September 21, 2018
Novo Nordisk plans to restructure its research & development (R&D) organization to accelerate expansion and diversification of its pipeline in chronic diseases. To enable this investment, approximately 400 R&D employees will be laid off in Denmark and China. Read More
Sanofi has announced plans to change the organizational structure of two of its global business units (GBUs) to provide greater focus on its operations in mature markets and emerging markets by creating a new Primary Care GBU and a new GBU called China & Emerging Markets. Read More
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has invested $36 million to modernize its site in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada into a consumer healthcare and prescription supply site. The facility, which produces prescription drugs, will also produce higher volume consumer healthcare products to increase the site’s annual capacity from 30 million units to almost 50 million units by 2020.   Read More
The US Senate has passed The Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 to address opioid misuse in the US, including measures relating to packaging and distribution of opioids as well as FDA authorization to support non-opioid drug development. The bill will now have to be reconciled with US House of Representative’s legislation, which passed in June. Read More
Allergan has agreed to acquire Bonti, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company commercializing fast-acting neurotoxin programs for aesthetic and therapeutic applications. The move adds to Allergan’s position in medical aesthetics, which is supported by one of the company’s top-selling products, Botox (onabotulinumtoxinA), which had 2017 global sales of $3.2 billion. Read More
The FDA has approved a new drug application for Xelprostm (latanoprost ophthalmic emulsion), an eye-pressure reducer, from Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, a Mumbai, India-based pharmaceutical company, to be produced at the company’s facility in Halol (Gujarat, India). The company recently resumed the product-approval process from the facility following a series of manufacturing issues.  Read More
The FDA has issued two final guidances and one draft guidance for implementing the Drug Supply Chain Security Act , a law that specifies requirements for building an electronic, interoperable system to identify and trace certain prescription drugs as they are distributed in the US. Read More
The FDA has found an additional impurity in its ongoing investigation of several recently recalled drug products containing the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) valsartan, used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure. The investigation began in June after a manufacturer detected a probable carcinogen in the API, which followed with other companies recalling products. Read More
Evonik, a specialty and fine chemical producer, has completed a EUR 36-million ($42-million) expansion of its contract manufacturing capabilities in the US and Europe. Technology and capacity for high-potency active pharmaceutical ingredients, fermentation, methoxy poly(ethylene glycol), and continuous processing, were introduced or enhanced at multiple Evonik sites over the last year. Read More
Wacker, a Munich, Germany-based chemical company, has expanded its biologics production facilities in Jena, Germany, with a new microbiology laboratory and equipment for process and product characterization. Read More
The FDA has taken action to support recovery from Hurricane Florence, particularly to prevent drug shortages from pharmaceutical companies manufacturing important drugs. The hurricane struck North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia earlier this month. 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 .