XOMA Corp. (NSDQ:XOMA) has installed Heather L. Franklin to its board of directors. Franklin is the president and chief executive officer of the biotech company Blaze Bioscience, Inc. (Seattle). Franklin has more than a decade of leadership experience at the development-stage oncology firm Blaze and another 10 years of business development experience at ZymoGenetics. “I…

Aphena Pharma Solutions has announced the launch of a Third-Party Logistics (3PL) Division at its campus in Cookeville, Tenn. The pharmaceutical packaging and manufacturing company plans to complete the new division by the end of the year and serve new clients in early 2022. The 3PL unit will cater to the prescription pharmaceutical market, focusing…

Plant-based ingredient specialist Roquette (La Madeleine, France) has opened a new online marketplace on a digital marketplace platform from Knowde. The online platform includes pharmaceutical excipients, binders, processing aids, solvents, flavors and taste maskers and other materials. The new platform is part of a new initiative from Roquette to improve its support of manufacturers in the pharmaceutical…

The robotics firm Wyzo (Ecublens, Switzerland) recently debuted a novel pick-and-place sidebot, which is suitable for various uses, including lightweight applications within pharmaceutical facilities. Pharmaceutical Processing World recently profiled the robot, which can support up to 80 picks per minute.   To learn more about the robot, we reached out to Wyzo CEO Frank Souyris, who describes…

Transparent Udel P-1700 polysulfone (PSU) from Solvay (Brussels) can withstand biopharmaceutical processing conditions thanks to its strength, heat resistance, hydrolytic stability and retention of mechanical properties under steam sterilization. Solvay notes that TBL Performance Plastics, a manufacturer of single-use products for biopharmaceutical manufacturers, recently used the Udel P-1700 PSU to make its Tri-Clamp tubular sight…

Woodstock, Ill.–based Woodstock Sterile Solutions has installed its first chief financial officer, Courtney Sanen. The blow-fill-seal contract development and manufacturing organization continues to build out its executive roster, hiring its first chief commercial officer, Bill Hartzel, in April. Hartzel was a former executive at Catalent Pharma Solutions. “Woodstock Sterile Solutions is poised for growth over…

The robotics firm Wyzo (Ecublens, Switzerland) has launched what it deems the world’s first pick-and-place sidebot. Supporting pharmaceutical production line applications, the Wyzo robot can work side-by-side with humans without traditional protective barriers. The robot also supports up to 80 picks per minute. The Wyzo is also compatible with standard grippers. The company says that…

Biotage (STO:BIOT) has launched Biotage PhyPrep, an automated platform for plasmid DNA purification. Featuring the company’s PhyTip columns’ dual flow chromatography technology, the technology provides supercoiled, endotoxin-free, transfection-grade plasmid DNA. Drug developers commonly use plasmid DNA in biologic drug manufacturing to create vaccines and cell and gene therapies. Additionally, researchers use plasmids to clone, amplify…

Leak-testing and packaging specialist Sepha (Belfast) is launching a leak tester for container closure integrity testing (CCIT) applications that can detect leaks as small as 1 µm. Known as the Multi-Q HD, the device supports the non-destructive detection of defects in pharmaceutical containers including parenteral packaging formats, which have experienced growth during the pandemic, thanks…

In the early days of the pandemic, the subarctic storage requirements for mRNA COVID-19 vaccines sparked renewed interest in the cold chain. One potentially overlooked element of the cold chain is silica, according to the specialty chemicals company Evonik. The company states that its Aerosil fumed silica supports passively cold transport units using cool packs…