Spotlight On... Japan's Daiichi Sankyo closing Japan plant with 150 workers; Is Capsugel for sale?; Australia working on backlog of plant approvals; and more...

Japan's Daiichi Sankyo, which has been reorganizing its API production as part of a larger cost-cutting initiative, says it will close a plant in Japan where it has 150 employees. In a brief release, the drugmaker said production will stop this month at its API plant in Hiratsuka and that the plant will close by September. It did not say what will happen to employees. Daiichi Sankyo, which has been struggling financially in the face of patent losses, started its manufacturing assessment in 2014, reorganizing its supply chain logistics the same year. It also sold an API plant API plant in Akita to Tokyo-based Alfresa Pharma. Release | More

> Sources tell Reuters that investment bank KKR is considering cashing out of Capsugel with an IPO or a sale and that potential buyers include Bayer and Catalent. Story

> Australia says that the median processing time taken to complete an MRA GMP clearance application is 4.6 weeks and average processing time is 12.4 weeks as it clears out a backlog built up before it started a new tracking system. Report

> South Africa says it expects state-owned pharma company to be manufacturing some HIV meds by next year. Report

> French animal health pharma company Virbac is getting $5.4 million from the state of Missouri to help finance a $38 million plant expansion in Bridgeton and pledged to add 144 jobs to the 236 it currently has. Story