After a busy stretch at the bargaining table, chemical supplier Aceto unveiled a new way of working in January, folding a half-dozen acquisitions into its new hybrid production and distribution model. Now, more than two years after starting its manufacturing metamorphosis, Aceto’s efforts have given way to a new company altogether.
Borne out of Aceto and 10 other businesses—comprising eight specialty manufacturers and three sourcing companies—Actylis debuted this fall with ambitions to become a “global specialty ingredients manufacturing and sourcing powerhouse,” the fledgling company said in a recent release.
Aceto has been in the sourcing and supply game for more than 70 years, but the company decided to embark on a transformation shortly after the arrival of its current CEO Gilles Cottier in 2019, the chief executive said in a recent interview with Fierce Pharma. Now having met its goal to become “much more than just a distributor,” Aceto has fallen in line with the other companies behind Actylis. Cottier is now CEO of the newly branded Actylis.
Wedding production, distribution and R&D capabilities, Actylis is angling to carve out a spot as one of the world’s top manufacturers and sourcing experts for raw materials and performance ingredients. Aside from its significant stake in the pharmaceutical industry, Actylis also runs in nutritional, agricultural and specialty chemicals markets.
On the biopharma manufacturing front, the global enterprise consists of industry players like A&C and A&C Bio Buffer as well as Cascade Chemistry, which makes drug ingredients, regulatory starting materials and advanced intermediates. With Cascade added to the fold, the company said back in January it had gained the ability to support its clients throughout the drug development process. The move also boosted its access to North American manufacturing capacity.
At present, Actylis’s workforce stands more than 850 strong, spanning 10 different countries across three continents. The company’s procurement teams are based out of sites across North America, Europe and Asia. The company notes it has a significant presence in India.
That global presence is another strength of Actylis’, the company’s senior vice president of marketing and operations, Edward Roullard, said during the interview. It’s not just about meeting customers close to home, either, but giving them options, Roullard explained.
While “the noise around onshoring has gotten louder,” the lesson so far is that bringing manufacturing home is no easy task, Roullard added.
“It is going to shift,” Roullard said, explaining that “you are going to see more demand [for local production and supply], but it’s not something that is just implemented in six months.”