PHARMA TECH
PR Newswire | January 08, 2024
Independent biopharmaceutical company Specialised Therapeutics Asia Pte Ltd (ST) has added three new endocrinology therapies to its specialist portfolio, following an exclusive distribution agreement with Danish company Ascendis Pharma A/S.
Under the terms of the agreement, ST will commercialise Ascendis Pharma's weekly injectable paediatric human growth hormone treatment SKYTROFA (lonapegsomatropin), hypoparathyroidism treatment YORVIPATH (palopegteriparatide) and investigational achondroplasia therapy TransCon CNP (navepegritide).
The agreement spans ST's key regions of Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Two of the products included in this agreement are already internationally approved:
Once-weekly SKYTROFA is a human growth hormone (hGH) approved in the United States for the treatment of paediatric patients aged >1 years weighing >11.5 kg with growth failure due to inadequate secretion of endogenous growth hormone (GH)1 and in the European Union for growth failure in children and adolescents aged from 3 to 18 years due to insufficient endogenous growth hormone secretion (growth hormone deficiency [GHD]).
YORVIPATH is a first-in-class parathyroid hormone (PTH) replacement therapy to treat chronic hypoparathyroidism, a rare and potentially serious condition where the body produces no or abnormally low levels of PTH. It is approved in the European Union for the treatment of adults with chronic hypoparathyroidism.
The third product – TransCon CNP – is in development by Ascendis Pharma for the treatment of achondroplasia (ACH), the most common genetic form of skeletal dysplasia and resulting disproportionate short stature, following successful Phase 2 trial results.
Australian endocrinologist Dr Veronica Preda noted that YORVIPATH would be the first specialist therapeutic option for Australian patients living with hypoparathyroidism.
"Hypoparathyroidism can seriously impact quality of life and has potentially life-threatening consequences," Dr Preda said.
"To have an option that is able to treat the underlying cause of the disease, moving beyond standard oral calcium and active Vitamin D, is a great step forward."
Announcing the partnership, ST Chief Executive Officer Carlo Montagner said this agreement was an important company milestone, signalling ST's expansion into both endocrinology and paediatric medicine.
Mr Montagner commented: "We are delighted to have been selected as Ascendis Pharma's exclusive partner for commercialising their portfolio in Oceania and these South-East Asia countries and look forward to launching these critical endocrinology products in our regions as soon as possible.
"All three products are valuable inclusions to our broad therapeutic pipeline and our international business, as we continue to leverage our substantial experience commercialising specialist medicines across multiple regions.
"We look forward to working with endocrinologists across our territories to make these endocrine therapies available to all eligible patients who may benefit."
Ascendis Pharma Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Camilla Harder Hartvig said ST had been selected to launch the endocrinology portfolio in these countries based on its strong track record commercialising specialist products in multiple regions.
"We are delighted to partner with Specialised Therapeutics to broaden the reach of our endocrinology rare disease portfolio, contributing to our shared goal of making a meaningful difference for patients facing unmet medical needs," she said.
About Specialised Therapeutics
Founded in 2007, Specialised Therapeutics is the region's largest independent specialty pharmaceutical company, providing new therapies and technologies to patients in Australia, New Zealand and across Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore, ST partners with global pharmaceutical, biotech and diagnostic companies to bring novel healthcare opportunities to patients who are impacted by a range of diseases. ST has built a strong track record of success, navigating complex regulatory, reimbursement and commercialisation environments in its diverse regions. The ST mission is to provide specialty therapies where there is an unmet need. The company's broad therapeutic portfolio currently includes novel agents in oncology, haematology, CNS, neurology, endocrinology, ophthalmology and supportive care, although it is not confined to these areas. ST is a member of the World Orphan Drug Alliance (WODA).
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PHARMA TECH
PR Newswire | January 25, 2024
SHL Medical, a world-leading solutions provider of advanced drug delivery systems and SteriPack Group, renowned global supplier of secondary packing and final assembly services to the pharmaceutical industry, enter a non-exclusive strategic partnership. Together, they aim to establish a pre-validated final assembly service at the SteriPack facility in Poland, enhancing the overall flexibility of supply chain strategies for their customers. In addition to SHL Medical's existing final assembly, labeling, and packaging¬ services in the United States, this collaboration extends high-quality CMO options to Europe.
Markus Puusepp, SHL Medical's Chief Growth Officer, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, stating "This partnership is a significant addition to the Molly platform value proposition. We share common values with SteriPack, from focus on the customer to a commitment to quality, making the decision to collaborate straightforward."
Recognizing the importance of flexibility and time-to-market, especially in clinical production, the partnership with SteriPack will offer SHL Medical's customers highly flexible and personalized final assembly and packaging solutions. This is particularly beneficial for small batch handling in clinical supply and niche markets like rare diseases. Emphasizing the comprehensive capabilities of the Molly platform, SHL Medical aims to deliver right-sized solutions that ensure improved service, faster timelines, and a more streamlined supply chain for its diverse customer base.
John Ward, SteriPack Group's VP Pharmaceutical Solutions commented "SteriPack Group looks forward to supporting SHL Medical and their customers in providing quality and flexible solutions to a fast- moving market. With an emphasis on creating service solutions designed around specific customer requirements, this partnership will make the process of working with the Molly platform an easy decision."
About SHL Medical
As a world-leading solutions provider of advanced drug delivery systems, SHL Medical is the partner of choice for many leading pharma and biotech companies. Driven by its company purpose – Enabling Patients' Independence – SHL Medical offers patient-centric solutions for the design, development, and manufacturing of autoinjectors, pen injectors, as well as innovative specialty delivery systems for large-volume and high-viscosity formulations. It also offers final assembly, labeling, and packaging solutions for its drug delivery systems.
In response to the rising trend in home therapy, SHL Medical has increased its developmental work in the digital healthcare sector to help improve the drug delivery ecosystem.
Located across Switzerland, Taiwan, Sweden, and the US, SHL Medical's global team of experts collaborate seamlessly as one team in utilizing its comprehensive in-house manufacturing capabilities. Its solutions offer customization and optimization for each project while proactively weaving sustainability-driven measures into its designs and processes to contribute to a cleaner earth.
About SteriPack Group
SteriPack Group is a globally renowned contract packing and manufacturing organisation serving the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors respectively. With a strong emphasis on innovation, quality and compliance, SteriPack's services to the pharmaceutical industry include device design and development, final assembly, labelling, secondary packing, serialisation and aggregation of injectable formats including vials, pre-filled syringes, and autoinjectors.
SteriPack's tailored customer-focused solutions make it an ideally suited supplier for small to medium-sized batch volumes required for a growing market of targeted therapies as well as clinical trials. Its proven capabilities in cleanroom assembly and labelling as well as secondary packing services for drug delivery systems and medical devices, combined with significant investment into growing cold chain storage capacity, have helped to make it a trusted partner to top global pharmaceutical companies.
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PHARMA TECH
PR Newswire | January 23, 2024
CGI, one of the largest business and IT consulting companies in the world, today announced a partnership with Körber aimed at enabling pharmaceutical and life sciences companies to improve their production processes by combining CGI's end-to-end services with Körber's Werum PAS-X Manufacturing Execution System (MES) Suite. The global partnership is designed to help clients increase efficiency, accuracy, and safety in pharma products and enhance decision-making through access to real-time data.
"CGI works side-by-side with clients to transform data into actionable insights to drive smart, sustainable and resilient operations," said Tim Hurlebaus President, U.S. Commercial & State Government operations and global executive sponsor for CGI's health and life sciences business. "This includes combining the benefits of MES and Industry 5.0 to gather rich insights to enable operational excellence. Our partnership with Körber complements our offerings portfolio, enabling us to deliver innovative new services and solutions to support the needs of our pharma and life sciences clients."
Körber's platform serves as a digital, real-time process controller to shorten time-to-market, lower production costs and enable a more patient-centric approach, improving outcomes and leading to improved health. Compliant with Good Manufacturing Practices, PAS-X MES presents a comprehensive view of data from diverse integrated systems, enabling faster and more informed decisions, which can be a critical advantage in an industry where timing and accuracy are paramount.
"Our PAS-X Products and Service Suites facilitate seamless digital transformation projects at our customers globally. By combining forces with CGI's global presence, expertise and complementary service portfolio in pharma and life sciences, we can offer a unique and compelling value proposition. CGI is one of the key partners to continue to expand our offering to our global customers" says Jan-Henrik Dieckert, COO Software, Körber Business Area Pharma.
Embedding robust IT and operational technology (OT) security, CGI's business consulting and MES services expertise enables faster, more seamless, and operationally integrated implementation of the platform, including transformation through technical integration, data migration, and organizational change management and adoption.
"In our global client insights research, pharma and life sciences executives said optimizing operations is their top business priority. CGI serves as a trusted advisor to help them achieve this priority through ROI-led digitization investments," said Maiken Lykke, Senior Vice-President, CGI Denmark. "We work collaboratively with clients to build solutions that tailor the right mix of services and technologies for their needs. We are pleased to partner with Körber to address the unique client challenges in this industry."
CGI delivers clinical and IT solutions for 11 of the top 20 global biotech and pharmaceutical companies, including helping these organizations optimize their processes; launch new therapies for cancer and rare diseases; and drive digital transformation across their research & development, manufacturing and commercial functions globally.
About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 91,500 consultants and professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2023 reported revenue is C$14.30 billion.
About Körber
We are Körber – an international technology group with more than 12,000 employees at over 100 locations worldwide and a common goal: We turn entrepreneurial thinking into customer success and shape the technological change. In the Business Areas Digital, Pharma, Supply Chain, and Technologies, we offer products, solutions and services that inspire. We act fast to customer needs, we execute ideas seamlessly, and with our innovations we create added value for our customers. In doing so, we are increasingly building on ecosystems that solve the challenges of today and tomorrow. Körber AG is the holding company of the Körber Group.
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