Bachem, the world’s largest peptides manufacturer, has announced some results of two studies it carried out with Novo Nordisk, seeking to make solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) greener.

SPPS requires large volumes of solvents and the current gold standards, because of their excellent solubilisation and stability properties for reagents and resin swelling capabilities, are N-dimethylformamide (DMF), dichloromethane and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone. All now face restrictions under REACH because of their hazardous nature.

The WeylChem Group has announced that it is building the largest potassium-fluoride (KF)-based plant for halogen exchange (Halex) reactions in the Western world, at its Allessa site in Fechenheim Industrial Park in Frankfurt. This is the largest investment in Allessa since it was incorporated into WeylChem eight years ago. The project will take two years to complete.

Heraeus Pharmaceutical Ingredients (HPI) has announced that its new production line for platinum-based pharmaceutical ingredients at its headquarters in Hanau, Germany, is now running at full speed and customers have already received the first deliveries of APIs. The company launched the project in late 2018 in response to growing demand for oncology drugs and imminent shortages. HPI, a business line of Heraeus Precious Metals, is world’s largest supplier of platinum-based HPAPIs, which are used in numerous therapies, notably lung, colorectal, ovarian and testicular cancer.

China-based pharmaceutical CDMO WuXi STA has completed the acquisition of a drug product manufacturing facility in Couvet, Switzerland, from Bristol-Myers Squibb, as announced earlier in the year. The site is WuXi STA’s first in Europe. It makes tablets and capsules.

Through this transaction, WuXi STA has increased its global presence to eight R&D and manufacturing sites across Asia, North America and Europe, including a pharmaceutical clinical and commercial manufacturing complex on a 78-hectare campus at Middletown, Delaware, that was announced in early July.

Two pharmaceutical CDMOs, AMRI in the US and UK-based Arcinova, have almost simultaneously announced full corporate rebranding exercises. The former has become Curia, which is derived from a Latin word for ‘purposeful assembly’, as of 12 July, while the latter is taking the name Quotient Sciences – Alnwick.

Pharmaceutical CDMO Evotec has acquired GlaxoSmithKline’s site at Verona, Italy, where its Aptuit subsidiary is already active, employing 750. Terms were not disclosed. Following a meeting with site workers, the company has also agreed to rename the site Campus Levi-Montalcini, in honour of the Italian Nobel laureate Rita Levi-Montalcini.

During its 2020 results presentation, Italian API producer Olon announced the completion of a large-scale, multi-purpose, high-containment HPAPI production line at its Rodano site near Milan. This is already available to customers, the firm added.