Germany's BASF, one of the biggest suppliers of APIs and other products to the pharmaceutical industry, is reorganizing its structure starting at the first of next year.
According to the company, its "Plastics segment, which is being dissolved, will become part of the Chemicals segment." The changes will not have a significant impact on its drug ingredient and excipients business but will affect its intermediates operations, in-PharmaTechnologist reports.
The biggest change for drugmakers will be a decision to "bundle pharma intermediates by integrating the inorganic life science chemicals of BASF's Inorganics Division into its current pharma intermediates portfolio, thus providing a broader offering to our pharma customers," BASF spokesman Klaus-Peter Rieser tells in-PharmaTechnologist. "The future portfolio will consist of organic and inorganic intermediates for the pharmaceutical industry, complemented by solvents."
Generally unaffected will be BASF's API operations or its pharmaceutical excipients units. Its custom synthesis business, which provides API development, manufacturing and analytical services to the pharmaceutical industry and other sectors, also is unchanged.
The announcement comes shortly after BASF in August said it would take 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 company last month said it would open its first precious metal-based fine chemical catalysts line in at its plant in Mangalore, India, to serve the growing Indian API market.
- read the in-PharmaTechnologist story
- here's the release