Evonik expands silanes distribution deal with Safic-Alcan
The deal – financial terms of which were not disclosed – will see Safic-Alcan market Evonik’s Dynasylan range of silanes to active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), cosmetics and industrial sealant producers in Italy.
The Italian API sector is worth €3.2bn ($bn) according to industry group Aschimfarma, which says that the country’s 88 manufacturers supply drug ingredients to all major markets.
One way the drug industry uses silanes is as blocking agents to protect functional groups during chemical syntheses. This helps guide the reactions used to produce lactam and macrolide antibiotics and APIs used in cholesterol-reducing drugs and cancer treatments.
Silanes like Dynasylan are also used to prevent pharmaceuticals sticking to glass packaging.
Market expansion
Safic-Alcan already sells Dynasylan on an exclusive basis in France, UK, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Turkey and the Middle East.
Last August, Safic-Alcan acquired a majority stake in Ohio, US-based firm ChemSpec, a distributor specializing in rubber and adhesives.
The deal – which saw Safic-Alcan take a 75% stake in Chemspec – boosted the France-based distributor’s presence in US and also gave it access to a network of sourcing subsidiaries in China.
Pharma developments
Evonik’s last decision with pharmaceutical industry implications was in September last year when it increased the price of its range of drug delivery excipients.
The price hike – which applied to its Eudragit range of polymers used to encapsulate and control the release of small molecule APIs, peptides and proteins – was prompted by Evonik’s decision to invest in its network of technical service centres.
