Construction is now under way on the hub that will integrate seven existing research centers to create an innovative global R&D networking model where high-level expertise and know-how for specific processes will be shared and extensively applied across Olon’s entire manufacturing area.

The double-digit million euro investment will fund construction of a large number of laboratories, some of which will focus on developing new and sustainable technologies including biocatalysis and photochemistry. As many as 50 additional researchers will be employed at the new center, bringing the company’s R&D staff to around 350 when people work begins in the second quarter of 2023.

An integrated data system will enable the API maker to scale up production faster while flexibly and reliably transferring technology from one site to another, Olon said. This will also facilitate the development of new molecules and innovative synthesis methods in addition to more competitive process safety standards.

Each of the center’s focus areas will be dedicated to a specific field of application and have labs dedicated to process safety along with scale-up and transfer processes. An analytical R&D area will broaden knowhow for the development of new synthesis methods and new APIs, starting with the early phase.

The campus will also be home to a process development laboratory with a team focusing on the developing advanced processes. All competencies will be linked and complement each other as part of a continuous exchange and cross-fertilization model with other Olon R&D centers worldwide.

Many of the research projects worked on at the Italian site will be carried out in partnership with the most prestigious Italian and foreign universities with which Olon already has well-established partnerships, and these will be strengthened even further in the new center, said Giorgio Bertolini, senior vice president R&D. The group’s CEO, Paolo Tubertini, said the company’s latest investment is a springboard for future growth prospects guided by a strategic vision that innovation is its competitive edge in the CDMO and generic API market.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist