Roquette, a global leader  in plant-based ingredients and a leading provider of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical  excipients, today celebrates the grand opening of its new Pharmaceutical Innovation Center,  located near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, right in the heart of the United States’ Northeastern 

pharmaceutical corridor. Staffed with a team of highly skilled research, application and  formulation experts, the new $25 million center will be an advanced training and collaboration  hub for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical manufacturers around the world. With a focus on  optimizing patient experience with next-generation oral dosage forms, the US facility  complements the cutting-edge research activities of Roquette’s existing pharma innovation  centers in France and Singapore.  

Paul Smaltz, Vice President of Pharmaceutical Solutions at Roquette, comments: “Today’s  grand opening feels like the start of something special for Roquette. With its strategic location  in one of the world’s top pharma-producing regions, the new site will unlock even greater  opportunities for closer collaboration with our customers in the US and provide a beacon of  best practice training and advice to our teams across the globe.” 

Championing formulation excellence 

Similar to Roquette’s other Innovation Centers, the new US facility is dedicated to furthering  the field of pharmaceutical science through cross-industry collaboration, research-led product  development and a drive to improve patients’ lives. Expert training, troubleshooting and scale up advice will be priorities at the facility. Planned topics for the first wave of training workshops  include selecting excipients for controlled release dosage forms, enhancing bioavailability, and  formulating effective orally dispersible and chewable tablets. In addition to formulation-focused  sessions, the Innovation Center will host manufacturing-oriented seminars, such as improving  wet/dry granulation processes and strategies for effective continuous manufacturing.  

Underpinning these training sessions and the center’s primary research projects is a suite of  the latest pharmaceutical processing, testing and manufacturing equipment. Roquette’s  customers and partners can harness cutting-edge technologies such as a state-of-the-art R&D  continuous manufacturing simulator, compaction simulator, hot-melt extruder, advanced  dissolution and particle size testing (laser diffraction), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and modulated differential scanning calorimetry (mDSC) to refine and improve formulations. The  site is also fully stocked with brand-new granulation, blending and coating equipment,  alongside high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis capabilities. 

Shaping the future of US pharma 

The US Innovation Center opening equally marks the appointment of a new team of research  scientists and formulation experts, which will guide the direction of both the US site and  Roquette’s global pharmaceutical R&D activities moving forward.  

At the helm of this new team is Dr. Vinod Tuliani, the recently appointed Head of Global  Pharmaceutical Sciences. Joining Roquette with more than 30 years’ experience in the US  pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Tuliani will be responsible for setting Roquette’s long-term  scientific strategy and its implementation across the company’s Pharma Sciences team.  

“Our team at the new US Innovation Center has one overarching mission: to foster a seamless 

connection between cutting-edge science and the practicalities of drug development,”  comments Dr. Tuliani. “Together with Dr. Peter Freed, our newly appointed Head of Global  Pharma Customer Technical Support (CTS), we will push the boundaries of pharmaceutical  science through close collaborations with leading universities and research institutes, and bring blue sky concepts back to earth for our customers by harnessing decades of prototyping,  testing, sales and marketing experience.” 

Dr. Tuliani adds: “I am delighted to be joining the Roquette Pharma Solutions team at such an  exciting time of innovation and expansion. Today’s opening of the US Innovation Center is only  the beginning – with our unwavering commitment to serving customers, patients and the  scientific community, there is truly no limit to what we can achieve. Watch this space!”