triple negative breast and pancreatic cancers. The London-based industrial partners are expected to invest a further £226,769 in the project.
€3.7m
Investment by CDMO CordenPharma, which focuses on APIs, drug products and packaging services in five technology platforms, in the infrastructure of its manufacturing site in Liestal, Switzerland. Included in this investment is the refurbishment of the purification capabilities as well as the construction of a new mini-plant, intended to meet the growing market demands in the g to kg range at the scale of 1–70L. In addition, the company is investing a further €2m in upgrading and expanding analytical equipment.
€8m
Investment for three years from the EU under the SPIRE programme, for Carbon4PUR. This cross-sector project, which represents a consortium of 14 partners from seven countries led by materials manufacturer Covestro, will investigate how flue gas from the steel industry can be used to produce plastics for insulation and coatings applications in an efficient and sustainable way.
Business digest
Indian contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) Piramal Pharma Solutions, part of Piramal Enterprises, is investing $55m to expand its API manufacturing capabilities across its sites in North America and Asia. To serve its European biotech customers better, the company will add early development capabilities in both drug substance and drug product out of its Morpeth, UK facility. Support functions such as analytical capabilities, R&D infrastructure, automation, and IT systems will also be expanded at all API sites through this investment.
US-based CDMO Avara Pharmaceutical Services has acquired AstraZeneca’s manufacturing and distribution facility at Reims, France. The company now has eight sites: three in the US; one in Puerto Rico; one in the UK; one in Ireland; one in Italy and the new site in France.
Germany’s BASF and French cosmetics start-up Poietis have signed an agreement to further develop services in 3D bioprinting technology. The joint venture aims to improve the 3D laser- assisted bioprinted skin models to evaluate cosmetic ingredients for skin care applications. In the meantime, BASF’s Construction Chemicals division, has commissioned a new plant in Saint Petersburg, Russia, which will produce concrete additives, alkali-free concrete setting accelerators, and tunnelling shield lubricants. In addition, BASF and US supplement and medical foods company, DIEM Labs have entered into an agreement to commercialise BASF’s first US medical food product linked to the management of obesity. As part of this agreement, DIEM Labs will market the product to health care professionals in the US and sell it through an online hub.
Biotechnology firm Batavia Bioscience is to expand its viral vector process development facilities in the US and its GMP clean room facilities in the Netherlands to accommodate the increasing market demand for vector- based products for cancer vaccines and gene therapy applications
Life sciences company focusing on small molecule therapeutics, Cambrex is
investing in both R&D and manufacturing capabilities for the production of generic APIs at its site in Paullo, Milan, Italy. The investment includes a new 2800L hydrogenator and 1500mm diameter centrifuge for increased flexibility and capacity within the manufacturing plant, which is expected to be installed by the end of 2017. The company has completed the installation of 1,000- and 4000-gallon glass lined reactors and ancillary equipment at its Charles City, Iowa, US, plant. This latest expansion follows the announcement of the construction of a $24m highly potent API manufacturing facility at the Charles City site, which is due to open in 2019.
Drug delivery concern Catalent has acquired Indiana-based CDMO Cook Pharmica. Following this acquisition, the company intends to reorganise its operations, creating two new dedicated business units, one for biologics and specialty drug delivery and the other for oral drug delivery.
Following the announcement of the termination of the ‘merger of equals’ agreement between speciality chemicals companies Clariant and Huntsman, Clariant and its shareholder White Tale have engaged in initial discussions regarding the new situation for the company and ways to work together in the future. In the meantime, Clariant has announced it is to invest in a new full-scale commercial plant to produce cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues using its Sunliquid technology. The new plant, with an annual production capacity of 50,000t, will be built in the southwest of Romania.
High-performance polymers company, Covestro is expanding its production capacity of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) in North America by 25% by debottlenecking its manufacturing facility at New Martinsville, West Virginia, US. The investment will increase production of the company’s Texin line, used in diverse extrusion and injection moulding applications; the additional capacity is expected to come online in Q2 2018.
Scotland headquartered biotechnology company, Ingenza in collaboration with agricultural major Syngenta has
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