Week of December 24, 2012: AAIPharma Expands Parenteral Drug Capacity; Novartis Buys Dendreon Plant; and More

AAIPharma, a provider of pharmaceutical product-development services, is expanding the capacity and capabilities of its parenteral manufacturing facility in Charleston, South Carolina. Facility expansions currently underway at AAIPharma’s Charleston location include the installation of compounding and aseptic processing suites to contain a newly acquired Monoblock vial-filling machine, the expansion of the company’s microbiology laboratory, and the addition of on-site formulation development capabilities and enhanced analytical instrumentation. Read More

AIMM Therapeutics and Cosmo Pharmaceuticals have agreed to develop oral diagnostic and therapeutic antibodies for gastrointestinal diseases, including colon carcinoma. AIMM Therapeutics will generate human monoclonal antibodies, which will then be formulated by Cosmo Pharmaceuticals into an extended-release formulation using its proprietary MMX technology. Read More

Dendreon, a biotechnology company, has sold its 173,100-ft² immunotherapy manufacturing facility (which features capabilities to manufacture Provenge [sipuleucel-T], an autologous cellular immunotherapy) in Morris Plains, New Jersey, to Novartis for USD 43 million in cash. Read More

Halozyme Therapeutics and Pfizer have agreed to develop and commercialize products combining proprietary Pfizer biologics with Halozyme’s Enhanze technology. Enhanze is Halozyme's proprietary drug-delivery platform and is based on the company’s patented recombinant human hyaluronidase enzyme (rHuPH20). Under the agreement, Halozyme has granted to Pfizer a worldwide license to develop and commercialize products combining rHuPH20 with Pfizer proprietary biologics directed to up to six targets. Targets may be selected on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis. Halozyme will receive an initial payment of USD 8 million, which includes the upfront fee for exclusive licenses to two specified therapeutic targets in primary care and specialty care indications and the right for Pfizer to select up to four additional targets upon payment of additional fees. Read More

A roundup of additional company and people news from pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies, their suppliers, and contract-service providers. Read More