Rhodia Pharma Solutions

Investing in its future has helped Rhodia Pharma Solutions become a leading global pharmaceutical and biotech partner.

Pioneering work by a Scottish-based pharmaceutical facility in support of a new drug to treat bone cancer will begin this summer, when an initial £1M ($1.80M) investment is completed.

The project is being carried out by Rhodia Pharma Solutions’ production and development facilities at Annan, with the support of Scottish Enterprise Dumfries and Galloway.

‘This world-class facility is pushing research and development frontiers’
– Bill Thomson, Rhodia

Working on behalf of a US-based biotechnology company, Rhodia has invested in customised plant modifications so the Annan facility can begin dedicated manufacturing of the drug ingredients for toxicology and clinical trials. If approved, the next stage is commercial production.

This exciting project is the latest diversification by Rhodia in Scotland. The French-owned company is in the middle of a three-year development programme due to complete by 2006.

It follows an ambitious programme begun in 1998 which has transformed the 27-acre production and development facilities formerly owned by Glaxo Wellcome.

The facility, acquired by Rhodia in 2000, is now in a new league: it has added 55 new process stages to its capability and emerged as a sophisticated outsourcing manufacturer serving an extensive portfolio of global pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers.

Its fast approach to commercialisation was demonstrated by a seven-month project to produce and validate a new pain and arthritis drug in 2001. The team is now working on compounds for treating asthma and on a drug to increase cancer patients’ chemotherapy tolerance.

Bill Thomson, Rhodia’s major projects manager at Annan said: "This is a world-class facility which is pushing at new research and development frontiers with a range of pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers. These are major players and smaller ‘virtual’ companies spinning-out from universities."

The facility is fully approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is registered in accordance with current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP).

Rhodia is working closely with Scottish Enterprise Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Development International to source European Union funds to assist R&D projects as the facility aims to increase its product portfolio by 50 per cent. "The assistance we’ve had from Scottish government agencies has allowed the rapid introduction of new pharmaceutical processes," says Kevin Cook, Rhodia’s industrial director.

"We’ve established leading-edge development facilities which complement the excellent manufacturing plants established in the 70s. The availability of high-class technical staff has also been pivotal to our success."

Date: June 2004

Source: Scotland International, Scottish Enterprise

Web URL: www.rhodia-pharmasolutions.com