Roquette, a provider of plant-based ingredients and naturally-derived pharmaceutical excipients, is investing $25 million in a new Innovation Center in the U.S. to expand its pharmaceutical business. Located in Pennsylvania, the new state-of-the-art facility aims to better serve Roquette’s global customer base by working closely with its specialist pharmaceutical teams, based at sister sites in Singapore and France, to advance the research of drug delivery systems for oral prescription drugs and nutraceutical APIs.
 
The new 23,000 sq.-ft. facility is due to open in Summer 2022 and will house Roquette Pharmaceutical Solutions’ headquarters. The Innovation Center will house an Applied Sciences facility for the research of excipients for oral dosage forms, drug delivery systems, nutraceutical APIs and innovative pharmaceutical ingredients. This will sit alongside its Customer Technical Services (CTS) Laboratory, to enable deeper collaboration with customers formulating drugs in new product pipelines. There will also be access to an auditorium on-site, where monthly symposiums and customer training will take place to help industry professionals stay up-to-date with the latest pharmaceutical science and developments. The new facility will employ approximately 30 people including 20 highly skilled scientists.
 
Paul Smaltz, Vice President of Pharmaceutical Solutions at Roquette, said, “We’re proud to play a role in the advancement of treatments that help improve, sustain and save lives – and this Innovation Center is the next step in providing an even greater level of support to customers looking to push the boundaries of R&D and progress new product developments to market quickly. As an important hub for innovation in the U.S., Pennsylvania is the ideal location to enable us to collaborate more effectively with our partners and help address important future nutrition and health challenges with next-level, premium solutions.”
 
“45% of drugs developed globally come from the US. Expanding our operations in this market is therefore key to achieving Roquette’s strong growth ambitions for its pharma business,” added Roquette’s CEO, Pierre Courduroux. “The new facility reflects Roquette’s commitment to the region and the wider scientific community, while also representing a key milestone in our goal to becoming the number one trusted formulation and technology partner for its customers. Through the investment, we aim to solidify our global leadership position and ability to address the world’s most pressing nutrition and health challenges.”