BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

J&J sales and marketing update

October 15, 2012 7:00 AM UTC

Johnson & Johnson said it is pursuing multiple options to restore a reliable supply of cancer drug Doxil liposomal doxorubicin. The pharma said its short-term solution includes manufacturing Doxil in collaboration between third-party manufacturer, Ben Venue Laboratories Inc., and another supplier to complete end-to-end production. J&J said it is also working on a long-term solution of having all aspects of production completed at new manufacturers. The pharma did not disclose details. Ben Venue is a subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH (Ingelheim, Germany).

In March, EMA recommended that the manufacturing process for the product be transferred to alternative facilities from the Ben Venue facility. Last year, EMA's CHMP said no new patients should be treated with the drug after identifying "shortcomings" at the sole manufacturing site, particularly with the aseptic filling process (see BioCentury, Dec. 5, 2011 & March 26, 2012). ...