Germany's BASF plans a 10% price hike worldwide on pharmaceutical excipients and active pharmaceutical ingredients. The company blamed continued increases in costs for raw materials, energy and labor for the increase, which is the second 10% mark-up for BASF this year. Any existing price contracts remain in force.
The price hike covers BASF's entire portfolio of excipients, the company said in a statement, including binders such as Kollidon, coatings such as Kollicoat, and solubilization agents Cremphor and Lutrol. The generic APIs affected by the hike include commonly used ingredients like ibuprofen, caffeine and pseudoephedrine.
BASF has been economizing wherever it can, trying to remain competitive on price, spokesman Ralf Fink told in-Pharma Technologist. "However, the significant cost increases of the past quarters cannot be offset by any short-term measures," Fink said.
Acknowledging that price increases "are truly a burden to the overall industry," Fink wouldn't say whether he thought BASF's competitors would follow suit with their own prices. The BASF increases take effect today.
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