Manufacturing

PharmTech's monthly newsletter, Equipment and Processing Report, reviews the Editor's Picks for the February 2011 edition from Alfa Laval and GE Healthcare.

Kris Schoeters of GEA Pharma Systems explains how pharma's uptake of continuous processing is changing.

With the increasing importance of novel dosage forms, the use of release liners as components of transdermal delivery systems, oral thin films and buccal mucosal systems is on the rise.

Over the past 10 years or so, we've seen single-use technologies explode from production-scale filter capsules, tubing and simple biocontainers to encompass sterile connectors, membrane chromatography adsorbers, bioreactors, mixers, and integrated platform systems with increasing levels of sensors and automated controls.

The way in which a suspension nasal spray product interacts with the body depends not only on the droplet size of the delivered droplet, but also on the particle size of the suspended API.

Pfizer Acquires Ferrosan's Consumer Health Business; Patheon Appoints Former Biogen Exec as CEO; and More.

The Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA), in a statement submitted to the US Senate Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxic and Environmental Health, provided support for a bipartisan review of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) as that subcommittee considers reforming the  chemical control law.

Last Thursday, the US Senate scheduled the Patent Reform Act of 2011 for debate after the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill.

The United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) launched a 12-month pilot Technical Assistance Program (TAP) to provide developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa with greater capacity to test the quality of medicines.

President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, delivered last week on Jan. 25, 2011, to the US Congress, was largely well received by the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Last Friday, Senators Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) reintroduced their "Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act," which would presume that pay-for-delay settlements were illegal and give the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the power to block them.

Company and People Notes: Pfizer Completes King Tender Offer; Cook Pharmica Names VP of R&D and CSO; and More

Chemistry reviewers in FDA's Office of Generic Drugs provide an overview of common deficiencies cited throughout the CMC section of ANDAs.

Deep process characterization and "lab-on-a-chip" enable SMART bioprocess design.

Follow-ons were all the rage at this year's JP Morgan Healthcare Conference.

Industry and regulatory experts discuss the challenges and benefits of implementing real time release testing in a pharmaceutical manufacturing environment.

Government and private sector efforts take on counterfeit drugs online.

New products in tableting and granulation.

As biologic-drug patents move toward expiration in the US, Indian firms with experience in the follow-on biologics arena are eager to partner with global manufacturers and secure their place in the growing biosimilars market.

Legislation has hampered cross-border drug importation and limited choice.

Q&A with Magnetrol International's Dan Klees

Food-safety, transparency, and counterfeit-drug growth will tax agency resources.

More crucial biomanufacturing operations are expected to be outsourced.

Anticounterfeiting solutions for vials and syringes.

Taking care to note, file and re-check information can save one from future mishaps.