Geneva, Switzerland (Oct. 23)-Aiming to increase capacity for producing influenza pandemic vaccines, the World Health Organization has identified strategies and practical solutions for reducing the anticipated gap in the global vaccine supply.

Dublin, Ireland (Nov. 6)-Merck Sharp & Dohme (Ireland) Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck & Co, Inc. plans to establish a formulation-research-and-development and manufacturing facility at its plant in Ballydine, Ireland, according to the Industrial Development Agency Ireland.

Akorn, Natco, Illumigen, Avecia

Dallas, TX (Nov. 7)-The US Food and Drug Administration has posted a Warning Letter from its Dallas District office to Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc.

St. Paul, MN (Nov. 9)-3M Co. will carve up and sell its global branded pharmaceuticals businesses for a total of $2.1 billion, the company announced this morning.

AAPS, San Antonio (Oct. 31)-Industry and regulatory agency concerns over process variability have prompted both groups to take a closer look at analytical method transfer processes.

South San Francisco, CA and Basel, Switzerland (Nov. 8)-Genentech, Inc. and the contract manufacturer Lonza Group entered into an agreement under which Lonza will buy Genentech's mid-scale mammalian biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Porri?o, Spain, supply certain products to Genentech, and provide Genentech with the option to purchase Lonza's planned biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Singapore.

AAPS, San Antonio (Oct. 30)-Although the analysis of impurities in drug substances and drug products is not a new topic, new regulations are increasing concern in the industry.

AAPS, San Antonio (Oct. 31)-As biologic-based drugs become an increasingly larger part of pharmaceutical product portfolios, strategies for optimizing their formulation become increasingly important.

Avecia, Illumigen, Biomira, ProIX

AAPS, San Antonio (Oct. 30)-Aiming to provide a greater understanding of coating processes, speakers at the 20th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists presented some of the difficulties, tools, and strategies for obtaining adequately uniform films in pan and fluid-bed coating processes.

Liverpool, UK (Oct. 20)-Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Limited is recovering two lots totaling 500,000 doses of its ?Fluvirin? influenza virus vaccine after reports that the product had been received from distributor Cardinal Health Care in either a frozen state or below the required storage temperature range of 35?46 degrees F.

Philadelphia (Oct.24)?Failures to review batch failures and unexplained discrepancies are the leading cause of Food and Drug Administration Form 483 observations and Warning Letter citations issued to pharmaceutical companies.

Baxter Healthcare, Merck, Teledyne

San Antonio, TX (Nov. 1)?Market growth in the pharmaceutical outsourcing industry is strong, but slowing, according to Jim Miller, president of PharmSource Information Services, Inc. and publisher of Bio/Pharmaceutical Outsourcing Report.

San Antonio, TX (Nov. 1)-Though the US Food and Drug Administration's final guidance on process analytical technology (PAT) was published in Sept. 2004, companies are still unsure about how exactly to implement PAT in their processes.

Wilmington, NC (Oct. 26)?AAIPharma Inc. has completed its acquisition of contract research organization Cvitkovic & Associes Consultants S.A.

San Antonio, TX (Nov. 1)-The opening session of the ?Pharmaceutical Technologies? track at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists in San Antonio, Texas was standing room only as R. Christian Moreton, PhD, vice-president of pharmaceutical science at Idenix Pharmaceuticals, and Richard O. Mannion of Purdue Pharma discussed ?Product Development Using a Virtual Company Model.?

Mid-size regional players have little chance for success in an industry increasingly dominated by large global players.

Yet again, FDA's ability to regulate drugs is under fire. At the core of this latest round of scrutiny is whether the agency has the resources to properly control the safety of new nanotech-based drug products.

Here's to all the difficult, out-of-touch, and irresponsible coworkers that make our workplace interesting.

FDA conducted 163 inspections of foreign API manufacturers in 2005.

The reason for reading the report is to inoculate ourselves against error.

Branded pharmaceutical companies have long been immune to the cost pressures faced in other industries. With robust research and development pipelines, long periods of patent protection to ensure continued high margins, and a regulatory environment that has virtually eliminated the threat of overseas competition, pharmaceutical companies have traditionally considered spend management an afterthought. Recent changes in the pharmaceutical industry, however, have begun to erode Big Pharma's once-imperious position.

While e-mail is quick and convenient, it's too easy to hide behind and, ultimately, faceless.

Applied Biosystems, Aptuit, Barr, Bioenvision, Bioject, Bionomics, Charles Ross, Connetics, Curalogic, Cytogen, Doxa, Eli Lilly, FDA, Imclone, Laureate, Luciano Packaging, Microtest, Orexo, PLIVA, SAFC, Sanofi-Aventis, SSCI, SSI, Stiefel, Teva

Robin Hwang, a senior principal scientist at Amgen (Thousand Oaks, CA), led the team that developed the first commercial disposable auto-injector for a biopharmaceutical: a prefilled three-step "SureClick" for delivering Enbrel (etanercept), a treatment for autoimmune diseases.

The US Food and Drug Administration issued a guidance document to provide manufacturers of biological products (other than blood and blood components) with its current thinking on reporting requirements on deviations from current good manufacturing practices for biological products.