DMV ramps up excipient capacity with new plant
Netherlands' Campina, is planning to open a dedicated facility in
Germany for the production of excipients for direct compression.
The company has invested €6.5m in a new production line and bringing the facility up to current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) standards, creating 30 jobs. Bert Jansen, a member of the executive board of Campina, will open the plant on 7 May in Norten Hardenberg.
One of the products to be made at the new facility is Pharmatose DCL 14, a spray dried excipient for direct compression that combines superior flow properties with high compactibility. A new anhydrous DC lactose with improved functionality in terms of flowability and compactibility, provisionally called DCL 22 and also produced at the Norten-Hardenberg factory, will be introduced later this year.
In addition to making these new excipients, the unit will add capacity for the production of DMV's entire Pharmatose range of directly compressible lactose, said Herman Ermens, director of the firm's pharma business unit.
A spokeswoman for the firm told In-Pharmatechnologist.com that DMV had been running its current facility in Veghel at near maximum capacity for its excipients, so the new plant would provide renewed opportunities for growth.
"DMV's strategy for the pharma market is focusing on formulation expertise and portfolio expansion. Investing in a dedicated plant for DCL specialities is a logical step in reaching that objective," Ermens commented.
The company, which has activities spanning the pharma and food sectors, said that the former is a key area of investment for the future, and that "opening a dedicated pharma facility in Germany is a first step in separating out pharma activities from DMV's food ingredient business."
DMV, which claims about a 40 per cent share of the market for pharmaceutical-grade lactose, set up its pharma activities into a separate business unit in January.
