Maryland Governor Wes Moore announced that AstraZeneca would invest $300 million to construct a new manufacturing facility in Rockville, a city with roughly 70,000 inhabitants that is about 17 miles from Washington, D.C. The facility will focus on cell therapies for cancer treatment. The 84,000 square-foot facility, slated for completion in 2026, will enable global…
Pfizer and AstraZeneca top annual pharma future-readiness rankings
As 2023 draws to a close, the pharma industry finds itself at an inflection point. On the one hand, stubbornly high inflation rates, a dearth of talent, supply chain hurdles, and a more challenging regulatory climate threaten profitability. But on the other, the rapid advances in areas ranging from cell and gene therapy and IT…
Life sciences single-use instrumentation trends
Single-use instrumentation, especially new pH sensors designed for upstream and downstream applications, are helping manufacturers develop production suites for creating a greater variety of small-run yet highly targeted drugs. Life sciences manufacturers already incorporate leading measurement and automation technologies to ensure the quality of the drugs and medicines they bring to market. Yet because the…
How pharma can optimize for right-the-first-time drug manufacturing and sustainability
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…
AbbVie Q4 earnings beat the consensus forecast
AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) posted fourth-quarter earnings in line with analysts’ consensus forecast. The firm repeated its recent long-term guidance. The North Chicago, Ill.-based biopharmaceutical company, reported revenues of $13.9 billion — a 59% increase over the prior year. The quarter’s net income was $36 million, or $0.01 per share. That was considerably less than the earnings…
Digital shift management cures pharma processing communication woes
The increasing complexity of drugs — including vaccines, biologics, sterile injectables and cell therapies — brings pharmaceutical companies significant manufacturing challenges during the pandemic. In turn, this complexity drives supply chain disruptions and changes to business and operational processes to accommodate social distancing, remote working and quarantining. Some pharmaceutical manufacturers have prioritized the manufacture of…