Pharma Capsules

Certifications

FAA Certifies AcuTemp Container

AcuTemp Thermal Systems (Dayton, OH), a leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance insulation and temperature-sensitive packaging, announced that its "RKN" temperature-controlled air-cargo container received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval. FAA granted the approval to AmSafe Bridport (Phoenix, AZ), AcuTemp's partner in the certification process. AcuTemp says the approval marks the first instance that FAA has certified a compressor-driven refrigeration unit, thus permitting its use in the cargo section of an aircraft. The container was designed to allow the air-cargo industry to transport and precisely manage temperatures of perishable items such as vaccines, pharmaceuticals, and reagents.

The "RKN" refrigeration container from AcuTemp.

Vetter Is Certified to Work in Japan

Japan's Ministry for Health, Labor and Welfare gave Vetter Pharma-Fertigung (Ravensburg, Germany) accreditation as a foreign manufacturer for the Japanese pharmaceutical market. Vetter provides aseptic filling of prefilled injection systems. The company was certified in the "drug, sterile product;" "drug, packaging, labeling, and storage;" and "medical device, sterilized medical device" categories.

Expansions

Microfluidics Launches New Website

Microfluidics (Newton, MA) launched its newly redesigned website. The site (www.microfluidicscorp.com) provides clients an in-depth view of the company and its products using an intuitive navigation system and multimedia content. Visitors can view company news, upcoming events, press releases, newsletters, and industry-specific solutions. The items are organized into categories such as pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and chemical. Visitors also can search for information about topics such as cell disruption, high-shear particle-size reduction, liposomes, emulsions, and carbon nanotubes.

DRAXIS Builds New Facility

DRAXIS Health (Montreal, Canada) began constructing a 77,000-ft² new secondary-packaging and warehousing facility in St-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec. The facility will help DRAXIS produce multiple nonsterile specialty semisolid products for Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies (Skillman, NJ). The new building is expected to be completed by mid-2008. DRAXIS then will install and validate the facility's equipment and ensure the facility complies with the applicable regulatory requirements.

Advion BioServices Acquires New Instruments

Advion BioServices (Ithaca, NY) the bioanalytical services division of Advion BioSciences, is expanding its capacity with the recent acquisition of two Applied Biosystems–MDS Sciex "API 5000" mass spectrometers and Waters "Acquity" ultraperformance liquid chromatography (UPLC) capability. In addition, the company hired 17 employees after moving to its new laboratory facility in April 2007.

Advion has operated a bioanalytical liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry laboratory since 1993 to serve the pharmaceutical industry. The addition of the new API 5000 mass spectrometers gives Advion's bioanalytical laboratory a total of 24 triple-quadrupole mass spectrometers, thus making it one of the largest bioanalytical contract laboratories in the world. Advion's acquisition of UPLC broadens the range of liquid-chromatography capabilities the company can offer its customers.

Meissner Debuts Green Website

Meissner (Camarillo, CA) launched a new website called Green Docs at www.meissner.com/greendocs. Green Docs makes product inserts, which were previously printed, available on the Internet 24 hours a day. The implementation of Green Docs is part of Meissner's overall plan to become an environmentally friendly manufacturer. Meissner says that customers can help save more than one acre of forested land annually by accessing and downloading these e-documents. Green Docs provides information and guidance on such topics as product specifications, filter integrity testing, and proper product installation.

Acquisitions

Cambridge Major Labs Acquires ChemShop

Cambridge Major Laboratories (CML, Germantown, WI) acquired ChemShop (Weert the Netherlands), a European supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) development services. The newly combined company is one of the largest pharmaceutical-chemistry development organizations in the Western hemisphere, according to CML. The merged companies have 140 employees at three sites in the US and Europe. ChemShop was renamed Cambridge Major Laboratories Europe.

ChemShop has provided process development and manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical industry for nine years. All of ChemShop's management and personnel will continue to operate the business at the Weert facility, which includes research and development laboratories, kilo-laboratory suites, and a pilot plant. The ChemShop facility provides intermediates and APIs on scales from grams to hundreds of kilograms.