Beuvry-la-Forêt May 13th, 2009, Minakem Group, through its holding company Minafin, has completed the acquisition of a multi-purpose APIs plant, formerly owned by AstraZeneca and has signed with the latter a long-term supply contract for Budesonide, Omeprazole and Esomeprazole.
Dunkirk site’s multipurpose plants have the capability to produce multiple API’s simultaneously and one unit is dedicated to the production of corticosteroids. The plant has a strong FDA record; the last audit occurring in February 2009 with no 483’s. This acquisition brings Minakem Group significant manufacturing capabilities, including injectable grades, and micronization services and raises Minakem Group’s custom synthesis capacity to about 450 m3 of batch reactors.
The addition of these industrial resources allows Minakem Group to service its customers with process and synthesis development, clinical production, short campaigns for niche API’s as well as high volume API’s. This move confirms the commitment of Minakem Group to the pharmaceutical industry and the conviction that Europe can still be competitive by use of innovative technology and by offering a broad range of assets to adapt to the changing needs of the business. Such increased capacity will support Minakem’s commitment to reduce the costs of the API’s.
In recognition of its capability to cover most chemical needs of the pharmaceutical industry, Minakem Group will henceforth operate all its custom synthesis activities under the sole trademark “Minakem”. Minasolve, specialised in special building-blocks and bio-ingredients, and PennAkem, specialised in the renewable chemicals and the Furan chemistry keep being run as separate business units and retain their respective trademarks..
Minakem will be represented by a unified commercial and marketing team that will implement a key-account management policy for its major custom-synthesis clients. Chemtec Leuna GmbH will be renamed Minakem Leuna GmbH and remains managed by Karsten Fischer. Alexandre Gruman, previously appointed Managing Director of Minakem SAS is also appointed Managing Director of Minakem Dunkerque SAS, the operating company of the Dunkirk site.
Minakem will better service its customers in using the complementary nature of its three FDA-inspected factories:
• Leuna for the hazardous chemistry, the large volume intermediate and the short multi-step syntheses for medium scale API’s,
• Beuvry-la-Forêt for the complex multi-step syntheses, the short campaigns and the niche API’s,
• Dunkirk for the high-volume API’s, the solid treatments and the corticosteroids.
The proximity between the R&D laboratories and the three factories allows for seamless technical transfers and scale-up as customer products grow. The immediate vicinity of Minakem’s resources can accommodate easy back-up strategy within the three factories on demand.
Press Contact: Sylvie Boone