Pharmaceutical manufacturing operations must prepare for faster drug approvals and increased time-to-market pressure. Pharmaceutical companies, which aimed to be Best-in-Class, will need to explore new ways to make the “facilities of the future". Gerd Moelgaard about the future of pharmaceutical production...

Seals specialist Freudenberg uses Lanxess' bio-based Keltan Eco EPDM rubber to produce rubber seals in North America. Keltan Eco EPDM ( ethylene-propylene-diene monomer) rubber contains up to 70 percent of ethylene obtained from sugarcane, and has an impressive set of properties that is in no way inferior to that of “conventional” EPDM.

More than just cheap generic drugs: With exports growing at nearly 30% per year, India's pharmaceutical industry is well positioned for greater research spends. The country has already submitted 112 ANDAs in 2013, nearly 40 percent of last year global ANDA-volume with the FDA.

The WirelessHart and ISA100 wireless standards provide facility operators with two additional communications solutions for transmitting field data. Many users are therefore asking which wired or wireless protocol represents the future-oriented technology that is best suited for efficient and safe production.

Antwerp Port Authority and FPIM (Federal Participation & Investment Company) are to jointly acquire a stake in Nxt Port, the digital data platform for the port community. The port authority also announced that it would acquire the Nationale Maatschappij der Pijpleidingen (NMP) from its current shareholders Ackermans & van Haaren and Electrabel. With the takeover the port authority will gain ownership and control of 720 km of pipelines.

As global leaders gathered at COP 23 in Bonn, 18 key leaders in their industry verticals, united in the Hydrogen Council coalition, came together to launch first ever globally quantified vision of the role of hydrogen, developed with support from McKinsey.

Sumitomo Chemical has begun construction of a plant at Sumika Electronic Materials, a recently-incorporated company in Changzhou City, China, to produce high-purity chemicals for semiconductors. The new facility, the company's second high-purity chemicals facility in China after its first plant in Xi’an, is scheduled to start commercial production in March 2019.

Bayer bags first order for new ODC chlorine production technology from China. Now the German chemicals company also hopes for the coveted German Industry Innovation Prize.

Braskem and Haldor Topsoe team up to validate the 'Mosaik' sugar-to-biochemicals solution for the production of MEG (monoethylene glycol) in a demonstration plant. The new partnership accelerates the development of this solution that forms the basis for a growing portfolio of bio-based chemicals produced through patented processes.

Wacker Chemie will expand its production capacities for silicone and polymer products in China and continue to reinforce its research and development capability in order to further strengthen its market position in the region, the Munich-based chemical company announced.