Roquette Continues Investments with New R&D Facility

On August 24, 2017, Roquette, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in plant-based excipients, announced the opening of a new research and development (R&D) and customer technical service facility (CTS) in Singapore in fall 2017. The facility is one of several major investment announcements from the company over the past few months, aimed at growing its global positioning within the bio/pharmaceutical industry.

The facility will be used to formulate pharmaceutical excipients and drug delivery systems for oral dosage forms and injectables. The site, at a little more than 1100 square meters, will be in Biopolis, an international R&D hub for fast-growing areas in Asia Pacific such as biomedical sciences, bioengineering, medical technology (MedTech), personal care, food, and nutrition.

Facility capabilities include the development of new products, new applications for existing products, and pre-clinical research. Additionally, this facility will be equipped for physical and chemical characterization of materials, support for pharmaceutical customers with prototypes, and formulation and process development.  

This announcement follows the company’s March Biopharma segment launch, which added three new brands to its portfolio. In May 2017, the company also publicized its acquisition of Itacel, an excipient division of Blanver, a Brazilian multinational company specializing in the developing, manufacturing, and commercializing of raw materials and drugs.

According to the company, these investments are expected to expand its footprint in North America, Brazil, and Latin America, with expansion plans for a biopharma laboratory in development.

Source: Roquette, Blanver