The contract manufacturing organisation (CMO) has recently added production and development capabilities in soft-gel through a partnership with capsule maker Procaps.
Under the deal, Patheon will market the dosage form, known as "P-Gels", as a commercial Rx platform in Asia, the US, and Europe. It will also offer full analytical testing for soft-gels.
Geoff Glass, the firm’s executive VP of sales and marketing, told in-PharmaTechnologist that the alliance was a result of customer demand for a solution to solubility problems.
He said that, with call for low solubility compounds on the rise, the company will add more lines in the same vein.
“We’ll continue to add solubility enhancing technologies and techniques as the pipeline of BCS (Biopharmaceutics Classification System) class II and IV compounds continue to grow,” he said.
CEO Jim Mullen added that the deal was part of a re-focus plan for the firm.
“This exclusive agreement is part of our recently announced strategy to strengthen our core operations and product offerings,” he said.
Starting point
When asked why the firm began the journey into to boost its solubility enhancing tech with soft-gel, Glass said Patheon sees it as the next market trend.
He said: “We have evidence that there is significant interest in alternatively quality supply for soft-gels.
“Numerous existing Patheon customers have been specifically requesting soft-gel manufacturing alternatives to their current suppliers.”
He said the gels also have applications in increasing dose precision, improving bio-availablility and are also used as a life cycle management alternative for better patient compliance.