Roquette backs pharma-grade excipients as OTC and consumer health converge

Roquette has spent this year unifying its health and pharmaceutical solutions. The company notes that consumers expect higher quality from over-the-counter (OTC) products while innovative formats become popular as sustainability and clean label requirements remain essential.

Louis Ruocco, global head of Commercial Marketing, Health and Pharma Solutions at Roquette, tells Nutrition Insight what has changed for the pharmaceutical excipients and food ingredients provider this year, noting that customers increasingly want to understand Roquette’s full portfolio.

“We’ve been a collection of companies and some of our legacy businesses didn’t have much participation.” Roquette has now brought these businesses together under one roof, adding marketing expertise to position itself as a “partner of choice” in consumer healthcare.

“We think the line between pharma and consumer health is starting to blur, and we believe that’s raising the bar for excipients and food ingredients. For example, when Rx or pharmaceutical prescriptions go to OTC, consumers expect pharma quality to continue, including safety for everyday products.”

“So we’re not seeing any compromise on that level of quality, and we expect that to continue, alongside the accompanying documentation and regulatory compliance.”

GLP-1 trends and new delivery format

Ruocco also highlights key trends that Roquette aims to keep up with.

“This year, we saw the first launch of the oral GLP-1 tablet. We’re a leader in oral solid dosage tablets, so we’re watching that very closely, as well as the knock-on effects in the consumer health segment as suppliers look for dietary and high-fiber solutions for consumers.”

He also points to consumer experiences becoming an important factor in designing products — taste, texture, and swallowability matter increasingly, which brands can use to differentiate their products on shelf.

“So we’ve seen an increasing interest in different formats. Think about chewables, meltables, orally dispersible films, and gummies,” says Ruocco. “Roquette has a variety of excipients that help our customers find solutions.”

From metabolic health to sustainability

Ruocco explains that GLP-1s and other metabolic therapies are changing what consumers need from their diet and supplements. Roquette’s functional ingredients are increasingly used to meet that global demand, but the formulation work is technically difficult, says Ruocco.

Ruocco points to chewables, gummies, and oral films as format interest grows.Roquette’s new technology innovations are enabling new format development, notes Ruocco. He says these can help brands meet consumer expectations and also help overcome nutritional challenges when developing products for GLP-1 users.

“Additionally, clean label and sustainability demands persist, and for our customers this means natural origin and traceable ingredients, for which we have a decades-long history of supplying,” details Ruocco. 

He adds that customers want credible environmental data, including Roquette’s CO2 and energy impact during excipient and ingredient manufacturing.

“Today’s an exciting time to be around to meet our customers’ needs. They expect products from the beginning to meet the standards of medicines and then also enjoy what comes from nature, which is a key part of Roquette’s mission — offering the best of nature.”

Ruocco says that preventative health, and even regenerative health, is becoming more popular, especially with the younger and older populations.

“I think COVID-19 was a wake-up call for everyone and has had a lasting psychological impact for those that lived through it, to focus on preventative health.”

Balancing format innovation and safety

Although innovations in delivery formats are one area where the nutrition industry is ahead of pharmaceuticals, Ruocco believes that pharma should first be guided by safety and efficacy.

Roquette’s Ruocco sees GLP-1 users driving demand for high-fiber consumer health solutions.“Increasingly, we see some interest in dosage formats that help drive compliance. But in general, I think the safety and efficacy will always come first.”

“Suppliers like us who participate across these segments are inspired to innovate and to solve our customers’ problems, and through that, we believe we have a positive influence in helping our pharma customers explore the new options that we create through consumer health.”

Development and application expertise

Ruocco details that Roquette’s experts across its global application labs and research centers focus on de-risking customer formulations during discovery and scale-up.

“The expertise, the reliability, and the ability to act quickly and speed-to-market in servicing our customers are what help us stand out and maintain these long-term partnerships.”

Ruocco also touts Roquette’s leadership in excipients, with experts in all the major regions, active in those regulatory bodies that help guide pharmaceutical excipient and consumer health care ingredient development.

“We also provide robust documentation and global regulatory know-how and work with our customers as their issues or needs come up, perhaps as they launch into new countries for the first time.”

On supply security and sustainability, he adds: “Business continuity planning was one of the key philosophies and practices that had to come out of COVID-19, and we continue to see the supply chain work to address that,” says Ruocco. “You want to be global, but then also have some local supply.”

He says that Roquette’s more than 20 production facilities worldwide provide a high level of business continuity with experience and expertise in formulation alongside supply security and regulatory support. “This gives our customers the confidence, speed, and time to market to help move their business forward.”

“Customers need a lot more than an ingredient. They need a partner who’s going to help them win in the marketplace.”