Pharma manufacturing news in brief

Our round-up of news in the pharmaceutical manufacturing arena covers developments at Genzyme, Enzon/Sigma-Tau, Catalent, Synco Bio Partners, Angel Biotech, Pfizer/Peakdale Molecular and Gorbec Pharmaceutical Services.

Genzyme has appointed a new president of global manufacturing and corporate operations as it works to overcome contamination issues that have interrupted the supply of some of its key products. The role has been taken by Scott Canute, a former head of manufacturing at Eli Lilly who will now have responsibility for all 17 of Genzyme's production facilities worldwide.

Enzon Pharmaceuticals of the USA says it has completed the sale of its specialty pharmaceutical business, including its contract manufacturing operations, to Italy's Sigma-Tau. The deal, valued at approximately $327 million, includes four marketed products - Oncaspar (pegaspargase) for leukaemia, Adagen (pegademase bovine) for severe combined immunodeficiency disease, cancer drug DepoCyt (cytarabine liposome injection) and antifungal Abelcet (amphotericin B liposome injection), as well as a manufacturing facility in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Catalent Pharma Solutions has added new capabilities to handle potent pharmaceutical products at its facility in Schorndorf, Germany, including complex and innovative dose form production, over-encapsulation (placing of medicines into a hard gelatine capsule, e.g. for blinding in clinical trials) and specialised packaging.

Synco Bio Partners of the Netherlands has signed two deals with an undisclosed biopharmaceutical company to provide process validation and GMP commercial manufacturing services for two recombinant protein products heading for launch in the US. The company expects marketing applications for the two products before the end of the year, with commercial manufacturing starting in 2011.

Scottish contract manufacturing organisation Angel Biotechnology has raised £1.42 million to fund expansion of its facility in Edinburgh, used to make advanced biologics such as cell therapy products - including stem cells and cellular vaccines - purified natural and recombinant proteins and bacteriophage.

Pfizer has retained Peakdale Molecular of the UK to supply custom synthetic chemistry services in a deal which will involve building a team of 50 chemists stationed at the pharmaceutical giant's R&D facility in Sandwich, Kent. The team will not only provide on-site chemistry resources for Pfizer, but also provide a resource for other developing companies in the vicinity. Peakdale already employs 90 synthetic chemists at its main facility in Derbyshire.

US contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) Gorbec Pharmaceutical Services, has announced plans to open a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) analytical laboratory in Yantai, China in May.  This new facility will expand Gorbec's current services for analytical method development and testing and help it build a presence in the Asian market. The company's core business services, current analytical laboratory, and commercial manufacturing will remain in the USA.