EU pharmacies resist wholesaling changes; Teva cutting 200 at Irvine plant;

> EU pharmacy leaders oppose the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency's plan to review drug wholesaling practices with an eye toward eliminating complexity. Article

> Generics-maker Teva Pharmaceuticals is cutting 200 production and support-staff jobs at its Irvine, CA, plant, most by the first week in February. Story

> Shire has completed construction of a manufacturing plant in the Boston suburb of Lexington, in which it plans to make Replagal and Vpriv. Article

> AstraZeneca is continuing its serialization push: ten manufacturing sites and 30 production lines now produce drugs having item-level serial numbers on their packaging. Article

> Grand Bahama eyes the drug and chemical industries in its ambition to become a transportation and logistics hub for maritime and air cargo operations. Item

> The UK's Fairfield Group has launched a scanner that reads 2D data matrix barcodes in addition to traditional barcodes and Pharmacodes. Fairfield release

> Catalent Pharma Solutions is enhancing its sourcing program for the supply of comparator drugs used in clinical trials. Catalent release

> Actavis Group has expanded its geothermally powered, zero-carbon-footprint tablet manufacturing and packaging operation in Iceland. News

> Both the FDA and ASHP maintain drug-shortage lists; the FDA's includes nearly 60 medically necessary products while the more comprehensive ASHP list includes more than 140 drugs. Report