BASF opens applications laboratory for pharmaceutical industry in India

BASF has opened an applications laboratory for pharmaceutical excipients and active ingredients in Mumbai, India. The aim is to move even closer to customers in the key markets of the Asia-Pacific region. The new laboratory will allow BASF to meet the requirements of the pharmaceutical industry for technical support more quickly. Customers will not only be provided with advice about functional aspects when choosing products, such as the excipients Kollidon®, Kollicoat®, Cremophor® and Lutrol®. BASF experts in the laboratory will also help in optimizing formulations and improving production conditions.

“We want to make even more improvements in the global range of products and services we offer our customers”, says Martin Widmann, who is responsible for BASF’s global Pharma Ingredients & Services business unit. “The new applications laboratory in Mumbai is an important milestone in achieving this aim.”

In Asia, the pharmaceutical industry has grown particularly through the strong market position of generics. South and South-East Asia have a key role to play here. “The pharmaceutical manufacturers in the region are operating on an increasingly global basis now. This is presenting our customers’ local research and development facilities with huge challenges, such as those associated with new systems for releasing active ingredients”, says Ralf Fink, head of the regional BASF business unit Pharma Ingredients & Services in Asia.

The new laboratory is integrated into the existing research and development facilities of BASF India Ltd. in Mumbai. It is provided with state-of-the-art equipment allowing all the production processes that are relevant for solid dosage forms, such as granulation, tabletting and coating, to be carried out. In addition, the laboratory also has a wide range of measuring equipment, which can be used to analyze fundamental parameters within the processes. Finished tablets can also be tested for friability, dissolution, disintegration or color deviations.

Customers can actually work in the laboratory on site if they wish to acquire relevant application knowledge. They can also take trial products made there back to their own companies, since the laboratory meets the “class 100,000 area” clean room requirements.

The new laboratory in Mumbai is the second BASF facility of this type in Asia, along with a further applications laboratory in Shanghai.

About the business unit Pharma Ingredients & Services

BASF produces and markets a broad range of active ingredients and excipients, as well as exclusive synthesis services for the pharmaceutical industry. These products are made using the latest technologies, to the highest quality standards and in compliance with cGMP guidelines.

Further information can be found at: www.pharma-ingredients.basf.com

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from oil and gas to chemicals, plastics, performance products, agricultural products and fine chemicals. As a reliable partner BASF helps its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF has more than 95,000 employees and posted sales of almost € 58 billion in 2007. Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.