Dairy JV nabs India's excipients maker Brahmar

DMV-Fonterra Excipients (DFE), a joint venture pairing two large dairy groups, has struck a deal to acquire India's Brahmar Cellulose in a bid to become the primary go-to supplier of lactose excipients to pharma manufacturers around the globe.

Manufacturers in India and around the globe use these purified lactose excipients as a filler in tablets, capsules and powders for medical inhalers. And DFE says it accounts for about half of the global sales of lactose excipients and 5% to 10% of oral tablet excipients.

Dutch dairy company Royal FrieslandCampina and New Zealand dairy company Fonterra created the joint venture. They say the acquisition, completed for an undisclosed price, will make the JV the "sole manufacturer and supplier of the most commonly used diluents and superdisintegrants" needed by pharma manufacturers.

"Long-term synergies will be achieved by combining DFE's current global market position and sales network with Brahmar Cellulose
extensive product knowledge and market position in India," DFE CEO Jan Jongsma said. Taking out the competition should help shorten buyers' supply chains, but there's no word what it may do to their costs.

- see the DFE release
- get the story from in-PharmaTechnologist
- read the article from the Economic Times