ADVERTORIAL base in 1988 , where it has remained ever since and has continued to grow .
The core to Arran ’ s success was engineering excellence and the rapid development and implementation of chemical processes to satisfy customer demands on product quality , timelines and , of course , cost . This ethos remains today and is captured in our mission statement : “ We are a growing , technology-driven manufacturer of advanced chemical and speciality products .”
Resilience & adaptation to secure success
The company continually adapted and diversified from its core base technology of speciality catalyst and chiral product manufacture to the deployment of new technologies , including biocatalysis and flow .
It was this ability to adapt that attracted Almac Sciences to engage with Arran on their first project in 2010 . This involved a complex five-step synthesis of a registered starting material for a Japanese client involving a key biocatalytic step to set chirality .
From there , the relationship grew and matured to a point where the synergy with Arran ’ s offering and Almac Sciences ’ growing biocatalysis and flow expertise , made perfect sense for Arran to become part of the Almac family . Almac ’ s acquisition of Arran completed in 2015 .
Securing growth & investment
Since then , revenues have more than quadrupled and staff numbers have risen from 45 to 125 , with the total investment to date in excess of € 20 million . Investments have included the installation of reactor capacity ( the largest vessel now is 8 m 3 ), a regenerative thermal oxidiser to control emissions ( to less than 20 mg / hr ), a protein purification and enzyme immobilisation facility ( multitonne scale ), and a new drying and isolation suite .
Further facility and capacity expansions are underway including commissioning of high-pressure flow hydrogenation ( up to 100 Bar and 250 º C ) and multi-tonne flow reactors ( oxidations , lithiations , etc .) to support growth and further satisfy client demand into the future .
Arran has become an essential partner for the established manufacturer of speciality chemicals for the pharmaceutical , flavour and fragrance , and cosmetics industries , deploying core technologies including chemocatalysis , biocatalysis , Grignard chemistry , enzyme purification and immobilisation , distillation and flow chemistry , to name but a few .
Arran is a named manufacturer of key building blocks that go into over 30 different commercial drugs ranging from products that are used to treat hypertension , cardiovascular issues , renal problems and epilepsy , amongst others .
As well as life-changing pharmaceutical products , Arran manufactures aroma chemicals for the fragrances industry , which are used in high-end perfumes ( of which their own product Calone ® is the highest quality product on the market ) and other personal performance applications . Additional specialist expertise includes the manufacture of a range of reactive monomers and polymers used by the contact lens sector .
Arran ’ s work with US-based company Alcresta , through the manufacture of an immobilised enzyme for their Relizorb product for the treatment of patients with short bowel syndrome , is testament to the impact that our products can make for people every single day .
What does the future look like ?
There is no doubt that supply chain resilience will continue to develop into the future and become more sophisticated . The need for specialist and reliable chemical manufacture is therefore essential . There may be a cornucopia of manufacturers globally , but the selection criteria must be scrutinised to ensure security of supply and the right partner is selected .
Arran has a track record of sustained delivery over the last 40 years and we will continue to develop our processes in line with customer needs and build the associated technologies to support product development . Maybe it is time to give us a try ! We welcome you all to Ireland to visit us .
We dedicate this article to our all of our employees , past and present and we are excited to see where the next 40 years take Irish chemical manufacture … ●
SEP / OCT 2024 SPECCHEMONLINE . COM
47