Ensuring Resilience in Pharma: APIs and Excipients

As we approach the five-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, pharmaceutical developers and their partners continue to adapt and expand supply chains to improve resilience. Ecolab, through strategic investments and innovative approaches, is leading the charge in supporting pharmaceutical customers. In this blog, we sit down with Ecolab SVP and General Manager, Shaq Pan, to discuss Ecolab’s efforts to advance drug development, enhance supply chain continuity, and address current and future trends in APIs and excipients. 
 
Ecolab acquired Purolite in 2021. Since the acquisition, what investments has Ecolab made in the pharmaceutical industry? How are these investments supporting pharmaceutical customers?
 
Shaq Pan: Ecolab is heavily investing in the pharmaceutical industry to advance drug development, ensure patient safety, and protect the planet—a core value of Ecolab.  

A key area of focus for us in the industry is our Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and excipients business. The company has enhanced its manufacturing capabilities by establishing a manufacturing plant in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. This plant ensures high-quality production standards and compliance with regulatory requirements.  

We view this plant in King of Prussia as critical to supporting customers and their growth plans by ensuring consistent quality, optimizing formulations, and enhancing the efficiency of manufacturing processes. The plant showcases innovative pharmaceutical ingredients and excipients, providing a collaborative environment for customers to explore solutions and enhance product development 

The facility is designed to meet rigorous purity standards and comply with regulatory requirements such as cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practices). This ensures that all APIs and excipients produced are of the highest quality, which is essential for our pharmaceutical partners. 
 
How is Ecolab ensuring supply security for its pharmaceutical customers? 

SP: We’re taking significant steps to ensure supply security for our pharmaceutical customers. Our facility in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, is a key part of our supply security initiative. The facility helps customers ensure supply chain continuity and flexibility, providing another supply source for our customers’ APIs and excipients—a particularly important move for our customers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.   

Additionally, Ecolab is establishing a new plant in China to produce raw materials for our excipient business, ensuring a steady supply for our global customers. Our focus on innovation within the API and excipient marketing is aimed at strengthening our position as a key player in pharma, particularly in regions with significant growth opportunities like India.  

Finally, Ecolab is expanding its manufacturing capabilities and creating new partnerships with suppliers to ensure a steady supply of critical raw materials.  
 
What trends are you noting within the API and excipient market space that are driving innovation and manufacturing expansions? 

SP: Significant innovation work is being done in the pharmaceutical market on drug delivery systems. Complex delivery properties such as taste masking, controlled release, and abuse deterrence require innovations in excipients. Ecolab is actively engaging in joint innovations with pharmaceutical customers to address these needs.  

Ecolab’s investments in capacity and supply chain enable customers to reduce their supply risk and improve business continuity. The company is also expanding applications in line with new market trends, including controlled substance abuse deterrents and nutraceuticals.