Dairy kings strike new pharma partnership
from the European Commission to join with Dutch dairy group Campina
to sell lactose to the pharma industry.
The Commission cleared the joint venture, which brings together two of the world's top dairy firms, after finding there would be no damage to market competition.
Lactose naturally makes up between two and eight per cent of solids in milk, however, it also has several uses in the drug-making process and the pharmaceutical lactose market is now worth over $100m (€79m).
Under the equal partnership, the two firms will combine their pharmaceutical lactose businesses, as well as their divisions for selling lactose for use in fine chemicals manufacture. They will also sell lactose as an excipient for use in the drug manufacturing process.
"This joint venture will lift our pharmaceutical lactose specialty products business to a whole new level," said Andrew Ferrier, Fonterra's chief executive.
The venture deal, signed in late March, is expected to particularly strengthen both companies' position in the excipient market as well as target the Asia Pacific region for growth, making use of Fonterra's new factory for producing inhalation grade lactose in the region.
"Campina has a strong position in Europe and Japan, while Fonterra has been very successful in building a strong position in the Asia Pacific region, and has a major supply agreement with one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies," said Ferrier.
Last year Fonterra subsidiary Lactose New Zealand became GlaxoSmithKline's preferred supplier of tablet-grade pharmaceutical lactose and has since supplied over half the drug giant's global requirement for inhalation-grade lactose from its new $18.5m facility, located at Kapuni, near Taranaki on New Zealand's north island.
Steve Bucksley, GSK's vice president of new products and global procurement told In-PharmaTechnologist.com at the time that the spur to seek new suppliers of lactose came from concerns about transmissible disease problems affecting cattle in the northern hemisphere.
Inhalation-grade lactose currently makes up only a small part of the pharma lactose market, but is expected to increase companies continue to develop new inhaled drug delivery therapies.
As of now the venture will own and operate production facilities currently owned separately by the two companies, in New Zealand, Germany and the Netherlands and will also open new sales offices around the world.
The equal partnership between Campina and Fonterra highlights how firms can look outside of their traditional sector to make extra money in the lucrative pharma industry by offering high-value ingredients.
