Avecia - formal launch for Palladium EnCat
Avecia Pharmaceuticals will focus on the formal market launch of its encapsulated palladium catalyst technology Pd EnCat.
Avecia Pharmaceuticals will focus on the formal market launch of its encapsulated palladium catalyst technology Pd EnCat.
Developed by Avecia, Cambridge University, AstraZeneca and Syngenta, Pd EnCat signals increasing emphasis on shorter, cleaner routes to new life science products, including pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals.
Key features of this catalyst immobilisation technology include: very low residual metal and ligand levels in final product; ease of recovery by filtration; efficiency and economy gains through ease of recycling; high selectivity in hydrogenation and transfer hydrogenation reactions and excellent levels of activity in C-C bond forming reactions.
The Pd EnCat launch is the latest in a strategic series of developments that have seen Avecia invest more than US$60m (Euro 53m) in early phase over recent years. Earlier this year, and to further extend its leadership in chiral technologies - including the award-winning CATHy catalysts - Avecia acquired the US pharma fine chemicals business of Synthon Chiragenics.
Also in chirals, and following a long-standing collaboration, Avecia has recently signed a patent licence agreement with Bristol University for amino acids technology. This gives access to the asymmetric Darzens reaction - facilitating production of glycidic amides and esters in high optical purity.
Avecia's continuing strategic focus on early phase aims to add differential value for customers facing the challenges of increased complexity and potency in new drugs, combined with pressures on development costs and timescales. Against this background, and in contrast to the industry-wide slowdown in late phase/launched products, Avecia reports strong demand across its portfolio of early phase technologies and capacity.
Recent early phase developments by Avecia have included production start-up at the company's new $2m (Euro 1.77m) High Potency Substances kilo suite complex at Grangemouth, Scotland. Avecia is also planning further expansion at its five-stream EPDT pilot plant at Huddersfield, commissioned in mid-2002. In total, the company has five pilot plants at 12 kilo suites dedicated to early phase, in both the UK (Huddersfield and Grangemouth) and in Canada (Torcan Chemical, Aurora,Ontario).