Saltigo at 22nd Interphex/Pharma-i Japan; Targets Japanese Custom Manufacturing Market

June 28, 2009 - PRLog -- Tokyo - Custom manufacturing specialist Saltigo GmbH is presenting its comprehensive portfolio of services at Interphex/Pharma-i Japan Exhibition in Tokyo on July 1-3, 2009.

Saltigo’s CEO Wolfgang Schmitz emphasizes: “This is Asia’s largest pharmaceutical industry event and has an excellent reputation for attracting key decision makers from the industry. The Asian market and Japan in particular is becoming increasingly important for Saltigo. We already enjoy a good level of business activity in Japan across all market sectors, especially those serving life science industries.”

Japan is well-known for its commitment to new technologies and innovative products. This coupled with extremely stringent demands for higher tier performance is perfectly in line with Saltigo’s strategy to expand service offerings to this market. “Our pharmaceutical business activities continue to expand. We are committed to further develop this market sector with strategic investments to even better serve our existing and developing customer base,” Schmitz outlines.

Saltigo, the wholly-owned subsidiary of specialty chemicals company LANXESS, has completed a Euro 10 million investment in early 2008 for a facility focused on the production of advanced intermediates and active ingredients under CGMP (Current Good Manufacturing Practice). The unit based in Leverkusen/Germany has a total capacity of more than 200 metric tons per year and provides a high degree of flexibility in terms of reactor volumes which range from 2.5 to 8 cubic meters.

To complement commercial scale manufacturing capacity, LANXESS Corporation also operates a site for Saltigo in Redmond (Washington, United States) targeting the field of active ingredient research and projects in the pre-clinical and early clinical phases. Its initial capacity was expanded again during 2008, and extends in particular Saltigo's ability to meet growing outsourcing requirements.

Tony Jones, Head of Marketing & Sales in the Pharma Business Line, explains: “The investment at Redmond provides us with a strategic West Coast location out of which we can support and develop a vibrant customer base. It helps us to reach our goal of providing a rapid response service to support preclinical and early clinical phase work through to Phase IIa.” The recent expansion gives the facility two CGMP-compliant kilo lab systems, along with a pilot plant allowing the site to flexibly handle the production of investigational new drugs and intermediates from bench-top to a scale of 400 to 800 liters.

With these two investments Saltigo now possesses an excellent balance of competencies needed to flexibly handle the entire life cycle of pharmaceutical projects. The Redmond site will conduct projects for early clinical testing, in which speed and flexibility are crucial. “Equally important is the ability to seamlessly transfer projects to our Leverkusen plant at the most appropriate timing as these project pass through key stages in their life cycle from Phase I through to commercial production”, Jones says.

Osaka-based Sota Kurita, Business Development Manager for Japan, comments: “With the globalization of today’s pharmaceutical business, a significant proportion of new drug candidate compounds created in Japan first undergo clinical testing in the US. It has therefore become increasingly important to have an investigational new drug supply site in the US that can offer not just FDA compliant manufacture but also comprehensive support in areas such as quality assurance and the regulatory registration process.”

The Redmond site is already conducting projects in investigational new drug active pharmaceutical ingredients and other areas for Japanese customers. These customers have given this facility high ratings for its ability to flexibly respond to user needs with valuable advice and adherence to critical timelines − capabilities which are based on the high level of experience of the Saltigo staff.

Saltigo GmbH is a leading supplier in the field of custom synthesis, offering complete, tailor-made solutions for customers both in the crop protection and pharmaceuticals segments and in various non-life-science industries. The company is part of the LANXESS AG specialty chemicals group and belongs to the Advanced Intermediates segment, which generated sales of EUR 1,310 million in fiscal 2008. Saltigo, headquartered in Langenfeld with production facilities in Leverkusen and Dormagen, employs around 1,400 staff worldwide. LANXESS Corporation operates a site for Saltigo in Redmond (Washington, United States).

Detailed information about the company can be found on the internet at www.saltigo.com.

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LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 6.58 billion in 2008 and currently around 14,600 employees in 23 countries. The company has operations at 44 sites worldwide. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals. More information at http://www.lanxessgoesasia.com.