Add Press Release

LANXESS 26/09/2006

Saltigo invests in new CGMP production complex in Leverkusen

26, 2006

Saltigo at CPhI 2006, October 3-5, 2006, Paris, stand no. 5H06 Saltigo invests in new CGMP production complex in Leverkusen

Leverkusen - Saltigo GmbH, a professional service-provider for custom synthesis and custom manufacturing, attaches great importance to trusting partnerships with innovative companies within the agricultural, pharmaceutical and specialty chemicals industries all over the world. To this end, the wholly owned subsidiary of the LANXESS chemicals group delivers market-focused and customer-oriented complete solutions for the development, piloting and production of active ingredients and intermediates.

Saltigo believes that the most attractive field of work lies in the innovative life cycle phases of pharmaceutical active ingredients, which are characterized by extensive patent protection and proprietary synthesis processes. Saltigo’s Managing Director, Dr. Axel Westerhaus, says: "This is the area in which we can make best use of our in-house expertise, development and process know-how, broad range of technologies and the benefits we have accrued from our integrated plant structure in Leverkusen - for the ultimate benefit of our customers and, of course, for our own success too."

Saltigo is making carefully selected investments to make itself even more attractive to this market. The most recent example of this is the company’s decision to convert and expand an existing plant complex at the integrated Leverkusen site into an ultra-modern, multi-functional plant structure for CGMP-compliant (CGMP = Current Good Manufacturing Practice) production, processing and purification of APIs (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) and intermediates. Outlining the project, Westerhaus adds: "According to current plans, investments of around EUR10 million will allow us to make significant additional CGMP capacities available by as early as mid-2007. We experience a high demand for this capacity." "Making use of an existing plant approved several times by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)," he continues, "is allowing us to respond to this demand quickly and with a relatively low level of investment. This will enable us to produce an outstanding high-tech solution and incorporate our quality management team’s years of experience."

The new production complex will comprise four modular multi-purpose units, one of which is to be used exclusively for the production of intermediates. The units are set up for the use of solvents and solids as well as the handling of corrosive APIs, such as hydrochlorides. They have an automatic, recipe-managed process control system. Total capacity will be more than 200 metric tons/year and the system will allow for the use of reaction units of between 2.5 and 8 cubic meters, made from various materials.

Alongside broad, general CGMP technologies, which in the future will also include low-temperature organometallic reactions, customers will also have access to challenging chemistries under CGMP conditions. Such reactions include phosgenations, hydrogenations at high pressure, fluorinations and the ability to handle reagents with a high energy content and highly exothermic reactions.

Westerhaus comments on the aims of the young company with a wealth of experience: "In the future, our main aim will be to consistently expand operations in the areas of pharmaceuticals and specialty chemicals, since these are the cornerstones of our market."

Saltigo has very recently initiated specific investment projects in several plants so as to be even better equipped to satisfy the requirements of the market and its customers. These projects include an upgrade of small-volume production and also a new low temperature unit for the CGMP-facility.

For detailed information about the company, please visit www.saltigo.com.

Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Saltigo GmbH management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

You can open the press release by using the following link: http://mediarelations.lanxess.com/lanxess/lnxnews.nsf/id/2006-0181-EN