Generic fine chemicals

Pharmaceutical fine chemicals (PFCs) account for more than two-thirds of the total value of fine chemicals. The figure of 55 billion for the PFCs has been derived from the 550 billion turnover for formulated pharmaceuticals, as published periodically by IMS Health (see Appendix A.l). An average percentage of 10% (8% for proprietary drugs, 15-20% for generics) has been applied for the PFCs share (see also Table 9.3). Out of the total PFC value... 

The new production capacity that has come onstream in Asia since the mid-1990s has allowed the fine-chemical companies in these countries to capture a close to 50% share of the global merchant market for API-for-generics, the only segment of the industry where demand has developed favorably lately (see text below). The pharmaceutical industry itself, plagued by underutilized capacity, has gone more aggressively after third-party business. 

The dichotomy in the development of offer and demand also has a direct impact on the development of the fine-chemical industry in a global context. Whereas Western companies have suffered from the reduced demand for custom manufacturing services, Asian companies have benefited from the generics boom. The opposite turnover development of selected Indian and European fine-chemical companies is depicted in Figure 10.1. 

Table 12.5 API-for-Generics What s in It for a Fine-Chemical Company...

Btihler, V. (2001), Generic Drug Formulation, 4th ed., BASF Fine Chemicals, Ludwigshafen, Germany. 

In the fine chemicals and pharmaceutical sectors lower labour rates, increased local demand and acceptance of international standards in quality management are also taking manufacturing away from Europe and the US. India has become the no.l manufacturer of the APIs for generic drugs 70% of all such APIs used in Europe are now manufactured in India and China. 

Unsaturated polymers can be produced by means of ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of cyclic alkenes. These unique polymers can also be produced via intermolecular Acyclic Diene Metathesis (ADMET). Dienes can also react intramolecularly via Ring Closing Metathesis (RCM) to afford cyclic products. RCM is often applied to synthesis of compounds for fine chemical and pharmaceutical application. Generic examples of these reactions are shown in Figure 2. 

Figure 3.54 shows schematically a generic microflow system that might be used to synthesize fine chemicals from reactants on denuuid, or to produce individual doses of a reconstituted lyophilized drug for medical treatment. A multi-... 

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