The French company said the new facility will work closely with its specialist pharmaceutical team based at sister sites in Singapore and France to advance research into drug delivery systems for oral prescription drugs and nutraceutical active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), while improving speed to market.

Roquette’s $25 million project will include an applied sciences facility focusing on excipients for oral dosage forms, drug delivery systems, nutraceutical APIs and innovative pharmaceutical ingredients. It will flank a Customer Technical Services (CTS) Laboratory designed to enable a deeper level of collaboration with customers formulating drugs in new product pipelines.

Additionally, the new center, which will have 30 employees including 20 scientists, will have an on-site auditorium. Here, the company plans to host monthly symposiums and customer training exercises to help industry professionals stay up-to-date with the latest pharmaceutical science and developments.

“As 45% of drugs developed globally come from the US, expanding operations in this market is key to achieving Roquette’s strong growth ambitions for its pharma business,” said CEO Pierre Courduroux. The ongoing pandemic has highlighted the importance of continued collaboration in the global healthcare community to bring innovative new products and services to fruition, added Paul Smaltz, the company’s vice president Pharmaceutical Solutions.

“World’s largest” pea protein plant in Canada.

In mid-November, Roquette inaugurated what it called the world's largest pea protein plant, at Portage la Prairie, Canada. This facility, its largest-ever North American investment, is aimed at meeting “surging global demand” for alternative proteins, which the French company estimates will see growth of 15-24% over the next decade. Roquette claims to be the only player with major pea protein facilities on both sides of the Atlantic.

The facility near Winnipeg in Canada’s Manitoba province will have capacity to process 125,000t/y of yellow peas. Together with its plant in France, the company expects its annual pea production is to rise to 250,000 t annually and confirm its market-leading position.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist