BASF India Limited has inaugurated its pharmaceutical technical lab at its Innovation Campus Asia Pacific, located in Navi Mumbai, India. Named “BASF Pharma Solutions Lab,” the facility will cater to the fast-growing pharmaceutical market in South Asia, especially generic drug manufacturing, which accounts for more than 70% of the sector in India.

This pharma technical lab is the fifth application lab in BASF’s global innovation network for pharmaceutical solutions, which also includes labs in Germany, North America, South America, and Shanghai, China.

The 200-square-meter application lab boasts technical capabilities in creating and delivering BASF’s functional solutions for drug formulation, especially in solubilization and instant and modified release. This will enable pharmaceutical manufacturers to solve drug formulation challenges such as developing fixed dose combinations, taste masking and temperature- or moisture-sensitive drugs.

“We see rapidly rising demand and great opportunities for pharmaceutical solutions in Asia. With our strength in innovation and our comprehensive range of high-quality solutions, we help our customers to meet rising quality and regulatory standards as well as to capture opportunities against increasing competition,” said Tina Low, vice president, BASF Nutrition & Health Asia Pacific. “This technical lab in Mumbai will provide generic drug manufacturing customers with comprehensive solutions for superior product efficacy. It will also optimize the performance of raw materials in formulation.”

BASF has been providing technical services to customers in drug formulation and manufacturing in South Asia since 2008. The upgraded pharmaceutical application facility is located within Innovation Campus Asia Pacific (Mumbai), BASF’s biggest research and development (R&D) investment in South Asia. Inaugurated in March of this year, the Innovation Campus Asia Pacific also houses the company’s other existing scientific disciplines. This creates the opportunity for innovation synergies to be able to meet the unique technological needs of diverse customers across South Asia.

“South Asia, especially India, is the largest provider for generic medicines globally; and R&D is a major focus for Indian generic pharma companies, as they continue to move further up the value chain to become more competitive globally. The kind of innovation capabilities at this pharma solutions lab for generic drug manufacturing are crucial to furthering the government programs aimed at providing universal healthcare in South Asia,” said Raman Ramachandran, head South Asia and chairman and managing director, BASF India Limited.