PharmTech Weekly Roundup - February 13, 2026

Welcome to the PharmTech Weekly Roundup, your briefing on the latest developments in pharmaceutical manufacturing and development for the week of February 9, 2026. I’m your host, associate editorial director Chris Cole.

We begin this week with a major shift toward digital integration in drug discovery. Takeda has partnered with Iambic to utilize the NeuralPLexer AI platform, which incorporates physics-informed modeling to identify novel chemical structures for difficult biological targets. This digital focus is echoed by Merck KGaA, which reported a 21% reduction in cooling energy at its Darmstadt, Germany site by using autonomous AI to optimize existing infrastructure without requiring physical modifications. Similarly, Hovione is increasingly incorporating digital tools like modeling, big data, and process analytics to accelerate the CMC development section, according to Vice President of Strategic Business Management Márcio Temtem. To ensure these advanced digital tools remain viable, Merck is also investing €500 million in a semiconductor site in Taiwan to secure the hardware supply chain for AI applications.

A major theme this week is the strengthening of regional supply chains to ensure national health security. Fresenius Kabi and Phlow Corp. have launched a first-of-its-kind collaboration to onshore the production of epinephrine, creating a fully domestic U.S. supply chain from API to finished dose. Meanwhile, FUJIFILM Biotechnologies has unveiled a £400 million expansion in the UK, adding 19,000 liters of single-use capacity to support biologics from early clinical manufacturing through commercial scale. This move toward regionalization is supported by Temtem, who notes a permanent industry shift toward regional over global supply chains to manage increased complexity.

Hovione’s collaboration with GEA has produced the ConsiGma® CDC Flex, which combines three equipment functions into one unit to allow for both batch and continuous tableting. In the containment sector, IMA Group’s acquisition of ProSys expands its portfolio of specialized aseptic and containment solutions, essential for safely producing potent compounds. Regarding clinical success, experts like Suzanne Jansen from ICON emphasize that flexible and simple formulation strategies are critical in early-phase trials to accommodate the 10- to 100-fold dose escalations often seen in first-in-human studies.

In the clinical arena, European biotechs are advancing beyond traditional Alzheimer’s treatments to evaluate next-generation disease-modifying agents that target non-amyloid pathways. For lung cancer, research on JIN-A02, an investigational fourth-generation TKI, shows promise in overcoming common resistance mutations while sparing wild-type EGFR.

Finally, we recognize the vital role of women in pharma manufacturing and development this week, in honor of International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11. Leaders like Dr. Jennifer Levin Carter highlight how women are serving as primary thought leaders in precision medicine, though they still hold only 20–30% of leadership roles. Klaudia Lechowska of Mabion Biologics stresses that STEM programs are essential for building the technical confidence required for women to bridge the gap between manufacturing and business development.

The overarching themes this week are clear: AI-driven efficiency, modular hardware flexibility, and a strategic pivot toward regionalized manufacturing ecosystems.

As we look at these shifts toward domestic production and digital twins, which of these innovations do you think will have the most immediate impact on your manufacturing workflows? Let us know.