Supplier News: Evonik, Evotec, LTS & More
The latest from CDMOs, CMOs, and suppliers featuring Evonik, Evotec, Bio X Cell, LTS, Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing and CiVentiChem.
General
* Evotec Announces Job Cuts, Provides Updates on Restructuring Plan
Chemicals/Chemical API Manufacturing
* CDMO CiVentiChem Opens New Facility for Regulatory Starting Materials
Biologics Manufacturing
* Bio X Cell Appoints New CEO
Formulation Development/Drug Product Manufacturing
* Evonik Expands Lipid Nanoparticle Mfg Capabilities
* LTS, Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing Form Strategic Alliance for Wearable Injector Devices
General
Evotec Announces Job Cuts, Provides Updates on Restructuring Plan
Evotec, a Hamburg, Germany-based drug-discovery and development company, provided an update of its restructuring, which includes a staff reduction of approximately 400. The company provided the update as part of its first-half 2024 results.
“H1 2024 revenues and profitability have been more challenging for the company than expected,” said Dr. Christian Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Evotec, who took over as CEO on July 1, 2024, from Dr Mario Polywka, who had been interim CEO since June 15, 2024. “We are operating in a more difficult market environment, most notably the slowdown of early-stage R&D spending. This has required us to accelerate our transformation towards sustainable profitable growth, leveraging better on our strengths, driving productivity, reducing complexity and making the organization stronger for its next growth phase. On profitability, we have already started the first phase of our priority reset announced earlier this year [2024], which will produce annualized savings of at least EUR 40 million [$44 million] in 2025.”
For the first-half of 2024, the company reported a 2% gain in revenues to EUR 390.8 million ($428.8 million), but the company’s total shared R&D revenues decreased by 7% to EUR 302.4 million ($331.8 million), reflecting the softness in shared R&D, still impacted by the market environment and a high cost base.
As part of its “reset,” the company is rationalizing sites and is planning staff reductions. Specifically, the company is doing the following: (1) exiting gene therapy and closing its site in Orth, Austria; (2) closing chemistry activities in Marcy (Lyon), France; (3) separating manufacturing at its site in Halle/Westphalia, Germany, as a non-core activity; (4) identifying a headcount reduction potential of approximately 400 roles across the company’s global footprint; and (5) reducing its physical footprint through surrendering certain lease agreements. The company expects to achieve expected annualized adjusted EBITDA improvement of over EUR 40 million ($44 million) starting in the second-half of 2024.
Source: Evotec
Chemicals/Chemical API Manufacturing
CDMO CiVentiChem Opens New Facility for Regulatory Starting Materials
CiVentiChem, a Hyderabad, India-based CDMO of small-molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and intermediates, has completed a new facility to expand its manufacturing capacity by 300%. The new facility will focus on producing regulatory starting materials and intermediates to support small-molecule clinical and commercial projects.
Source: CiVentiChem
Biologics Manufacturing
Bio X Cell Appoints New CEO
Bio X Cell, LLC, a Lebanon, New Hampshire-based producer of monoclonal antibodies for preclinical in vivo research applications, has announced the appointment of Christopher Conway, formerly President of Research and Development of Curia, as its new Chief Executive Officer. Conway replaces Klaus Lubbe, the founder of the company, who will remain involved with the company, particularly with respect to new product development and including as a board member and minority shareholder.
Conway has extensive experience in both small-molecule and biologics drug discovery, most recently as President of Research and Development at Curia. He joined Curia (formerly AMRI) in 2008 from Johnson & Johnson and progressed through a series of commercial leadership roles. In 2015, he was promoted to Senior Vice President and Drug Discovery and Development Business Unit Head. He then was promoted to President of the R&D business unit in 2019 and P&L leadership of 20 sites globally.
Source: Bio X Cell
Formulation Development/Drug Product Manufacturing
Evonik Expands Lipid Nanoparticle Mfg Capabilities
Evonik, a manufacturer of excipients, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), fine chemicals, and specialty chemicals, is collaborating with Knauer Wissenschaftliche Geräte, a manufacturer of scientific instruments, to improve the upscaling of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulations.
Knauer provides scientific instruments used in research and commercial applications. Evonik recently implemented Knauer’s IJM NanoScaler Pro technology for use in nucleic-acid LNP formulations to reduce the time and material costs associated with screening for optimal LNP formulations on platforms that do not necessarily upscale when introduced into Knauer’s IJM large-scale systems.
Source: Evonik
LTS, Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing Form Strategic Alliance for Wearable Injectable Devices
LTS Lohmann Therapie-Systeme, an Andernach, Germany-based provider of drug-delivery technology and systems, and Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing, a CDMO of parenteral drug products, have entered a strategic alliance focused on the sterile fill–finish of LTS’ wearable injector devices specifically designed for the delivery of biologics. LTS’ Sorrel is an on-body delivery system for large-volume and/or viscous drug formulations.
