On September 30, Ashland Specialty Ingredients opened a state-of-the-art pharmaceutical center of excellence in Wilmington. The new facility will focus on drug development and bioavailability enhancement, and expands Ashland's global network of pharmaceutical research and development centers. The facility also offers formulation and contract development for solid dispersions and oral solid-dosage forms. To support early stage proof-of concept-studies, capabilities include spray drying, hot-melt extrusion and potent-compound processing suites.

"A key commitment is to be close to our customers. One way of accomplishing this is by investing in leading-edge facilities and laboratories," said Luis Fernandez-Moreno, president, Ashland Specialty Ingredients. "These investments help drive growth by enabling us to deliver innovative solutions to customers and improve our competitive position. With this facility, we will provide our North American customers with unparalleled expertise and service in enhancing their pharmaceutical formulations."

"Research and development (R&D) dedicated to drug development and bioavailability enhancement is essential to the future success of the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry," said Jim Mish, group vice president, Consumer Specialties, Ashland Specialty Ingredients. "Emerging manufacturing processes, such as continuous manufacturing by spray drying or hot-melt extrusion, is one component of this equation. Excipients science is another. At our new center of excellence, we will be combining our expertise in process technology along with our knowledge in materials science to further support the quality, safety and efficiency of oral solid-dosage forms."

"The Ashland Pharmaceutical Specialties research and development team takes a customer-focused approach to R&D. Roughly 70 percent of our current R&D projects involve working directly with our customers on a collaborative basis," explained Tom Dürig, senior director, Global Pharmaceutical R&D, Consumer Specialties, Ashland Specialty Ingredients. "We provide customized training on product applications to our customers. Additionally, our team can provide technical assistance for specific requests from customers. Superior technical service forms an important part of our offering and this distinguishes Ashland from our competitors. The products we manufacture are supported by a global network of research and application scientists and technically trained salespeople."

This center of excellence is another major investment following the opening of a pharmaceutical center of excellence in Hyderabad, India, earlier this year and a personal care center of excellence in Mumbai, India, in 2012. Ashland Specialty Ingredients has 10 centers of excellence around the world.

The opening event in Wilmington was followed by an educational symposium featuring leaders in drug delivery and bioavailability-enhancement enabling technologies and a pharmaceutical equipment vendor showcase.