Industry News

A Sweet Smelling Packaging Solution

Desiccant canisters to protect and boost product appeal

Manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals can protect their products from moisture and other elements while also enhancing marketability, by adding scent to their packaging. The full line of scented packaging solutions, offered by Süd-chemie, is reported to be ideal for applications that emit an unappealing odour to end users. The packaging can also enhance the marketability of odourless products. The flagship product in the scented solution line is Aroma-Can — a product modelled after the company's desiccant canisters. One-gram canisters will be available in orange and lemon scented variations, and can be inserted at the same high rates of speed as traditional desiccant canisters using standard canister insertion equipment.

www.s-cpp.com

Joint Initiative to Boost UK Biotech

Eden Biodesign and Partnership for Learning (PfL) are working together to tackle the urgent need for better education and training to keep the UK at the forefront of Europe's biotech industry. The 3-year initiative addresses the issue at various levels from the professional development of experienced industry experts to working within schools to promote the opportunities in one of the country's leading manufacturing growth sectors.

Crawford Brown, chief executive at Eden Biodesign, commented: "We are delighted to agree this long-term collaboration with PfL, one of the very few proven suppliers of biopharmaceutical manufacturing training in the country. We believe that working closely with PfL will allow us to make a real difference in the quality and take up of biomanufacturing training in the Northwest, and the UK as a whole."

Eden Biodesign and PfL support education for young biotechs.

www.edenbiodesign.com

Market for SNP Products Continues to Grow

Results of a survey reveal that the market for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) products and services is a fast growing segment of the life science market. This is largely explained by the expectation that SNP genotyping will play a major role in shaping the future of personalized medicine. Having questioned more than 500 scientific customers who currently perform SNP genotyping, BioInformatics' report, The Market for SNP Genotyping Products & Services, indicates that 48% of researchers expect the number of SNP genotyping experiments they perform to increase during the next 12 months. According to the survey, of all the SNP genotyping methods available, sequencing was felt to offer researchers the highest degree of specificity and selectivity because of its redundancy; more than half of all SNP genotyping work is performed in-house with approximately the same percentage being outsourced and performed in a core facility or a collaborator's lab; and researchers believe that decreased cost for each SNP analysed would be the most valuable future improvement to SNP genotyping.

www.gene2drug.com

Double-Edged Blades for Versatility

L.B. Bohle has introduced its new Bohle Turbo Mill (BTM) for high-speed milling of dry or moist ingredients. The unit incorporates an oscillating rotary valve to feed product into the milling chamber where a rotating stainless steel blade assembly reduces the product particles through impact or cutting. Depending upon the application, the blade assembly can be reversed. For dry products, reduction is accomplished using the flat side of the blades. For moist products, the knife-edge of the blades is used. Milled material is discharged through a fine mesh screen that regulates the finished product size. The screen can be quickly changed by removing the front cover plate, which eliminates the need to disturb the inlet and outlet connections. Being attached to a telescoping transport cart, the mill is easy to move and enables accurate placement for operation.

The BTM can mill dry or moist ingredients.

www.lbbohle.de

Global Expansion

This year, generics companies have been on a spending spree given their level of acquisition activity. But, Indian companies are becoming more aggressive in a bid to 'keep up' as indicated by the acquisitions of Docpharma by Matrix Laboratories, and Trigenesis Therapeutics by Dr. Reddy's. Many top-tier Indian companies are seeking to manufacture in India and sell in the US and Western Europe.

www.drreddys.com

China — Asia's Most Promising OTC Market

Foreign companies set to take advantage

Despite the US and European OTC drug markets being mature and valued at $30 billion and $24 billion respectively, it is Asia's OTC market that is showing the fastest growth. Currently worth approximately $25 billion, the Asian OTC market is expanding at an annual rate of 12–14%, and China's is growing at a rate of up to 40%. Many Asian countries are experiencing strong economic growth, and with an increasing elderly population, more people are willing to spend more money on healthcare.

Within the next 2–3 years, China's OTC market is expected to increase from $5 billion to $10 billion. China has about 1800 China-foreign pharmaceutical joint ventures and more than 5000 domestic drug companies. This, combined with the fact that OTC drugs only make up around 10% of the pharma market in China, has led to an increasing number of foreign companies entering and/or expanding their presence in the country with OTC drugs. AstraZeneca has approximately 20 facilities in China, and released its first OTC drug in China in April this year. Similarly, Pfizer has invested more than $500 million in China, as well as setting up several manufacturing facilities there.

In Brief

www.pfizer.com

Survey Results Prompt Launch of PTE Digital

Thank you to all of you who completed Pharmaceutical Technology Europe's (PTE) annual Editorial & Readership Survey. The feedback from the survey helps us to improve the magazine and meet the needs of our readers. This year, 35% of respondents indicated that they want to receive PTE in a digital format. As a result, we're pleased to announce that from September this year, PTE will also be available as an interactive digital publication. If you want to receive PTE digitally (instead of, or in addition to, the printed magazine) please go to our website and click on 'subscribe/renew'.

Finally, congratulations to Markus Kiefer who has won the survey prize draw and receives an iPOD Mini. Markus is global head of drug supply management at Novartis Pharma AG in Basel (Switzerland).

www.ptemagazine.com

Cleaning System Light Years Ahead

CIProcess has been made the exclusive distributor in the UK of Germany's Clean Laser Systems' innovative laser cleaning system. Primarily used for industrial cleaning and surface treatment, renovation and paint removal applications, the system also removes contaminants, production residue and coatings without damaging the substrate. The cleaning equipment is reported to offer a safe cleaning method and is environmentally friendly, using no water or chemicals and producing no effluent. Operating costs are said to be reduced, through downtime minimization, low running costs and life span extension, with return on investment paybacks of fewer than 12 months often achieved. Furthermore, the company claims the devices are easy to automate and can be integrated into existing manufacturing lines, to be used on-line and in-place without damaging equipment or requiring machine dismantling.

Cleaning with light reduces costs.

www.ciprocess.co.uk