Astellas Pharma announced that it broke ground on a construction site for a state-of-the-art production facility in Ireland. The company invested €330 million in the facility situated at Kerry Technology Park in Tralee, Co. Kerry. Astellas designed the facility with sustainability front of mind. It expects the plant to accelerate the expansion of its in-house…
Aculys Pharma appoints new CEO
Aculys Pharma this week announced it appointed Hidemasa Tankgaki as CEO. Tanigaki replaces Takeshi Takahashi, who stepped down as the interim CEO and will remain a board member at the company. The appointment took effect on March 29. He has been a leader in the pharmaceutical industry for over 30 years, most recently leading the…
MilliporeSigma to invest €300M in new bioprocessing plant in South Korea
MilliporeSigma, the U.S. and Canada Life Science business of Merck KGaA (Darmstadt, Germany), announced a €300 million in South Korea. The investment goes toward a new bioprocessing production center in Daejon, South Korea. It marks the largest investment by the company’s life science business sector in Asia-Pacific to date. The company expects the investment to…
FDA approves Merck’s Winrevair to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension
Merck recently won FDA approval for its sotatercept-csrk Winrevair for treating adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension. The drug was approved to increase exercise capacity and reduce the risk of clinical worsening events, according to the Rahway, N.J.-based company. It previously received FDA breakthrough designation and is the first FDA-approved action signaling inhibitor therapy for pulmonary…
Report: Japan health authorities investigate Kobayashi Pharmaceutical factory after five deaths
Japanese health authorities searched a Kobayashi Pharmaceutical factory in Japan following reports of five deaths related to dietary supplements, Reuters reports. The plant inspection in western Japan is the second in recent days as health authorities inspected the company’s Osaka facility. In addition to the five reported deaths, there have been more than 100 hospitalizations…
Lonza buys Genentech manufacturing plant from Roche for $1.2B
Lonza agreed to acquire the Genentech large-scale biologics manufacturing site in Vacaville, California, from Roche for $1.2 billion. The acquisition will increase Lonza’s large-scale biologics manufacturing capacity to meet demand for commercial mammalian contract manufacturing from customers with existing commercial products, plus molecules currently on the path to commercialization within its network. Lonza’s new facility…
Novartis begins $256M Singapore expansion
Novartis announced last week that it broke ground on a biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Singapore. The company put forward a $256 million investment to begin the project, which will lead to the deployment of digital and automation solutions to enhance manufacturing productivity, improve operational efficiency, and upskill the workforce. Novartis said this site will focus…
W.R. Grace expands manufacturing plant in Michigan
W.R. Grace announced that it opened an expanded fine chemical contract development and manufacturing plant in Michigan. The Columbia, Maryland-based specialty chemicals company opened the facility in South Haven, Michigan. Following a 21-month project, more than 200 employees joined executives and community leaders for a ribbon-cutting ceremony this week. Grace’s facility has 25% more capacity,…
Schott Pharma commits $371 million to new U.S. manufacturing facility for GLP-1, mRNA therapies
Pharma packaging company Schott Pharma has unveiled plans to establish a new manufacturing facility in Wilson, North Carolina. Schott Pharma says the $371 million investment in the U.S. facility will create more than 400 jobs in the region and significantly expand the company’s presence in the U.S., an increasingly important strategic market for the German…
Could pharma production someday move to space?
Four astronauts ended a six-month science expedition that evaluated the potential of Redwire technology to produce certain crystals for pharmaceuticals. In November, Redwire Corporation announced that its “lab-in-a-box” was installed in an orbiting laboratory following a launch on SpaceX’s 29th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission. The pharmaceutical in-space laboratory (PIL) biocrystal optimization experiment (BOX) aimed…