Seqens launches HPAPI manufacturing at 100-year-old site

14-Sep-2020 - Last updated on 14-Sep-2020 at 15:14 GMT

(Image: Seqens)

Related tags HPAPI API Manufacturing France European union

The global pharmaceutical ingredient producer has opened a high-potency active pharmaceutical ingredient unit at its century-old facility in France.

Seqens, a pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturer with locations around the globe, has launched a specialty production unit at its Villeneuve-La-Garenne, France site. The $35m (€30m) facility (opened at a ceremony attended by French president Emmanuel Macron) will tackle development and production of high-potency active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPIs).

The project involves an investment of $35m (€30ms) pharmaceutical synthesis. Called UPP30, the project constitutes a partnership with Belgian biotech company Mithra, reportedly for the production of a fifth-generation contraceptive molecule.

JeanPhilippe Aubert, UPP30 project director, said the company comes after years of research and labor.

"I am proud and happy to inaugurate the fruit of many years of work and to see that the SEQENS group continues to invest massively in the latest cutting-edge technologies to maintain and develop more than a hundred years of know-how and skills and thus continue to maintain in France real competences in pharmaceutical synthesis,” he said.

Seqens’s work comprises research, development and commercialization of intermediates, APIs and HPAPIs. The company reportedly is focused on revitalizing its industrial footprint in three key areas:

Development of skills: the company reportedly is looking at doubling the number of work-study students and setting up a training program to build interest in pharmaceutical careers.
Innovation and R&D: the company employs 10% of its workforce in developing new products and innovating processes
Production quality and performance: Seqens reportedly prioritizes employee skills and continuous improvement at its 24 production sites.

Seqens CEO Pierre Luzeau said the company’s focus on skills and innovation will help it succeed into the future.

"Our sustainability will depend on the ability of our companies to innovate and boost productive investment in our territories. SEQENS is ready to take up the challenge by relying on innovation, R&D and the skills of our teams on our production sites,” said Luzeau.