Fast-growing pharmaceuticals: Roquette acquires majority stake in Crest Cellulose
13 Dec 2018 --- Roquette has acquired a majority stake in Crest Cellulose, a major pharma packaging company in India from Pravesha Industries. As a supplier in plant-based ingredients for food, nutrition and health markets, Roquette says the move will reinforce its position as a major supplier to the pharmaceutical industry and strengthen its position in Asia and India, which are both key markets for the company in the fast-growing generic pharmaceutical sector.
The addition of Crest Cellulose’s know-how and production capabilities to Roquette’s strong expertise and track record in the pharmaceutical excipients market will create new opportunities for both Roquette’s and Crest Cellulose, according to the companies.
This strategic investment allows Roquette to expand its offering of pharmaceutical excipients and nutraceuticals, following the acquisition of Blanver Pharmaceutical’s excipients division in 2017.
“This strategic investment fits perfectly with our pharma strategy and goal to strengthen our geographic presence worldwide. It reinforces our ambition of being a global leader in providing plant-based excipients to the pharmaceutical industry, especially by reinforcing our successful acquisition of Blanver Pharmaceutical’s excipients division (Itacel) in 2017,” Roquette’s Head of Corporate Communications, Carole Petitjean, tells NutritionInsight.
“This strategic investment allows Roquette to enrich its offering of pharmaceutical excipients and nutraceuticals and further advances our position and capability to serve our customers and the market with superior solutions and an expanded choice,” she continues.
Petitjean stresses how the strategic investment is driven by two major factors. First, the combination of Roquette and Crest Cellulose know-how and assets, and secondly, how the joint-venture will further strengthen Roquette’s position in India.
“This investment will address a globally growing market for today and tomorrow’s demand. The Health and Nutrition markets, particularly pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals, are driving the growth of the pharma sector.”
India’s growing pharma market
“India plays an important role in the global pharmaceuticals position and contributes the second largest share of pharmaceutical and biotech workforce in the world. India’s pharmaceutical sector was valued at US$33 billion in 2017 and pharma sales in Asia Pacific is projected to grow at 8.4 percent per year up to 2021.”
As a privately-owned company incorporated in 2012 and located in Hyderabad and in Nellore, India, Crest Cellulose manufactures a wide range of excipients.
India supplies more than half of the global demand for various vaccines and 25 percent of all medicines in the world.
“As one of the great areas of growth over the last year has been in India, it only makes sense to acquire capacity in this fast-growing market and be able to serve our customers faster and better,” she adds.
“Thanks to this joint-venture, Roquette will provide our pharmaceutical customers with a broad range of superior pharma excipients that go into life-saving drugs.”
“Crest Cellulose is not only a perfect fit from a product portfolio point of view, but it will also help us strengthen our geographic presence in Asia to better serve our clients in the region and address a globally growing market,” says Jean-Marc Gilson, CEO of Roquette.
“We are happy to partner with Roquette in furthering the growth of Crest Cellulose by way of majority divestiture. Through this transaction, we believe both our employees and the excipient business will thrive under Roquette majority ownership and leadership,” adds Madan Mohan Reddy, Director of Crest Cellulose.
As the majority shareholder, Roquette will have a controlling stake and manage the day-to-day operations of Crest Cellulose.
NutritionInsight also recently spoke with Kelsey Achenbach of Roquette who says that after launching a new market segment focusing on nutritional and dietary supplements, the company is seeing great opportunities for more patient-friendly dosage forms. Achenbach remarks that its products can be used in many different forms, which is a trend that is becoming more popular as more companies focus on treating pediatrics and geriatrics with dosage forms that don’t have to be swallowed. Watch the full interview here.
Achenbach also spoke to NutritionInsight at CPhI 2018 in Madrid in October about the company's portfolio expansion in biopharmaceuticals. This year, Roquette’s featured products included the newly launched low endotoxin Kleptose BioPharma HPB/HP grades of hydroxypropyl β-cyclodextrins for protein stability, as well as Dextrose Anhydrous BioPharma for cell culture solutions. Click here to watch the video.
By Gaynor Selby
