Improving Pharma

Earlier this month, chemical engineer Ian Shott, chief executive officer of Ian Shott Enterprises, launched his firm's latest addition: a fine chemicals manufacturing site in North Wales. The new center gives ISE its third leg for serving the pharmaceutical and fine chemicals industries. It also enables industry veteran Shott to put into action his long-held thesis that there is ample scope for improving the design and economics of pharmaceutical and fine chemicals manufacturing.

Less than a year ago, Shott founded Ian Shott Associates, consultants specializing in fine chemicals processes and production and business strategy formulation. In April, he acquired the Durham, England-based engineering firm WH Promation, now called Ian Shott Technology, which focuses on design of manufacturing plants and equipment for the pharmaceutical, food, and biotechnology industries.

The Welsh site, now Ian Shott Development, gives ISE the means for putting new methods of production and design into practice. Acquired from Great Lakes Chemical in June, the facility consists of two new cleanroom laboratories supported by two R&D labs and a large analytical facility.

The center will be able to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients in a current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) facility equipped with 19 reactors of up to 1,300-L capacity, and in two non-cGMP plants with reactors ranging up to 4,500 L.

THE CENTER, Shott says, will allow his company to capitalize on its expertise in unnatural amino acids, asymmetric synthesis, bromination, and cryogenic synthesis. All this, he adds, will occur in a flexible, multipurpose plant with wide leeway for scale-up options. Before it sold the site, Great Lakes Chemical had invested $8 million in the facility. However, Shott observes, the site was seriously underutilized.

"The potential strength is high," he says. "This site had been for sale for about two years. That doesn't help with customer retention and recruitment--there had been a rundown in sales." Moreover, there had been a reduction in employment: "Great Lakes had cut to the bone. We won't be letting people go--we will be hiring people.

"I think we can generate a lot of revenue from these assets--by utilizing our spare capacity and our intellectual property," he says. "We're going to be focusing on pharma, food, and biotechnology. Our strategy will be to focus on development and implementation, molecule development, cost structures, and so on, to help customers do the things they don't want their highly paid people doing."

Shott will stress customer booking, fast turnaround, and changing the cost structure. "We will look at how we can change the business model to do it all through North Wales and not from Mumbai," he insists. "We're going to do what works."

Following the Durham and North Wales acquisitions, he says: "I will pursue other acquisitions. But right now, I don't know what. I will continue to be opportunistic, but I won't be filled with foolish enthusiasm."