2018 Irish Enterprise Award

18 EU BUSINESS NEWS / 2018 Irish Enterprise Awards , Best Speciality Chemicals Manufacturer 2018 Arran Chemical Company, part of the Almac Group, is a technology driven chemical company specialising in the manufacture of products for pharmaceutical and healthcare, flavour/ fragrance, personal care and other specialised chemical and industrial applications. We profile the firm to learnmore and explore the secrets behind its phenomenal success. Founded in 1984, Arran was based in Galway and moved to its current site in Athlone in 1988. The company grew from strength- to-strength and was acquired by the Almac Group in 2015. Today, Arran, coupled with its selectAZymeTM biocatalysis technology, is recognised globally as a key player in the area of biocatalyst research, development/application and commercial supply of chiral intermediates at multi-tonne scale with manufacturing in Ireland. The team at Arran are specialists in chiral chemistry using both chemocatalysis and selectAZymeTM (biocatalysis) technologies, and have practical operating experience over a wide range of synthetic reactions. Through the application of technology, the firm offers clients chemical solutions which are economic, safe, scalable and high quality. Currently, the business is split with 50% pharma and 50% specialty chemical provisions. As a thought leader in the industry, Arran remains growing technology-driven manufacturer of advanced chemical and speciality products achieved through the integration of multi-disciplinary teams who find solutions beyond the traditional realms of chemical synthesis. This provides new and attractive synthesis options which are fully scalable, safe and economic. Furthermore, this integration ensures that superior technical solutions can be found to the challenges that contract chemistry brings. The firm’s team has researched more than 30 projects in the last year involving multi- disciplinary research on enzyme discovery, enzyme evolution, strain development, enzyme optimisation and chemical process design. The group has shown a multi-million euro turnover and is a key part of the business with projects outside of the pharmaceutical industry including, synthetic biology, agrichemical, flavour and fragrance and biofuel. To ensure that it supports the wider industry with its knowledge and expertise, the team at Arran has been actively communicating their work to wider scientific community and intend to continue with this throughout further development. This communication in trade and peer reviewed, high quality scientific journals has also raised their profile, leading to an increased market share both technically and commercially. Additionally, publication in high quality journals has been motivational for the scientists involved and is useful for networking across the scientific community. The group have also presented their research at the prestigious Gordon Conference in the US promoting both the science and the importance GBA17006 of Irish research, and won the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland Industrial Chemistry Award 2017. Thanks to this constant sharing of information with their peers throughout the market, Arran has a strong overview of the developments that are occurring and is able to adapt around these to ensure that it offers its clients truly cutting edge support and services. Currently in the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industry, there is a need for greener and more economic alternatives to current production methods due to pressures on cost and environmental legislation. Biological systems and in particular isolated or immobilised enzymes (Biocatalysis) offer a sustainable and greener alternative to traditional catalysts in for advanced chemical manufacture. As such, Arran is focused on building a sustainable future, and the firm has recently completed the first of three phases of a sustained programme of investment as part of their ADAPT strategy. The ADAPT (Arran Deploys Advanced Production Technologies) strategy has been deployed to meet predicted production demands. Arran’s manufacturing plant assets have been upgraded bringing the total manufacturing capacity to approximately 50 m3 with another 30 m3 in construction. This has been accompanied by a major refit of the multi- purpose pilot plant in addition to enhancement of the existing refrigeration, warehousing and waste processing facilities. The completion of the second phase is anticipated by Summer 2018, and will offer Arran many exciting opportunities to continue innovating and adapting to ensure a sustainable future for both itself and, most importantly, its clients. In conclusion, Prof Tom Moody, VP Technology Development & Commercialisation considers the next stage of future growth for Ireland will be leveraging the power of technology in our excellent manufacturing assets throughout the island. “This is key for all Irish companies to stay ahead of the Asian competition, and innovation through application of new technology will drive success. At Arran we are seeing the deployment of our ADAPT strategy reaping rewards and are fully committed to new technologies around biotransformations, catalysis and flow chemistry. The technology driven process has proven to increase process scalability and lower cost-of-goods allowing us to compete a world stage. Irelands’ future is bright.”