> About 1,300 operations and supply chain positions will be lost as part of AstraZeneca's ($AZN) 7,300 job cuts aimed at saving $1.6 billion by the end of 2014. AZ release | Piece
> An executive with Japan's Daiichi Sankyo, whose earnings were undercut by issues related to a consent decree signed by its majority-owned subsidiary Ranbaxy Laboratories, said the company will do its "best to transfer to Ranbaxy all the necessary domestic know-how in manufacturing technology and quality assurance." Story
> After a FDA pre-approval inspection, contract manufacturing organization Pharmaceutics International has started construction of a 24,000-sq.-ft. cGMP aseptic fill/finish manufacturing facility at its Hunt Valley, MD, campus. Release
> Vitaflo USA is recalling Batch Number 12832 of its Renastart 14.11 oz (400g) cans, manufactured by a contract manufacturer in the U.K., because some of the medical food shipped throughout the U.S. from Dec. 29 through Jan. 26 was incorrectly labeled. Recall
> Aptar Pharma, the Crystal Lake, IL, maker of nasal and pulmonary drug delivery devices, has opened a new manufacturing site in Mumbai, India, its second in Asia after Suzhou in China. Aptar release
> Saudi Arabia-based Arabio, which last year opened a 10,000-sq.-meter manufacturing facility in Makkah, has appointed Alphamed as its sales and distribution partner in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Story