Laurus Labs invests in continuous chromatography

Laurus Labs, one of India’s fastest growing API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) makers, has commissioned a continuous chromatography Varicol system from Novasep. This is the first time Laurus Labs will use a continuous chromatography system at multi-ton scale for chiral molecule separation.

Varicol continuous chromatography is designed to separate enantiomers from racemic mixtures. A key feature is the solvent recycling unit associated with the chromatography system, enabling the process to exhibit very low solvent consumption (over 99.9% solvent recovery).

“The most important factor in our choice of the Varicol system is the environmentally friendly solvent recovery unit in continuous chromatography,” said Dr. Satyanarayana Chava, CEO of Laurus Labs. “Novasep provides value for money: good equipment with a good technology support. Engaging local representative Nilsan Nishotech Systems to help with the communication has been truly helpful in establishing a firm business relationship. We look forward to working with Novasep to optimise and continue designing new cost-effective production solutions.”

Prior to the installation, Novasep started by conducting a feasibility study at its R&D laboratory in Pompey, France, to evaluate the continuous process on a small-scale. It confirmed the Varicol technology was the right choice that could address Laurus Labs’ economic constraints. It also enabled Novasep’s experts to size the equipment: using in-house numerical simulation expert tools made the scale up straightforward and fully reliable.

At the final phase of the project, the Laurus Labs production team was trained at the Novasep FDA-inspected Pompey site equipped with commercial scale Varicol systems to make the team “ready to purify”.

“Indian companies are now looking for efficient technologies with local support,” said Nilesh Badani CEO of Nilsan Nishotech.

“India is an important area for Novasep’s growth,” said Michel Spagnol, CEO of Novasep. “This deal with Laurus Labs is the perfect example of what Novasep – Nilsan Nishotech can bring to the most demanding Indian players."