Dive Brief:
- German chemicals company BASF said Wednesday it plans to invest roughly €200 million ($228 million) to expand its capacity for producing the active pharmaceutical ingredient ibuprofen.
- BASF will break ground on a new plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany that company leadership claims will be the first "world-scale" production site for ibuprofen in Europe.
- In addition, BASF said it will expand an existing site in Bishop, Texas to fill current supply gaps in the market.
Dive Insight:
The planned investment will make BASF the only supplier with two ibuprofen assets worldwide — a competitive advantage according to Markus Kamieth, a member of the board of directors.
While BASF's reach as the world's largest chemical company extends across industries, it is a less well-known name due to its behind-the-scenes role as a supplier.
That dynamic extends to production of active pharmaceutical ingredients, where the industrial giant has focused its efforts on a select few such as ibuprofen, polyethylene glycol and l-menthol.
BASF has made ibuprofen — used in a range of medicines to treat pain, fever and inflammation — at its cGMP-certified production site in Bishop since 1992.
The newly announced investment will expand the Texas site, with new capacity expected to come online by 2018.
Complementing Bishop will be the new facility in Germany, construction of which is expected to complete in 2021.
In addition to API, BASF also produces excipients for drug formulation and offers consulting support in quality and regulatory affairs.