Friday, January 11, 2019 Daily Archives

Lonza adding single-use capacity and 180 jobs at UK mammalian plant

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Lonza will increase its mammalian process development and small-scale cGMP manufacturing capabilities through a multi-million pound investment at its Slough, UK site. Swiss contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) has told BioProcess Insider it is making a “multi-million pound investment†into its facility in Slough, UK. The site, located around 40km west of London, serves as Lonza’s center of excellence for mammalian biopharmaceutical process development and small-scale cGMP manufacturing, primarily for clinical phases. It also offers a range of analytical…

January 11, 2019

Lack of large M&A not for the lack of trying, says Merck CEO

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Robust competition and a lack of willing sellers has stifled Merck’s M&A ambition, but CEO Ken Frazier says with valuations coming down possibilities are being created. Large mergers and acquisitions have dominated the start of 2019: Takeda has completed its $62 billion (€54 billion) takeover of Shire, Bristol-Myers Squibb is set to merge with Celgene in a $74 billion deal, and Eli Lilly has bought Loxo Oncology (albeit for a relatively low $8 billion). Therefore, it was no surprise that…

January 11, 2019

Univercells to scale-up sub 30 cent polio vaccine platform

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A Univercells-led consortium has received a grant extension to scale-up a manufacturing platform it claims can slash the cost of inactivated polio vaccines. In December 2016, a consortium led by Belgium biomanufacturing technology firm Univercells received a $12 million (€10.4 million) grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a low-cost vaccine manufacturing platform. The consortium also involves Batavia Biosciences which has developed the polio manufacturing process and Natrix Separations (now owned by MilliporeSigma) for the purification membrane.…

January 11, 2019

AstraZeneca closing two ex-Amgen CO sites, 210 jobs hit

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Two Colorado facilities acquired from Amgen will be closed as AstraZeneca looks to consolidate drug substance manufacturing at its site in Frederick, Maryland. Anglo-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca is ending operations at its facility in Boulder, Colorado and the nearby Longmont plant less than four years after acquiring them from Amgen. The decision to shutter the sites was made as part of AstraZeneca’s biomanufacturing consolidation strategy, a spokesperson from the firm told BioProcess Insider. “AstraZeneca has made the decision to consolidate…

January 11, 2019