CPHI Roundtable: Roquette Pharma Solutions
In our final EPM issue of the year, we reflected on the success of this year's CPHI Barcelona show. As part of our look back at 2023, we at EPM HQ wanted to platform some of the pharma industry's leading companies and voices and give them the chance to reflect on their year and to address their plans for the future.
The fourth in this series – which you can follow through the CPHI Roundtable tag at the bottom of the article – is by Paul Smaltz, Vice President, Pharmaceuticals, at Roquette.
2023 was really defined by two themes: partnership and product innovation. From the opening of our new US Pharmaceutical Innovation Center and strategic investment in biopharma start-up, Beren Therapeutics, to the launch of our PEARLITOL ProTec co-processed mannitol-starch excipient for sensitive active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), we secured successes right up to the start of the CPHI Worldwide event in late October. It was only fitting then that we continue the trend of growing our global reach through smart relationship-building and in-demand product launches at the show itself.
Kicking things off on day one, we announced the completion of our acquisition of leading capsule manufacturer, Qualicaps. This latest strategic investment represents a major expansion of our global footprint, with Qualicaps’ facilities in Japan, Spain, and Romania to name just a few locations, and promotes our portfolio to the most diverse range of hard and soft capsules, fillers, and binders, disintegrants and other solutions available today. For our customers, this means more choice, faster, localised service and the combined benefits of Roquette’s decades of expertise with Qualicaps’ advanced capsule production capabilities.
Day two of CPHI and the good news kept coming – this time in the form of three new excipient grades, designed to optimise the performance of moisture-sensitive APIs. The new launches – LYCATAB CT-LM partially pregelatinised starch, MICROCEL 103 SD and MICROCEL 113 SD microcrystalline cellulose – offer a unique range of stabilising and moisture protective benefits, giving pharmaceutical manufacturers the tools they need to optimise any drug delivery, regardless of production method or formulation type. These new grades join the likes of PEARLITOL ProTec in our wider moisture protection portfolio – a comprehensive range of low water activity (Aw) excipients demonstrated to support successful drug development in applications featuring moisture sensitive active ingredients. By debuting the three new solutions at CPHI, we aimed to give visitors the opportunity to discover the transformational impact of our moisture protection portfolio first-hand, straight from our experts. From the feedback we received on-stand, it seems that formulating with sensitive APIs, especially those susceptible to moisture, will continue to be a hot topic for the pharma industry heading into 2024.
Our exhibition at CPHI was the culmination of the themes, goals, and successes we pursued throughout 2023, underpinned by our purpose to be the trusted partner our customers need to unlock healthier futures. This year was one of the best yet for Team Roquette – here’s to even greater successes in 2024!”