CDMO supply chains “are potentially the biggest single risk to product resilience, yet they remain an area often overlooked by drug sponsors in partnering criteria”, said Bikash Chatterjee, CEO of Pharmatech Associates during a panel entitled ‘Redesigning the Supply Chain – The Road to Increased Resilience’. This was held as part of the online element of CPHI North America.
Evonik has agreed to sell its site at Niederkassel-Lülsdorf, Germany, and the associated cyanuric chloride business at Wesseling to International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG). Terms were not disclosed and the deal is scheduled to close in mid-2023, subject to regulatory clearance and approval by the competent Evonik committees. The businesses being divested had sales of around €260 million in 2022.
WuXi STA has added two 2,000 L reactors and a large-scale continuous purification system for peptide manufacturing at its Changzhou campus, bringing the total reactor volume for solid-phase peptide synthesis to over 10,000 L. It has also added a new system that features 300-DAC twin columns for continuous purification of kilogram-scale peptides and oligonucleotides, with faster turnaround times and lower solvent consumption.
Solvay has agreed a multi-year strategic collaboration with US firm Ginkgo Bioworks, which was formerly Zymergen. Under this, Solvay said, they will join forces “to unlock the power of synthetic biology as an enabler of more sustainable chemicals and materials, contributing to the transition towards more environmentally friendly solutions”.
Japanese firm Harima has built its first myrcene facility at its site in Kakogawa. Myrcene is obtained from pinene, a natural substance extracted from pine trees, and used in aroma oils and fragrances. The facility will mainly use energy self-generated from renewable energy sources and carbon-neutral fuel.
Italian CDMO Dipharma Francis has completed of the expansion of its R&D centre for small molecules at its headquarters site in Baranzate, near Milan. This boosts lab space for analytical R&D activities by over 130%. The equipment includes a new 500 MHz NMR and the centre is managed via cloud-based integrated data systems.
Brenntag has opened its new pharmaceutical application development centre in the Singapore Science Park. This will be the company’s first pharma R&D facility anywhere, as well as part of Brenntag Specialties’ global network of 82 innovation and application development centres.
“Singapore is an ideal location for our first pharmaceutical application development centre, given its thriving ecosystem of R&D partners, technology providers and talent,” said Romain Girard, president of pharma Asia-Pacific at Brenntag Specialties. T
