Pharma Capsules

Acquisition

AFI Partners Acquires OSG Norwich Pharmaceuticals

AFI Partners (New York), a private equity group of investment professionals, purchased OSG Norwich Pharmaceuticals (Norwich, NY), a pharmaceutical outsourcing manufacturing and packaging provider. The company will now be known as Norwich Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Operations at the Norwich facility will continue uninterrupted. The current leadership team will remain in place and continue to manage the business. All current employees also will remain with the new company.

Expansions

Xcelience Expands Operations

Xcelience (Tampa, FL), a source for formulation development and clinical-trial manufacturing, expanded its ability to provide drug-development solutions through the acquisition of a 24,000-ft² building. The recently acquired property, located 0.6 miles away from the current location, will double the company's capacity.

Bilcare India Grows, Establishes Academy

Bilcare Ltd.. (Pune, India), a provider of research and clinical services and packaging solutions, expanded its global research services by establishing service centers at multiple sites and signing agreements with several major global pharmaceutical companies. Bilcare also filed three patents for packaging innovations relating to product identity and consumer concerns such as counterfeiting and compliance.

In addition, Bilcare Research Academy, in association with the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (Alexandria, VA), launched its first center that offers a one-year, postgraduate program in clinical research management. The first class recently began the program at Bilcare's Pune facility.

Evotec Expands GMP Sterile Manufacturing Facility

Evotec AG (Hamburg, Germany) expanded its sterile pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Glasgow, UK, doubling its capacity for the aseptic manufacture of pharmaceuticals for use in clinical trials. Evotec's formulations business is a niche provider of contract pharmaceutical development services for pharmaceuticals intended for parenteral administration and the manufacture of formulated drugs for use in Phase I and Phase II clinical trials.

LECO Unveils New Facility

LECO (St. Joseph, MI), a provider of instrumentation and consumables, announced the relocation of its Separation Science group to its new Life Sciences & Chemical Analysis Center. The state-of-the-art, 11,500-ft² building will now serve as LECO's headquarters for Separation Science sales and applications. The facility will provide support, method development, sample analysis, and instrument demonstrations. The Center also has several conference rooms and classrooms designed for customer training and demonstrations.

Collaborations

IBC Equipment & Supplies Joins AcuTemp's Global Distributor Network

IBC Equipment & Supplies (Greenford, UK), a distributor of medical supplies to the health market, joined the AcuTemp Thermal Systems (Dayton, OH) network of global distribution partners. AcuTemp manufactures insulation and temperature-sensitive packaging technology. IBC Equipment & Supplies will market AcuTemp's suite of passive and active temperature-controlled containers to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, public health, and healthcare markets in Asia and the Middle East.

AcuTemp offers solutions integrating active and passive temperature control technologies for the cold chain, from small-passive shipping boxes to large

active pallet-size shipping containers equipped with data-logging capabilities. AcuTemp also offers advanced thermal testing and package validation services.

DSM Biologics and Crucell Announce Licensing Deal with LFB Biotechnologies

DSM Biologics (Parsippany, NJ), a business unit of DSM Pharmaceutical Products, and biotechnology company Crucell NV (Leiden, The Netherlands) signed a nonexclusive research licensing agreement with LFB Biotechnologies (Paris). LFB Biotechnologies will use Crucell's "PER.C6" production technology to develop undisclosed antibodies. No financial details were disclosed.

During the research license period, Crucell and LFB Biotechnologies also will evaluate a joint collaboration to enhance sugar structures, described as glycosylation patterns, on recombinant antibodies using LFB's proprietary technology. Crucell's and DSM's technology platform was developed for the large-scale manufacture of biopharmaceutical products, including vaccines.

People

DRAXIS Names President

DRAXIS Health Inc. (Mississauga, ON, Canada) appointed Jean-Pierre Robert as president of DRAXIS Specialty Pharmaceuticals Inc. (DSP), the company's wholly owned operating subsidiary that providers sterile, nonsterile, and radiopharmaceutical products. Robert will have responsibility for DRAXIS Pharma, the contract manufacturing division of DSP, which serves clients in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors.