Patricia Van Arnum

Washington, DC (Apr. 2)-The US Department of Homeland Security released an interim final rule that imposes federal security regulations for high-risk chemical facilities.

China creates a potential outlet for specialty excipients as its pharmaceutical market grows.

Midland, MI (Mar. 21)-The Dow Chemical Company formed an alliance with Colorcon, Inc. for the global marketing, sales, technical service and development, and distribution of Dow pharmaceutical excipient products for use in controlled-release applications.

Bangalore, India, (March 14)-Bristol-Myers Squibb Company is expanding its research and development (R&D) capabilities in India.

Kenilworth, NJ (Mar. 12)-Schering-Plough Corporation agreed to acquire Organon BioSciences N.V., the human and animal health businesses of Akzo Nobel N.V., for EUR 11 billion ($14.4 billion) in cash.

Gurgaon, Haryana, India (Mar. 13)-Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited confirmed that it has made a nonbinding bid for the generic drug business of Merck KGaA.

The pharmaceutical supply chain lengthens as generic drug manufacturers build production platforms offshore and CMOs position in India and China to meet demand for lower-cost production.

Washington, DC (Feb. 22)-The Biotechnology Industry Organization criticized two separate studies respectively released by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association and Express Scripts, Inc. regarding the cost-savings, interchangeability, and market penetration of follow-on biologics.

Brussels (Feb. 13)-The European Generic Medicines Association raised concerns over what it terms ?the serious lack? of resources available to member states in the European Union (EU) to deal with the regulatory workload and bottleneck in new registrations caused by the new Decentralized Procedure (DCP) for approving drugs in Europe.

London (Feb. 22)-AstraZeneca unveiled further details of its plan to reduce staff at certain production facilities and announced a $120-million investment in a new process research and development (PR&D) facility in the United Kingdom.

Continuing an ambitious growth strategy, SAFC eyes CGMP manufacturing capacity in India for its custom-synthesis business and seeks to gain large-scale organics manufacturing capacity in China for raw-materials supply. And, its biosciences segment seeks opportunity in single-use disposable manufacturing.

As the supply-chain strategies of the pharmaceutical industry evolve, managing risks in outsourcing takes on greater importance. A recent program by the Drug, Chemical, and Associated Technologies Association examined approaches to mitigating risk and improving the pricing-and-cost model in the outsourced relationship.

Princeton, NJ (Feb. 15, 2007)-Ranbaxy Inc., confirmed that federal officials conducted a search of its New Jersey offices on Feb. 14, 2007 and commented on its reported plan to acquire Merck's generics business.

Hafnarfjordur, Iceland (Feb. 13)-Generic drug manufacturer Actavis acquired the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) division of Sanmar Specialty Chemicals, Ltd. (SSCL), a subsidiary of the Sanmar Group.

InformexUSA, San Francisco (Feb. 14?16)-Several contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) and technology providers used InformexUSA to announce plans to expand manufacturing capabilities, increase service offerings, and ramp up other investments.

InformexUSA, San Francisco (Feb. 12?Feb. 14)-Custom manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates are gathered at InformexUSA this week, with companies announcing investment plans and unveiling new technology

InformexUSA, San Francisco (Feb. 14)-The Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association is launching a new sustainable chemistry initiative, the International Center for Sustainable Chemistry.

InformexUSA, San Francisco (Feb. 14)-NPIL Pharma unveiled a $100-million investment program in formulation development and manufacturing services.

InformexUSA, San Francisco (Feb. 14)-Almac Sciences plans to collaborate for cytotoxic fill-and-finish services with the Center for Pharmaceutical Science and Technology (CPST) at the University of Kentucky.

Washington, DC (Feb. 7)-The Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (SOCMA) submitted comments to the US Department of Homeland Security in response to proposed DHS regulations on chemical site security, asking DHS to take into consideration the unique nature of the specialty batch manufacturing sector.

New York, NY (Jan. 31)-Pfizer, Inc. scored a victory over Synthon IP in a patent infringement lawsuit over the manufacturing process for ?Norvasc? (amlodipine).

St. Louis, MO, (Feb. 8)-SAFC, the custom manufacturing and fine chemicals unit of Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, is seeking to build a footprint in Asia, eying possible acquisitions in India and China.

Osaka, Japan (Feb. 2)-Tanabe Seiyaku Co. Ltd. and Mitsubishi Pharma Corporation agreed to merge, with the closing planned for merger scheduled to take effect Oct. 1, 2007.

As custom manufacturers gather for InformexUSA this month, strategies in asymmetric synthesis and catalysis prevail.

Tokyo (Jan. 18)-Tanabe Seiyaku Co. Ltd. confirmed it has had discussions with Mitsubishi Pharma Corporation over a possible merger between the two companies, but that no definite decision has been made for such a deal.

Rockville, MD (Jan. 30)-The Food and Drug Administration?s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) is proposing an addendum to its current biologics reporting form to better classify potential recalls.

London (Feb. 1)-AstraZeneca PLC unveiled a plan to improve asset utilization within its global supply chain that involves rationalizing production assets and cutting staff. The company made the announcement as part of its fourth quarter and full-year 2007 financial results.

Pfizer's restructuring plan provides yet another example of new supply-chain strategies by the pharmaceutical majors, which involve rationalization of manufacturing facilities and cost improvement. A review of these moves, an outlook for the pharmaceutical market in 2007, and analysis of US pharmaceutical production and trade.

Following the sales of its global branded pharmaceutical business, 3M stays the course in drug delivery as its Drug Delivery Systems Division advances technology in inhalation and transdermal drug delivery.

Cardinal Health (www.cardinal.com) agreed to sell its contract services unit, Pharmaceutical Technologies and Services (PTS), to The Blackstone Group (New York, NY, www.blackstone.com) for roughly $3.3 billion in cash.