Aphena Pharma Solutions announced that it completed its $20 million expansion and renovation in Cookeville, Tennessee. The company began its expansion and renovation in mid-2019. It said in a news release that it adds a “large amount” of solid dose packaging capacity. “The expansion added a new 500,000-square-foot facility that is purpose-built for FDA pharmaceutical…

Thermo Fisher Scientific posted third-quarter results today that beat the consensus forecast on Wall Street. The company reported profits of $1.5 billion, or $3.79 per share, on sales of $10.7 billion for the three months ended Sept. 30, for a bottom-line loss of 21.3% on sales growth of 14.4% compared with Q3 2021. Adjusted to…

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) announced today that it unveiled the Gibco CTS DynaCellect magnetic separation system. Waltham, Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher designed DynaCellect to help cell therapy developers easily move from process and clinical development to commercial manufacturing. The next-generation instrument features cell isolation, activation and depletion along with Dynabeads magnetic beads removal. Thermo Fisher said…

Contract development and manufacturing organization Lonza has completed the expansion of its highly potent API (HPAPI) multipurpose suite in Visp, Switzerland. The expansion gives Lonza additional development and manufacturing capacity for antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) payloads. The site includes a range of equipment for manufacturing payload linkers. Divided into cleavable and non-cleavable types, linkers are a vital…

The National Science Foundation has granted Purdue University researchers a $3 million grant to explore new pharma waste reduction strategies. While many life science companies have prioritized sustainability initiatives, the pharmaceutical industry continues to generate substantial sums of toxic waste. “It’s a waste problem that causes economic, social and environmentally negative impact,” noted project leader…

The Swiss multinational manufacturing firm Lonza (SWX:LONN) has bolstered its particle engineering services available at its site in Monteggio, Switzerland. In particular, the new site will offer X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) services. XRPD is a rapid analytical technique that offers insight into the polymorph and solid-state properties of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Lonza employees at…

The Contract Research, Development and Manufacturing Organization (CRDMO) WuXi STA has begun construction on a site in Middletown, Delaware. The company expects it to be operational in 2025. This 190-acre pharmaceutical manufacturing campus will be the company’s second U.S. site and the first on the East Coast. The site will be based in the Middletown…

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…