As fine-chemical producers, custom manufacturers, and pharmaceutical companies gathered this week for Informex in Anaheim, California, one observation stands out: for all the inroads that biologic-based drugs have made, the pharmaceutical industry remains a small-molecule marketplace. Read more »

Biopharmaceutical companies are touting their huge investment in R&D, which has filled the drug pipeline with more potential first-in-class medicines, including orphan drugs, personalized medicines and new therapies based on novel scientific strategies. A report by the Analysis Group for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) documents more than 5,000 new medicines in the pipeline globally, many for untreated diseases and life-threatening conditions. The promise is that this more robust pipeline will lead to more new critical therapies for patients. Read more »

A new year has started in the world of pharmaceutical manufacturing and technology, and 2013 looks to bring plenty of innovation. PharmTech’s January issue highlights what the pharma industry can expect in the upcoming year.

Look for a discussion with FDA on the changing scope of regulatory science and its effect on drug reviews, site inspections, and approvals as well as academia’s role in the future of pharmaceutical manufacturing. We will also have a look at the future of CMOs and ISPE’s view on the future of the quality laboratory.

We would also like to know what you think the new year will bring! Please leave your comments on what your company’s goals and innovative projects are for the new year, and be sure to let us know what you would like to see us cover in the year to come!

The Polymer Processing Institute (PPI), an independent, not-for-profit, research and development organization that is headquartered at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), has expanded its mission of working with industry and government to advance the field of polymer processing to include generating and using fundamental knowledge related to incorporating APIs into polymer excipients through hot-melt extrusion. I recently visited with the PPI researchers and toured their facilities. Read more »

Research into hot melt extrusion (HME) as a solution to improve solubility continues to expand with a partnership between Encap Drug Delivery, a contract development and manufacturing organization in the UK, and the School of Pharmacy at the Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), announced in a press release this week. Read more »

An upcoming report on India’s pharmaceutical industry in PharmTech (check out the October 2012 issue) discusses India’s strict patent policies and got me thinking about the rights of intellectual property versus patients’ rights to needed medicines. PharmTech’s Asia correspondent, Jane Wan, reports that India has set a high bar for patent approval that Western drug manufacturers are finding frustrating.

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Last week Human Genome Sciences (HGS) rejected GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) unsolicited $2.59 billion bid for HGS or $13 per share.  Although rejecting GSK’s initial bid, HGS kept the door open for other suitors, including again GSK. Read more »

Amid one of the most divisive eras in our nation’s political history, one thing we can all pretty much agree on is the fact that our stalled economic engine needs a jumpstart. Read more »

Earlier this week I read a great article on Reuters about how pharma companies are looking to the automobile industry for innovation by transferring some of the lean methodologies learned in car manufacturing to pharmaceuticals. As a pharmaceutical journalist, I read a lot of news stories and articles about innovative new products, R&D projects and partnerships, and sometimes it’s too easy to let your eyes gloss over these as everyday business. Earlier this year though, the partnership between GlaxoSmithKline the McLaren Group really grabbed my attention. Pharma… and a racing-car maker? That’s definitely not an everyday occurrence. Or is it? Read more »

It’s getting harder for the pharmaceutical industry to ignore neglected diseases. The globalization of national economies and the rise in air travel are increasing the potential for exposure to these diseases, which previously had been limited to the developing world. “Now is the time to have this discussion,” Kishor M. Wasan, chair-elect of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists’s Pharmaceuticals in Global Health Focus Group, told Pharmaceutical Technology earlier this month. Industry now seems to be getting the message. Read more »