22 INFORMEX Show Daily | <strong>Thursday</strong> February 21 2013 | Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim California History is in the making at C&EN this year, as the publication celebrates its 90th anniversary with a variety of landmark initiatives, including a special Sept. 9 issue profiling significant chemistry milestones. Additionally, its vast archives are spotlighted online each week, where a pictorial blog features provoking chemistry-related contests.
INFORMEX Show Daily | <strong>Thursday</strong> February 21 2013 | Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim California 23 In a session Wednesday, Lalit Baregama, CEO and president of Syngeny, briefed the audience about the latest applications of specialty chemicals to drive technical innovation. From API Sourcing page 1 tion technology skills for data and customer management, and political stability. Due to regulatory challenges and escalating costs, Speace suggested that companies wanting to do business with India consider the environmental, health, and safety records of suppliers there. Additionally, they should find out whether the drug is licensed by the Indian government, whether the company has ISO certifications and regulatory inspections. “When asking how committed your supplier is, you should determine operating and regulatory history, investments in facilities and talent, presence in your market, and customer support programs in place,” he said. From Green Chemistry page 1 In the pharmaceutical supply chain, outsourcing is driven by cost, flexibility requirements, and increasing capabilities of contract manufacturing organizations. Companies must design sustainability into products and processes from inception and have early, frequent assessment, Constable said, adding “Finding the right balance is challenging.” Green chemistry spurs innovation when companies think about improving the environment while obtaining equal or better performance from green processes and remaining economically viable. The principles of green chemistry are maximizing resource efficiency, eliminating or minimizing hazards, designing systems holistically, and using life cycle thinking, according to Constable. Last year’s National Science Foundation’s Sustainable Chemistry Workshop concluded that systems level thinking is required, more fundamental research should be use-inspired, and green is not synonymous with sustainable. Furthermore, efficiency is necessary but not sufficient, and sustainability research and education should be multi-disciplinary and collaborative. “We have to develop a different set of skills,” Constable said, adding that the process can be streamlined by finding the right metrics “that are simple, meaningful, essential, and based on systems already in place.” The business of green chemistry has to emphasize how new or replacement markets will affect revenues, how greater efficiency and automation will reduce costs, how business and government processes will impact risks, how intangibles will affect the company’s image, and how new strategies will affect value and quality. ACS roundtables are showing companies how to collaborate non-competitively, address technical challenges, develop decision-making tools, and add resources to the supply chain. “<strong>Chemical</strong> companies have to understand that the risks are real, early design makes green chemistry workable, and resources are available,” Constable concluded. Thomas Speace, president and CEO of Neuland Laboratories India’s high degree of government control lends itself to bureaucracy and corruption, Speace said. “Patience is more than a virtue,” he added. “Invest the time to build relationships.” China is even bigger and more diversified, with unique cultures and languages in different provinces, according to Hui-Yin (Harry) Li, president of Wilmington PharmaTech Co. Most API production takes place along the Pacific coast where water for manufacturing is vital. Li cautioned that sometimes doing business depends on how <strong>American</strong> companies can support the capabilities of API suppliers in China to overcome deficiencies. “You need to know the boss and how he operates the place,” he said. “You have to understand the company’s relationship with the local government, the suppliers’ resources, and whether they can invest in facilities and sustain growth.” API producers in China evolved from small town-owned chemical shops, cityowned local pharmaceutical companies, trading companies, new ventures managed by “returnees,” shops run by academics, and a combination. Some companies fail quickly, so companies doing business with them have to be vigilant regarding recent performance, current assets and capabilities, as well as the backgrounds of the people and organizations running them.
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