Pharmaceutical Processing World Archives

Novartis begins $256M Singapore expansion

(Left to right) : Ms Cindy Koh, Executive Vice President, Economic Development Board (EDB); Ms Ana Locatelli, Site Head, Novartis Singapore; ⁠Mr Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies; Mr Steffen Lang, President of Operations at Novartis; Mr Christoph Buerki, Chief Financial Officer Operations, Novartis. [Image courtesy of Novartis]

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 on manufacturing therapeutic antibody drugs to deliver breakthrough treatments to patients globally.

“In the next phase of growth for the biopharma sector…

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, with more room for a 4,000-gallon Hastelloy centrifuge and three 4,000-gallon, multi-use chemical reactors. This strengthens Grace’s ability to serve growing demand for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

The company’s South Haven facility produces APIs, regulatory starting materials (RSMs) and drug intermediates in quantities from kilos to tons. It lands in compliance with the FDA’s current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) regulations. The site integrates with Grace’s Tyrone, Pennsylvania facility, the company said. It offers custo…

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 company.

Schott also announced an expansion of its Müllheim manufacturing plant in February, which is shown on our map of 2024 facility openings and expansions.

Polymer syringe production a focus

The new site will be the first in the U.S. to manufacture prefillable polymer syringes, which are stored under deep-cold storage in the case of mRNA medications. It will also produce glass prefillable syringes for GLP-1 therapies used to treat diabetes and obesity. The company expects the facility to triple Schott Pharma’s contribution of glass and polymer syringes to the U.S. market by 2030.

Schott P…

Could pharma production someday move to space?

The International Space Station, on which astronauts used Redwire’s lab-in-a-box. [Image courtesy of the ISS National Laboratory]

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 to crystallize small organic molecules in microgravity.

Redwire believes its lab-in-a-box can enable the growth of small-batch crystals for protein-based pharmaceuticals. These include aspirin and antihistamines. PIL-BOX can support 10 experiments at a time, and the company plans to cycle through different conditions and different sampl…

Telix Pharmaceuticals to buy ARTMS and its isotope production platform

Telix Pharmaceuticals announced that it agreed to acquire radioisotope production technology firm ARTMS Inc.

ARTMS also brings with it an advanced cyclotron-based isotope production platform and manufacturing plant. It has a stockpile of ultra-pure rare metals required for consumable target production, too, according to a news release. The company specializes in the physics, chemistry and materials science of cyclotron-produced radionuclides. It spun out from TRIUMF, Canada’s particle accelerator center.

Telix expects the acquisition to further enhance the vertical integration of its supply chain and manufacturing. It expects to gain a greater level of control and security over each of its diagnostic isotopes.

The company said the reasons for the acquisition stem from four key areas of commercial synergy. First, it supports the rollout of the company’s Zircaix kidney cancer imaging offering. Telix also said it …

Generic drugs maker Noumed Pharma announces new Australia plant

Noumed Pharmaceuticals says it started construction on a $100 million purpose-built facility in South Australia’s northern suburbs.

According to a news release. the company expects this facility to become the most modern of its kind in Australia. The state-of-the-art pharmaceutical manufacturing plant enhances the country’s sovereign supply into the pharmacy and health networks. Noumed plans to manufacture certain over-the-counter pharmaceuticals on domestic soil, rather htan overseas.

During the first stage, Noumed plans to manufacture liquid-based products like cough mixtures, children’s suspensions and nasal perforations. Other products include creams, while the company plans to pack solid dose tablets. The second stage is set to enable the company to manufacture those solid dose tablets as well.

Noumed says it placed the construction on a 43,000-square meter site with a floor area of 26,000 square meters. It e…

Pfizer gives up on Washington state manufacturing plant project

Pfizer recently announced that it will wind down the construction of an Everett, Washington cancer therapies manufacturing plant that it inherited through its $43 billion acquisition of Seagen last year.

Over the summer before the acquisition closure in December 2023, Seagen had inked a $215 million deal with contractor Skanksa to build the 270,000-square-foot facility, according to the Herald in Everett. But Pfizer now plans for the product manufacturing intended for the site to take place at its expanding Sanford, North Carolina facility instead.

In a statement shared with Pharmaceutical Processing World, Pfizer said that roughly 120 employees who have been working on the initial set-up of the site will be impacted. “We will make every effort to place impacted colleagues within open roles at the Bothell site, and all impacted employees can apply to relevant open roles within Pfizer.”

The company said: “Pfizer regularly evaluates our …

Bristol Myers Squibb plans $400M expansion in Ireland

A rendering of the new Cruiserath campus in Dublin, Ireland. [Image courtesy of Bristol Myers Squibb]

Bristol Myers Squibb announced that it invested $400 million to build a sterile drug product (SDP) facility in Dublin, Ireland.

This Cruiserath facility will support the manufacturing and supply of existing medicines and serve as a launch excellence facility for pipeline assets. It marks the first European SDP facility for biologics manufacturing at Bristol Myers Squibb. It remains in the design phase, according to a news release.

Bristol Myers Squibb plans to begin construction in March 2024. With planning approval granted, it expects to complete construction in 2026.

The company anticipates a further 350 positions created in Ireland as a result of the investment. That brings the total for the company in Ireland to 1,000 at that campus. The new investment and the roles it creates significantly exp…

AbbVie president and COO to move into corner office

Robert Michael is slated to become AbbVie’s CEO in July 2024. [Image courtesy of AbbVie]

AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) recently announced that its board of directors has decided to promote the company’s president and COO Robert A. Michael into the corner office.

Michael will succeed Richard A. Gonzalez, who is retiring as CEO on July 1. Gonzalez will stay as executive chair of AbbVie’s board.

“On behalf of AbbVie’s board, I am extremely excited that Rob has agreed to serve as AbbVie’s next CEO,” Gonzalez said in a Feb. 20 news release.

“As a key member of the executive leadership team, he has had a tremendous impact on AbbVie. From establishing our financial planning organization, to the development of our diversified business strategy, to successfully navigating the end of exclusivity for Humira in the U.S., Rob has been integral to AbbVie’s impact since…

Amgen opens AI-enabled Ohio biomanufacturing facility

CEO Bob Bradway rallies the manufacturing team at Amgen Ohio with a chant of “OH-IO.”

Earlier this year, NVIDIA and Amgen revealed plans to analyze one of the world’s largest human datasets using AI models trained on an NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD in Iceland. Now, Amgen is signaling its continued commitment to cutting-edge tech with a ribbon cutting for an advanced biomanufacturing facility in New Albany, Ohio.

Known as Amgen Ohio, the facility is designed to uphold the company’s reputation for quality and reliability. It will play a significant role in producing innovative biomedicines to address serious diseases, employing approximately 400 people across various roles.

The new facility “was designed with the latest innovation and technology to deliver safe, reliable medicines for ‘every patient, every time,’” said Bob Bradway, chairman and chief executive officer at Amgen.

Amge…

Personalized medicine: advanced technology is saving lives

The concept of a “batch size one” in pharmaceutical manufacturing is closer than ever. There are companies advancing cell therapies in which body cells are used to heal or support the individual patient. These cells are manipulated or edited to change certain biological characteristics before being transferred to the patient. Personalized medicine is truly about the individual and a manufacturer’s ability to create a batch size one. These personalized treatments currently are being used on patients to provide therapies that will combat countless maladies including various types of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Learn how the pharmaceutical industry can embrace personalized manufacturing without sacrificing efficiency

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MES for Flexible, Paperless Pharmaceutical Production

All companies in the pharmaceutical industry are under pressure for time, quality, compliance, and innovation. These pressures create imperatives to be both paperless and flexible to protect profitability. The stresses and imperatives apply to small-molecule pharmaceuticals, active ingredients (API), contract drug manufacturers (CDMOs), large-molecule biotechnology, and gene and cell therapy makers.

Fortunately, a manufacturing execution system (MES) proven in these pharmaceutical segments can support many aspects of these imperatives. By choosing MES wisely, such a system can support success now and into the future.

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