Univar inks EU supply deal with Dow

Univar is now exclusively distributing Dow's Carbowax Sentry PEGs in Europe and the range is proving popular at CPhI 2010 with manufacturers facing restricted supply from other sources.

Speaking to in-PharmaTechnolgist at CPhI, Michael Cooke, pharma marketing manager EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) at Univar, said certain of BASF’s polyethylene glycol grades have been taken out of their pharma portfolio and moved to non-pharma specified grades.

This has led to pharma companies facing restricted supply and approaching Univar to alleviate these concerns.

Cooke said Univar has considerable reach in Europe and this will help increase penetration of the Dow products. Furthermore, Dow believes it will benefit from working with one distributor instead of the network of companies it previously used.

John Hammer, Dow NAA Product Marketing Manager for Polyglycols, said the deal helps Dow to “work more closely with our customers to develop solutions that provide meaningful performance advantages that address their specific needs instead of simply delivering a product from a warehouse.”

Distributor of Innophos’ calcium phosphate products

CPhI has also been used by Univar to release news of a European distribution deal with Innophos. Under the terms of the deal Univar will distribute Innophos' calcium phosphate products in the European Union.

“Univar has extensive resources in the region and we are proud to be able to offer the full range of our calcium phosphate products to European consumers through Univar’s well-established network,” said Joseph Golowski, vice president of the Speciality Phosphate Business of Innophos.

Adding calcium phosphate products to its European portfolio expands the range of excipients they can provide to clients in the region. Calcium phosphate is used in the pharma industry as tablet filler and also has applications in the nutraceutical sector.

Innophos produces its calcium phosphate range at its facility in Chicago Heights, Illinois, US, one of the largest single plants manufacturing these products. Univar has distributed these products in North America since 2007 and will now leverage its European sales and marketing capabilities.

The portfolio consists of di- and tri-calcium phosphate powders marketed under the Calipharm brand. Di-Tab, A-Tab and Tri-Tab are granular forms of the calcium phosphate. Products within the range can be tailored to clients wet granulation and direct compression needs.

Univar has done third-party good manufacturing practice (GMP) audits of the suppliers. The results of these audits are available to clients in the Univar library, saving clients time and money by performing this task for them.