Contract Manufacturing

The presence of toxic nitrosamine impurities in drug substances and drug products has become a significant focus for the pharmaceutical industry following their identification above permitted limits in common drug products prescribed for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heartburn. To learn more about the situation, we interviewed David Elder – CMC consultant –…

Touchlight, a British biotech focused on enzymatic DNA production, has announced signing a non-exclusive patent license agreement with Pfizer. The worldwide deal will give Pfizer rights to Touchlight’s enzymatic doggybone DNA (dbDNA) patent portfolio for use in manufacture and commercialization of mRNA-based vaccines, therapeutics and gene therapies. dbDNA is a synthetic DNA vector and enzymatic…

The voluntary Net-Zero Standard asks organizations to reduce emissions to near-zero levels by 2050 and neutralize any residual emissions. Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) has announced its intent to meet that benchmark by 2040. Pfizer intends to reduce its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 95% and its value chain emissions by 90% from 2019 levels by 2040. To…

The contract manufacturing firm SMC Ltd. has opened a new pharmaceutical development subsidiary known as Cambridge Pharma in Cambridge Research Park. The Cambridge Pharma facility will include sterile fill-finish offerings, a process development laboratory and an analytical laboratory. The company can fill batches of 100 to 10,000 units. It also will offer process development, scale…

Entegris (Nasdaq:ENTG) announced today that it opened a new Life Sciences Technology Center in Billerica, Massachusetts. The new facility was built to offer life sciences customers the opportunity to leverage Entegris’ cold-chain supply expertise to optimize processes, reduce costs and increase speed to market, according to a news release. Entegris’ tools and technologies will be…

The pharmaceutical industry is gradually going green. More pharma companies are embracing sustainability metrics and striving to reduce corporate emissions and their footprint. More than 25% of major pharma and biopharma companies are committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Many are also committed to ensuring equal access to medicine for the 2 billion people worldwide that are currently…

The pharmaceutical industry had an excellent showing in the Fast Company 2022 World-Changing Ideas Awards series, focusing on organizations dedicated to ‘social good.’ This year, the publication awarded three drug-delivery applications with awards, and Siemens took home a prize for its work in accelerating COVID-19 vaccine development. A 3D printed vaccine patch could deliver vaccine doses…

After receiving funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ProMed Pharma has begun preclinical evaluation of a novel fully resorbable contraceptive implant. The Plymouth, Minnesota–based company imagines that the contraceptive implants could ultimately find use in low- and middle-income (LMIC) settings. The novel implant potentially could offer women 18 months of contraception through the…

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) has named David M. Denton as its new chief financial officer (CFO) and executive vice president. Denton, who now serves as CFO of Lowe’s Companies, will officially take the role on May 2. Before taking on his role at Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW), Denton served as the CFO of CVS Health (NYSE:CVS). Denton oversaw…

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) announced that it would redirect all profits from its Russian subsidiary to relief efforts in Ukraine.  Concluding that pausing shipments of medicines to Russia would be counter to its principles, Pfizer had already decided to offer humanitarian efforts to Ukraine.  Pfizer also announced that it would refrain from launching new clinical trials…