Ken Seufert is an accomplished senior executive with over twenty years of experience in strategic and leadership positions. Mr. Seufert is currently Chief Executive Officer of JRS Pharma LP and maintains full P&L responsibility for the business as well as oversight for the North American manufacturing operations. Prior to this role, Mr. Seufert held senior positions in other excipients companies and also owned his own businesses. With a focus in oral solid dosage formulation, he has extensive experience in drug formulation and commercializing new products on a global level.
He has been an active member of DCAT committees for many years and is on the Board of Editorial Advisors for industry publications. He has authored numerous articles on economics, sustainability, and supply chain challenges in the pharmaceutical industry. Mr. Seufert holds a B.S. in Economics with a minor in Chemistry from the University of Delaware.

Leading by example

Highlights from our discussion with Ken Seufert, CEO of JRS Pharma LP.

Ken Seufert: “We are very active with DCAT Committee work and sponsorships, and we look forward to DCAT Week every year as it is a very productive use of time to meet so many partners in a single location… We are very optimistic that the world is starting to re-open.“

Be prepared!

Supply chain issues have been an industry challenge over the past two years. However, against a backdrop of supply issues from China, political pressures in the West, and a risk-awareness that perhaps comes with a 140-year heritage, Ken says that JRS Pharma was actually prepared for many of the disruptions caused by COVID.

“While we are a global business, our focus has always been on regional markets,” he states. “Each manufacturing region takes care of its own area, developing a multiple manufacturing footprint of key products in key markets.  This means that our primary markets are handled, leaving smaller gaps to be filled in globally with excess capacities.  We address the business this way both on the supply side and for outbound finished product.”

Does this mean that JRS Pharma is already geared up for the trend for domestic sourcing that we are seeing across the pharma industry? Certainly, it seems that the company is well prepared for current market demands.

“We have many inquiries from customers who were sourcing from overseas that are looking for domestic supply either for primary or second sourcing initiatives,” says Ken. “We are continuing to invest in plant expansions and our overall manufacturing footprint in order to meet future growth expectations as well.  It will be a point of discussion for our meetings [at DCAT Week 2022] this week.”

Business opportunity

In particular, JRS Pharma sees the CDMO sector as a good opportunity for business.  As a leading manufacturer of excipients, the company offers a portfolio of high functionality excipients, binders, disintegrants, lubricants, functional fillers, thickeners, stabilizers, carriers and coatings, along with excellent technical support to address formulation challenges. As well as offering these products and services to pharma companies themselves, Ken views the CDMO sector as a growing customer base, and he is very enthusiastic about this uptake.

“These companies are much more nimble and flexible in their approach so they can move the development process along much faster,” Ken asserts.  “It’s also better for larger companies to take advantage of niche technologies that some of these specialist CDMOs offer, without having to make significant capital investments. For us, the CDMO sector growth is definitely outpacing the parent sector growth, so there are still a lot of opportunities here for JRS.”

Energy

Of course, as the world emerges from the COVID pandemic, Europe in particular has been shocked by the recent conflict in Ukraine. As well as the humanitarian and political impacts, the conflict has had a considerable impact on energy prices in Europe, and this is in turn impacting numerous industries, including Pharma.
“We have offices in both Ukraine and Russia, so those specific businesses are directly affected,” says Ken. “We would be foolish to think there won’t be further disruptions in the supply chain, energy and logistics, particularly in Europe.  Since energy is a global market, we are keeping a close eye on this to see how it affects our manufacturing locations here and on other continents.”

Sustainability

As well as pricing pressures to reduce energy consumption, there are also significant environmental pressures worldwide to reduce emissions and improve sustainability. Ken says that sustainability is a core value in Pharma at the moment. As Chairman of the DCAT Research and Benchmarking Committee which focused this year’s survey on sustainability, he was pleased to share his knowledge on this important topic with us.

“I can talk at great length about initiatives,” he says. “But what I have learned from the industry is that different organizations approach this differently and there is no one single approach.  For some companies, sustainability means working towards a zero carbon footprint, and for others it is a consideration of the entire supply chain.  Right now, most companies work on the ‘low hanging fruit’, and the real challenge will be when their business decisions have to be made and justified.” 

One of Ken’s favourite company facts is that JRS Pharma’s parent company in Germany (J. Rettenmaier & Sohne GmbH) does not have any paper waste. All of it is recycled back into product for its industrial and road construction divisions – what a great example!

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