CDMO Catalent and US health insurance giant Anthem have joined up with non-profit Civica’s new outpatient-focused generics business arm, CivicaScript, with plans to begin rolling out products as early as next year.

As part of a “structured dialog” initiated with pharmaceutical industry stakeholders by the European Commission, local off-patent industry association Medicines for Europe has set out the key reforms needed to bolster the sector.

After US President Joe Biden launched a review of the country’s API supply chain, the task force has reported back with key vulnerabilities that contribute to drug shortages and supply risks during a global public health emergency. According to the report, the lack of geographic diversity and dependence on foreign nations and anti-competitive actions by foreign nations are key areas of concern.

Japan’s Nichi-Iko has reported operating profit that has plummeted by more than 95% in its latest financial year, as the firm suffered a forced shutdown of once of its Japanese plants and also recognized a substantial impairment linked to its US Sagent business.

Zentiva has announced that it is investing a further €27m in expanding its flagship manufacturing plant in Prague, having already pumped €35m into the site over the past three years.

While the European off-patent industry has welcomed the latest update to the EU’s industrial strategy, including a detailed analysis of European dependencies on the global API manufacturing network, it has urged the European Commission to go further and provide “tailored actions” to bolster local manufacturing.