Acquisition of Solus Biotech strengthens Croda Pharma

On 04 July Croda successfully completed the acquisition of Solus Biotech, an innovative biotechnology company with over three decades of industry experience. Based in South Korea, Solus provides us the opportunity to expand our Asian manufacturing capabilities as well as creating a new biotechnology R&D hub in the region.

How will Solus strengthen Croda Pharma?

The acquisition of Solus will enable us to tap into their portfolio of natural phosphatidylcholines from soybean, sunflower and egg lecithin. These pharma grade phospholipids are produced to GMP standards and have applications as emulsifiers and in drug delivery systems (DDS) for pharmaceutical APIs. Formulating DDS with phospholipids provides several advantages including enhanced bioavailability of APIs with low aqueous solubility, reduced toxicity and increased API stability. Solus offers high purity soya phosphatidylcholine for drug-phospholipid complexes in DDS. Additionally, Solus’ phospholipid capabilities will allow for collaborative R&D with our Avanti business, boosting the supply of lipid systems for drug delivery in the future.

As well as expanding our product offering Solus aligns with our commitment to sustainability. Together with their natural phospholipid offering Solus is developing biotech-derived retinol, a sustainable alternative to synthetically derived retinol.