As Global Vice President, James is responsible for growing market share and driving profitable growth worldwide for the Pharmaceutical Ingredients business, focusing on excipients, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), and high purity solvents.

With over 30 years of leadership experience in specialty chemicals and ingredients, among other industries, James brings global insights with a proven record for leading profitable and sustainable businesses, while developing high performing teams across a broad range of applications and cultures. Before Univar Solutions, James worked for Nexeo Solutions. Prior to joining Nexeo Solutions, he was the principal owner of Peterson Construction, and held management and executive positions at OK International, a Dover company, Cadillac Plastics and Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics.

Supporting customers with security of supply

Highlights from our discussion with James Peterson, Global Vice President of Pharmaceuticals Ingredients at Univar Solutions.

There are too many things occurring in today’s world that, and if we don’t proactively plan for them, can set us back. Wherever your business is located and whatever pharmaceutical ingredients’ segment you serve, business terms such as “risk mitigation,” “risk aversion,” and “contingency planning” are stated more frequently than ever before.

On-shoring and domestic sourcing

Onshoring started becoming a hot topic following incentives to bring industry manufacturing back into the United States. More recently, supply chain disruptions have caused some firms to re-evaluate imported sources for raw materials.

From our standpoint, we’re fortunate to have strategic relationships with major suppliers – domestic and international – as well as an established global distribution footprint. These strengths have allowed us to support our customers with security of supply and risk mitigation in sourcing raw materials.

We continue to stress the importance of forecasting production needs, and the value our team brings in having multiple sources. Leveraging our scale and line of sight across the raw material supply chain, we foresee supply shifts or disruptions before others, and use those insights to help our customers make better decisions.

Value-added services

Our goal is to be the most valued ingredient distributor on the planet by exceeding our customers’ expectations, building trust and treating our customers’ challenges as if they were our own.

As the industry evolves and our customers’ needs change, so do our solutions. For example, with increased research and innovation in the biopharmaceutical industry, we have expanded our business approach and product portfolio, while meeting Good Distribution Practices (GDP) requirements. From adding unique biopharmaceutical ingredients to our portfolio to installing temperature-controlled storage and shelf-life management technologies, we continuously invest to meet the needs of our customers.

Digitalization

In the last two years, we’ve witnessed the industry increasingly recognizing the value of technological innovation. Univar Solutions has embraced and accelerated its digitalization to make it easier to do business with us. Our industry-leading digital tools offer rich information to enable customers to search, source, and self-serve on the ingredients and products they need. We provide a product and formulation finder to help accelerate product development, and industry-focused content that can help visitors realize how to reduce the total cost of operations or meet the latest regulatory requirements.

Our customers can order via our website, track shipment status from anywhere in the world, and access regulatory and safety documents, market insights, webinars and more, 24 hours, 7 days a week. For supplier partners, our website can help tell their story to more customers and accelerate sales growth. All of this is available on a global platform that leverages regionally-curated content and local language support.

Sustainability

At Univar Solutions, we’ve established highly impactful environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals. In support of these goals, Univar Solutions recently appointed a new Vice President of Sustainable & Natural Products, Kelly Gilroy. This new commercial capability builds upon a growing portfolio of in-demand products that address growing consumer and market demands, while more responsibly protecting our environment and communities.

Sustainability is not a trend; developing sustainable products, services and solutions is the “new normal.” Every day, we help customers leverage more sustainable ingredients, and we continue to broaden our specialty ingredient portfolio to include more natural and sustainable options. Our customers have access to our world-class laboratories, vast supplier network and sustainable business practices and supply chain – thereby benefitting from a host of sustainable solutions.

At the end of the day…

We are all in this together. From our wide-ranging ingredients portfolio and dedicated pharmaceutical and supply chain experts to our specialized global distribution infrastructure and regulatory compliance expertise, you can count on us to help alleviate pain points, manage road-blocks, and keep your business running.

DCAT Week is the premier global event held annually in New York City for companies engaged in the Bio/Pharmaceutical manufacturing value chain. It is hosted by the Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association (DCAT), a not-for-profit, corporate member-supported, and volunteer-led global business development association for companies engaged in the Bio/Pharmaceutical manufacturing value chain. Learn more at