Koichi Hirayarma, representative for Sterling Pharma Solutions in Japan.
API developer and manufacturer, Sterling Pharma Solutions, announced it is expanding its capacity in Japan.
The contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) now works with a number of clients in Japan providing services such as fluorination, hazardous chemistry and continuous processing.
As part of this, the company works with a number of academic organizations on a several projects, including a fluorination project with Professor Graham Sandford at Durham University and a continuous processing project with John Blacker at Leeds University. It also works with specialist technology companies, including Prozomics and Nzomics Biocatalysis at Northumbria University.
Its partnerships with these organizations mean that Sterling can utilize their small-scale capabilities during proof of concept (POC) work, then scale-up and industrialize the processes to deliver APIs to market.
“Japan is the third largest pharmaceutical market in the world and over the last few years we have seen a lot of development in the innovator API space,” Kevin Cook, CEO of Sterling Pharma Solutions said. “Sterling is strong when it comes to managing the challenges associated with innovator APIs and this is largely due to our commitment to developing and utilizing new technologies to deliver complex molecules with quality output on time.
The company has plans to expand its presence further in this market and recently appointed a representative to drive business development in Japan.
Koichi Hirayarma has over 40 years’ experience across the pharmaceutical, healthcare and chemical industries and has previously held positions at Johnson & Johnson and Showa Denko K.K. His main responsibilities include driving Sterling’s sales activity in Japan and acting as a point of contact for the CDMO’s clients in this market.
Sterling Pharma Solutions has been successfully audited by the Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Agency (PDMA) in Japan.
Sterling’s site in the North East of England was founded in 1969 and has a strong heritage in API services. The CDMO is the UK’s largest provider of API development and manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical industry.