Five minutes at CPhI North America with

Marie Crane, healthcare market manager at Dow Corning, and Dago Caceres, global marketing leader – pharma at Dow Food, Pharma & Medical

PH: Will the Dow Corning identity continue as part of Dow and what is the focus here?

Crane: We will become one under the Dow brand, although many of our product names will stay the same. Our main focus is on the ‘Power of 2’. With the two companies coming together in this market, we now have broader delivery capabilities as well as a wider product range to collaborate with our customers.

Caceres: Dow and Dow Corning have synergistic and complementary portfolios. The legacy Dow business was focused on oral solid dosage forms, mainly tablets and capsules. On the other hand, Dow Corning was focused on other delivery forms like trans-dermal and topical solutions, and also has solutions for medical adhesives and bioprocessing. So today we can offer to our customers solutions in different areas where they participate, and that’s what customers are looking for. We now have a larger and more unique toolbox for the pharma industry, which gives them options to differentiate themselves in the marketplace.

PH: What synergies do you see between the two companies?

Caceres: The two companies have a combined 135 years of experience in pharma and share the same values of quality, reliability and consistency, which are extremely important to the pharmaceutical industry. The manufacturing excellence and reliability programs established by both legacy business is what sets us apart as it allows us to produce high-quality products consistently. For instance, in the case of our Methocel™ portfolio (part of our cellulosics offering), we have a strong business continuity plan, supported by manufacturing operations in different regions that gives customers the confidence that we will be a reliable supplier

Crane: Both of us have APIs on the marketplace, so we understand the industry, regulations and its quality systems. As well as having the products, our manufacturing sites are audited by the FDA, we know what it’s like for customers to have those expectations

PH: What are the key platforms do you bring to the pharma market?

Caceres: One of our two key platforms is related to ‘productivity improvement’, enabling customers to reduce costs without compromising quality. For this, we launched Ethocel™ HP at the last CPhI and we are seeing a high level of interest from the market. Ethocel™ HP is essentially an efficient, environmentally friendly coating for multi-particulates and mini-tablets that enable customers to eliminate solvent use, while also getting better yields out of their existing assets and improving operational safety. The second platform in our portfolio is related to ‘solubility enhancement’. This is a critical unmet need in the industry, since about 70% of API candidates have solubility issues and we believe that this can be solved through chemistry. To address it, we have our Affinisol™ platform, including solutions for spray-dry dispersion through Affinisol HPMCAS, and most recently we have launched Affinisol HMPC HME for hot melt extrusion, which is a unique technology that is seeing significant traction in all regions of the world, particularly China and India.

PH: What is your take on the show concept?

Caceres: We have traditionally supported CPhI Worldwide and I think it makes sense to have a similar tradeshow in North America. I am already seeing some good companies and good names present at the show; CPhI is a good place to meet with pharma customers and industry leaders. The jury is still out but we are glad to be here and we’ll evaluate after the show our results.