The Sanmar group’s association with Kalamazoo, USA, through its joint venture with Flowserve Corporation for manufacturing mechanical seals (the erstwhile Durametallic Corporation) dates back to the year 1976.
The imposing 21-metre high distillation column.
Now, after 25 years here is an association with yet another company in Kalamazoo. Sanmar Speciality Chemicals Limited (SSCL) supplies 4-Methyl Acetophenone (4-MAP), an advanced pharmaceutical intermediate for Celebrex, an anti-arthritic drug manufactured by Pharmacia Corporation, Kalamazoo, USA (the erstwhile Monsanto Searle). Pharmacia has qualified SSCL as an important vendor for 4-MAP through a series of qualification audits.
The first of these audits was conducted in January 1997 and was followed up with a facility inspection and a cGMP evaluation in April and May 1999 respectively.
As part of its developmental efforts to meet Pharmacia’s growing demand, SSCL set up a new 21-metre high distillation column for fractional distillation. This column with 15-metre structured Sulzer packing can produce high purity products. Pharmacia has qualified this column for its performance for supply of a high pure grade 4-MAP, towards futuristic requirements.
This qualification was through two facility audits, the first one in March 2001 by Christian D Frank, Executive Director, Global Procurement-Supply, Pharmacia Corporation and Harry Zafran of D&O Pharmachem, USA and the second one in May 2001 by Dr Mukund S Joshi, Senior Director, Global API Supply, Christian D Frank and John H Symonds, Director, Chemical Procurement, Pharmacia & Upjohn Company.
These inspections were complemented by an Environmental Safety and Health (ESH) audit by Gary J Spies, Director-ESH, Pharmacia Corporation in May 2001.
The Pharmacia team at the new facility.
Christian D Frank, Executive Director, Global
Procurement-Supply, Pharmacia Corporation, USA
and Harry Zafran of D&O Pharmachem, USA, at the
inauguration of the distillation column.
C G Sethuram, Chief Executive, SSCL, explaining a
point to Gary J Spies, Director-ESH, Pharmacia
Corporation, USA, at the ESH audit.
Dr Mukund S Joshi, Senior Director, Global API
Supply, Pharmacia, Christian D Frank and John
H Symonds, Director, Chemical Procurement,
Pharmacia & Upjohn Company, with the SSCL team.