Rodano, Milan, 21 November 2023 – Investment of EUR 10 million, 50 new jobs in research and development and related services. These are the main figures announced today by Olon at the official opening of the new Research and Development Centre at the company’s industrial plant and headquarters in Rodano, in the province of Milan.
Intended to form the cornerstone of and reinforce the company’s global research network, which has 7 other similar centres located in its 11 production sites in Italy, Spain, the USA and India, and according to a strategy of diversification of skills and applied technologies, it will be mainly dedicated to the development of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization and generic markets.
The new hub represents an expansion in terms of people, skills and capabilities, with the aim of greatly enhancing the know-how required to develop new molecules and innovative synthesis routes, to achieve faster scale-up and tech transfer processes both from customers to Olon’s production sites and internal transfers from one site to another; and finally, to achieve more competitive levels of process safety standards, consistent product quality and guaranteed business continuity.
The centre will have different areas, each devoted to a specific field of application. The hub will include a laboratory for process safety and the study of scale-up and process transfer; then there will be an analytical R&D area, which will expand our expertise for the development of new analytical methods to support the development of new products and to ensure high levels of quality right from the early stages; finally, there will be a process development laboratory with working groups dedicated to the development of advanced processes. All skills will be interconnected and integrated, based on a model of continuous exchange, not only within the new hub but also with the other Olon R&D centres around the world.
With this expansion, Olon brings the number of people employed in research worldwide to over 350, that is 15 per cent of our 2,300+ employees. ‘The goal we are pursuing with the new Research Centre in Rodano is to create laboratories with teams focused on new technologies, or new technological applications, in order to develop innovative and highly sustainable processes for industrial production,’ explained Giorgio Bertolini, Vice President R&D Olon Group. ‘In particular, we are focusing on the introduction of continuous manufacturing, biocatalysis and photochemistry. Many of our research projects are carried out in partnership with the most prestigious Italian and foreign universities, with whom we have long-standing relationships that are destined, starting today, to become even stronger,’ he added.
In 2023, the company’s turnover will exceed EUR 600 million, with research investments in the order of EUR 30 million (2022 figure), to develop and produce 300 active ingredients used in almost 5,000 proprietary medicinal products available worldwide. ‘We are among the world leaders in the production of active ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry. An Italian company with the highest standards of quality, safety and reliability worldwide, based in Italy, but with an international vocation,’ said Paolo Tubertini, CEO of Olon. Olon Group has a strongly global footprint, with a network of 11 production plants and several sales offices located in Europe, Asia and the US. ‘Two of the 11 plants are biotechnology centres, where we produce active ingredients using the most advanced biomanufacturing processes. Our partners are the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, but also highly innovative medium-sized and small enterprises. Thanks to acquisitions, in recent years, we have grown considerably and intend to continue expanding,’ he said.
