Merger of Impax, Amneal Leads Top Industry News

OCTOBER 20, 2017

This week's sponsor:

1. Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Impax Laboratories To Merge

Amneal Pharmaceuticals and Impax Laboratories have agreed to merge to create what the companies say will be the fifth largest generic-drug company in the US with combined pro forma 2017 revenues of $1.75 billion to $1.85 billion. Read More

2. Novartis to Close Solid-Dosage Plant in Colorado

Novartis plans to close an oral solid dosage manufacturing facility in Broomfield, Colorado that is owned by its generics arm, Sandoz. Approximately 450 jobs will be affected. Read More

3. Lilly in Cancer Vaccine Pact worth up to $1.7 Billion

Eli Lilly and Company has partnered with CureVac, a Tübingen, Germany-headquartered clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on mRNA-based drug development, to develop cancer vaccines in a deal worth up to $1.7 billion. Read More

4. FDA OKs CAR-T Therapy by Gilead’s Kite Pharma

The FDA has approved Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel), a chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy from Kite Pharma, a subsidiary of Gilead Sciences, for treating large B-cell lymphoma. It is the second CART-T therapy approved by the FDA behind Novartis’ CAR-T therapy. Read More

5. Allergan Suffers Setback in Patent Litigation for Its Blockbuster Drug Restasis

A federal district court has ruled against Allergan in patent litigation for Restasis (cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion), a drug to treat dry eyes. The drug had 2016 global sales of $1.4 billion. Read More

6. Sanofi Invests $200 Million to Expand Vaccine-Manufacturing Facility

Sanofi is investing EUR 170 million ($201 million) to expand a vaccine-manufacturing site in Val de Reuil, France; the expansion is to be completed by 2021 with production beginning in 2022. Read More

7. Merck & Co. Discontinues Development of Late-Stage Cholesterol Drug

Merck & Co. will not submit applications for regulatory approval for anacetrapib, a cholesteryl ester transfer protein inhibitor, now in Phase III development as an investigational cholesterol drug. This is part of DCAT Value Chain Insights Pipeline News. Read More

8. Pfizer Recalls Select Batches of Antibiotic in Australia

Pfizer has issued a voluntary Class I recall in Australia of 10 batches of its antibiotic, gentamicin Injection BP 80 mg, to the consumer level. The affected batches of gentamicin injection may contain higher-than-expected amounts of histamine. Read More

9. US Senate Holds Second Hearing on Drug Pricing

A US Senate committee held a hearing to discuss drug pricing. Among the organizations testifying were the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, representing innovator-research-based pharmaceutical companies, and the Association for Accessible Medicines, representing the generic-drug industry. Read More

10. NJIT, Rutgers Form NJ Continuous Manufacturing Institute

Rutgers University and the New Jersey Innovation Institute, a corporation of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, plan to form the New Jersey Continuous Manufacturing Institute to advance manufacturing technologies in the pharmaceutical industry. It will serve as a center of excellence. Read More

Top Industry News is published and distributed by the Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association (DCAT). The DCAT organization recognizes its members have minimal time to keep up with the continuous flow of news covering this dynamic industry. To help ensure our members never miss the most important stories impacting the global pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, we will deliver each Friday, the week's Top Industry News, as selected by DCAT Editorial Director Patricia Van Arnum. For more information, visit www.dcat.org .