Big Pharma giant Sanofi has revealed that the name of its new subsidiary in third party API manufacture, as originally announced in February 2020, will be EuroAPI. It has also recruited Karl Rotthier from Centrient Pharmaceuticals, formerly DSM Sinochem, to be CEO. “

Addressing recent increasing medicine shortages that critically impact patient care, EuroAPI will ensure additional API supply capacities for Europe and beyond, and help balancing the industry’s heavy reliance on API sourced from other regions,” Sanofi stated.

Pharmaceutical CDMO Piramal Pharma Solutions (PPS) is to invest about $32 million to expand its former Ash Stevens API manufacturing site at Riverview, Michigan. This will add 2,300 m² of space, including 780 m² of production space.

IMCD has agreed to acquire the pharmaceutical business of Peak International Products, a Netherlands-based distributor of APIs in the Benelux, Vietnam, Germany and Israel. The business, which had sales of about €5.8 million in 2019, will be integrated into IMCD’s Pharmaceuticals business group.

Shortly before this, IMCD, the world’s fourth largest chemical distributor, completed the much larger acquisition of a 70% majority stake in Signet Excipients, a major Indian distributor of excipients, as part of its platform for further growth in India and the Asia-Pacific.

The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has signed a letter of interest to provide a $765 million loan to Eastman Kodak to support the launch of Kodak Pharmaceuticals at a ceremony at the company’s main site in Rochester, New York state. It was addressed remotely by President Trump and State Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Roger-Marc Nicoud, CEO of Ypso-Facto, looks at the challenges and opportunities for CDMOs in the current crisis*

The current crisis has highlighted the dependence of European and, indeed, North American countries on delocalised production. This is the case for many goods, including APIs and drugs in general.

Evonik, which is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical CDMOs, has announced the €25 million first stage of a long-term programme to expand API and advanced intermediates capacity at its sites in Dossenheim and Hanau, Germany. This should be completed by mid-2021 and the whole project should be finalised prior to 2024.