Roquette to advance drug delivery research with new US Innovation Center

The new facility will focus on the research of excipients for oral dosage forms, drug delivery systems, nutraceutical APIs and innovative pharma ingredients

Roquette’s CEO, Pierre Courduroux, said expanding operations in this market made sense given that “45% of drugs developed globally come from the US". The investment in the new Center is considered key for the company to achieve ambitious growth for its pharma business.

The new $25-million, 23,000-sq. ft facility will house Roquette Pharmaceutical Solutions’ headquarters and aims to better serve the company's global customer base by working closely with its specialist pharmaceutical teams at sister sites in Singapore and France.

Specifically, it will house an applied sciences facility, focusing on the research of excipients for oral dosage forms, drug delivery systems, nutraceutical APIs and innovative pharmaceutical ingredients.

This will sit alongside the company's Customer Technical Services (CTS) Laboratory to enable a deeper level of collaboration with customers formulating drugs in new product pipelines. There will also be access to an auditorium on-site, where monthly symposiums and customer training will take place, helping industry professionals stay up-to-date with the latest pharmaceutical science and developments.

Paul Smaltz, Vice President of Pharmaceutical Solutions at Roquette, said the Innovation Center will support to customers looking to "push the boundaries of R&D" and move new products through development to commercialisation quickly.

The company says the new facility, which will employ approximately 30 people including 20 highly skilled scientists, is due to open in Summer 2022.