Melanie Sena is community editor of Pharmaceutical Technology.

Melanie Sena

 board of directors has elected Thomas J. Lynch, Jr., MD to its board, effective Jan. 1, 2014. Lynch will serve as a member of the Science and Technology Committee of the Board of Directors.

Lynch is currently the director of the Yale Cancer Center and physician-in-chief of the Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven. He is also the Richard Sackler and Jonathan Sackler Professor of Medical Oncology at Yale-New Haven. He has held these positions since 2009. From 1993 to 2009, he was a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of hematology and oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center. He also served as director of the Center for Thoracic Cancers at MGH and director of medical oncology at the MGH Thoracic Oncology Center.

Articles

Bristol-Myers Squibb has elected Thomas Lynch, Jr., MD to its board of directors.

BMS Names New Board Member

 has completed construction of  a R&D process-development center and a multipurpose API cGMP manufacturing plant in Changshu, China.
 
A total of $113 million was invested in this facility.  The new plant will work together with ScinoPharm Taiwan in the production of new and generic drugs for the international market as well as supply the local Chinese market.  The plant has already received drug production licenses from the Chinese FDA for four APIs products. The plant will also serve as the base for the company to develop its API business in China.  ScinoPharm has already developed nine of the top 20 oncological products used in China, according to the company. 
 
The Changshu plant is equipped to manufacture high-potency, antitumor, hormonal-active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates in highly contained facilities. In addition, the plant is also able to manufacture new products in smaller quantities for sales evaluations and for GMP samples. 
 
The company also has purchased an additional 108 acres of adjoining property to be used for the development of future API production lines and for the construction of future formulation production plants. 


ScinoPharm completes new API manufacturing plant in Changshu, China.

ScinoPharm Completes China Plant

Witte’s vibrating fluid bed dryers and coolers are available mounted on rails to allow unobstructed access for cleaning, maintenance, and visual inspection. During washdowns or for product changeovers, the drying and cooling sections spanning the complete length of the thermal processing system may be rolled out by one person and then rolled back into place without any tools. Specified for high-capacity fluidized bed dryers and coolers where access for inspection and cleaning are necessary, the rail-mounted vibratory dryers and coolers are designed for pharmaceuticals and other products that require dry processing. The steel rails include cushioned bumpers and are mounted into the floor during dryer installation.


Rail-Mounted Fluid Bed Dryers Allow Cleaning Access

The PureFeed DP-4 is a gravimetric feeder that can meter dry pharmaceutical powders at feed rates as low as 20 grams/hour. Jet milling, continuous blending, packaging, coating, and ingredient weighing are applications suited for the DP-4.  A feature of the PureFeed DP-4 is a speed controlled, inert ceramic feed disc. Positioned at the base of a cylindrical, electropolished stainless steel material storage chamber, the disc rotates to discharge tiny amounts of material, continuously and pulsation free over a 20- to 2000-gram feed rate range. All connecting pieces are secured using sanitary quick release clamps and the inlet and discharge of the DP-4 feeder can be sealed to ensure containment during transportation.



Low Feed Rate Feeder Designed for Pharmaceutical Processes

PharmaCote CX and CX+,  an enhanced Chromium Nitride, are a range of coatings developed to improve the performance of substrate material for punches and dies. The coating offers a smooth finish and anti-stick performance, the company reports. PharmaCote CX provides prolonged tooling life due to a multi-layered application. It also offers up to 13 times more corrosion resistance than PharmaCote HC (Hard Chromium) and up to two times the life of PharmaCote CN (Chromium Nitride).

Tablet Tooling Coating Reduces Formulation Sticking

TAP Biosystem’s ambr micro bioreactor system can be applied as a perfusion mimic to enable scientists to quickly develop large-scale perfusion culture processes of unstable, low producing or minimally expressing proteins or antibodies. This system can be used as a semi-continuous chemostat model for perfusion culture in 10-15 mL micro bioreactors by using the workstation’s integrated cell counter to monitor cell density and calculate both cell growth rates and dilution volumes required to maintain stable cell density. The liquid handling performs dilutions at appropriate time points, which automatically refines chemostasis throughout the culture process. The cell specific performance can then be extrapolated to full-scale perfusion cultures. 
