BioPharm International Editors

SGS Life Science Services has been awarded cGMP accreditation from AIFA for its analytical laboratory in Livorno, Italy.

Catalent Pharma Solutions announces additional packaging and storage space for highly potent and cytotocix drugs at Kansas City facility.

FDA gives orphan drug designation to Merrimack Pharmaceuticals' MM-141 for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Construction has started on Novo Nordisk's laboratories for diabetes research in Denmark.

MedImmune enters into an agreement to acquire the image analysis and data mining company.

AstraZeneca announced a partnership with Pharmacyclics and Janssen for combination trials of MEDI4736 (AstraZeneca) with Imbruvica (Pharmacyclics and Janssen) for the treatment of hematologic cancers.

Bristol-Myers Squibb entered into an agreement with Galecto Biotech AB to gain exclusive rights to TD139, a novel inhaled inhibitor of galectin-3 for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Bristol-Myers Squibb announced a multi-year expansion of its biologics manufacturing agreement with Lonza.

Sartorius opened a new application center at its offices in Shanghai for product demonstrations, trial runs, and training sessions.

LabCorp announced it will purchase contract research company Covance Inc. for approximately $6.1 billion in cash and stock.

Sigma-Aldrich's custom manufacturing services business unit, SAFC, has launched a new protein quality supplement for biological drug production, including biosimilars.

Pfizer's Trumenba is the first FDA-approved immunization against meningococcal disease for individuals 10-25 years old.

Bristol-Myers Squibb announced that they have reached an agreement with F-star Alpha, giving BMS the exclusive option to acquire F-star's HER2-targeted breast and gastric cancer treatment.

The new Argos biomanufacturing facility in North Carolina will include automated production using the company's Arcelis technology.

GSK's investigational Ebola vaccine is in Phase I safety trials.

Johnson& Johnson is collaborating with WHO and others on clinical testing, development, production, and distribution of an ebola vaccine.

Pall ForteBio introduces a solution for quantifying residual host cell proteins in CHO cells.

The agency recommends that companies developing drugs to treat Ebola apply for orphan drug designation.

AbbVie to pay Shire $1.636 billion break fee for terminating purchase agreement.

The WuXi AppTec bulk cell culture production facility, designed by Sartorius Stedim Biotech (SSB), received an honorable mention in the 2014 Facility of the Year Awards at the annual meeting of International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) in Las Vegas last week.

FDA approved a Cook Pharmica facility and a Patheon facility for manufacturing of Halozyme products.

Lilly announces the closure of its Guayama, Puerto Rico manufacturing facility amid continued investments at other plants.

Sanofi Pasteur and Immune Design agree to jointly develop therapies through Phase II clinical trials.

BioReliance has introduced select in vitro ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion) and toxicology testing services its service offering. The company?s range of predictive assays use a novel suite of genetically modified cell lines created with CompoZr zinc finger nuclease (ZFN), a Sigma-Aldrich proprietary technology.

AbbVie sends Shire notice that it is reconsidering its offer recommendation.

The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) released its Drug Shortages Prevention Plan as part of an initiative to address drug shortage prevention due to manufacturing and quality issues.

Hospira voluntary recalls certain lots of several LifeCare products due to potential for leakage.

A report from PhRMA highlights how drugs that failed in clinical trials are a crucial part of development for melanoma, lung cancer, and brain cancer.

Endo will acquire Auxilium Pharmaceuticals in a cash and stock transaction for approximately $2.6 billion.

IDT Biologika completes large-scale biologics finishing facility in Dessau, Germany.