Fine Chemicals Strive To Expand

As the fine chemicals industry met this month at ChemSpec Europe 12000 in Lyon, France, the buzzwords were expansion and consolidation. Companies are buying new plants and businesses or building them from the ground up. Companies that have expanded are working to integrate their new possessions into their existing businesses. And companies that entered chemical production via certain core technologies now seek to develop new approaches to the same compounds. For example, on the eve of ChemSpec, Avecia of Manchester, England, announced the $40 million acquisition of Torcan Chemical, Aurora, Ontario. Torcan specializes in process chemistry, production of developmental quantities of drugs under the Food & Drug Administration's current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) regulations, and commercial production of low-volume drugs. The acquisition thus gives Avecia both an additional presence in North America and an extension of capabilities into earlier stages of drug development. Avecia will fold Torcan into its fine chemicals division, but Torcan will ...