Patheon gets bigger in softgels with Procaps alliance
pharmafile | January 24, 2012 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |Â Â Patheon, Procaps, manufacturingÂ
Contract development and manufacturing organisation Patheon has stepped up its position in the market for pharmaceutical capsules with the signing of a licensing agreement with Columbian company Procaps.
The company has been steadily building in-house capacity in softgel capsule manufacturing – for example it set up a new production line for the technology at its facility in Cincinnati in 2010 – but will now be able to tap into Procaps’ manufacturing capacity in Latin America.
Procaps’ primary production plant is a 20,000 sq. m. facility in Colombia which has the capacity to produce more than 3 billion softgel capsules a year. It has secondary facilities in Venezuela and Brazil which together boost capacity to around 9 billion capsules a year.
The softgel market – estimated to be worth around $8 billion across the pharma, food and other sectors, is becoming increasingly competitive. The alliance with Procaps will help Patheon compete with rival suppliers, notably Catalent and Pfizer’s Capsugel subsidiary.
Patheon chief executive Jim Mullen said that by integrating Procaps’ manufacturing capabilities and proprietary technology with its global experience, the company can provide customers with royalty-free softgel capsules for their products.
The softgels will be branded as ‘P-Gels’, and offer rapid and consistent absorption of drugs and consistent delivery of highly potent drugs that require small dosages, according to Patheon.
Softgels are growing in importance in the oral dosage form market because they are preferred by consumers, who often find them easier to take than traditional hard shell capsules or tablets. As they are sealed doses they can sometimes improve the stability of sensitive compounds compared to hard shell capsules, whilst offering improved protection against contamination and oxidation.
Patheon’s executive vice president for corporate development and strategy, Michael Lytton, said the addition of commercial-scale softgel capacity complements the firm’s current dosage form portfolio, which includes parenteral, solid and liquid technologies.
In return, Procaps will benefit from Patheon’s marketing and distribution muscle in North America, Europe and Asia.
“Softgel oral drug delivery offers many advantages to some of the more challenging compounds being developed by the pharmaceutical industry today and the collaboration with Procaps builds on Patheon’s successful SoluPath solution set for compounds with solubility challenges,” said Lytton.
Phil Taylor
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