Isochem company
Isochem is a French chemicals company specialized in custom synthesis. The company's products and services are primarily destined for the following market sectors:
- pharmaceuticals (APIs or active ingredients for medicinal products and intermediates),
- cosmetics
- specialty chemicals.
 | |
| Type | S.A.S |
|---|---|
| Industry | Chemicals and Speciality Products |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Headquarters | Vert-le-Petit, France |
Key people | Björn Schlosser (CEO) |
| Products | Chemicals |
Number of employees | 330 (2016) |
| Subsidiaries | Framochem (Hongrie), Wychem (Grande-Bretagne), Isochem Gmbh (Allemagne) |
| Website | www.isochem.eu |
The company operates from four production sites in France and also has one industrial subsidiary, Wychem in the UK.
The company has following product portfolios:
- Dyes
- Pigments
- Chemicals.
History
- 1974 : Isochem created in Gennevilliers
- 1977 : Pithiviers (ex. Agrifarm) site opened
- 1979 : 1st U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) audit and approval; export market development
- 1990 : Isochem joins Groupe SNPE
- 1991 : Isochem acquires the Vert-le-Petit site (ex IRCHA Fine Chemicals and Propeptide)[1]
- 2003 : acquisition of the Pont-de-Claix platform and the Hungarian subsidiary Framochem
- 2010 : acquisition of Isochem by the German industrial holding company Aurelius AG[2]
- 2012 : acquisition of Wychem (UK) by Isochem [3],[4]
- 2014 : sale of Framochem subsidiary by Isochem
- 2016 : sale of Wychem subsidiary by Isochem
Initially specialized in the extraction and hemisynthesis of natural substances such as quinine, Isochem has gradually expanded its expertise in the field of multi-step industrial production [5] encompassing a variety of operations including Grignard, Friedel-Crafts, Sandmeyer, Vilsmeier-Haack Reaction, deprotonation using butyllithium, reduction using metal hydrides and hydrogenation.[6]
In the 1990s, synergies with groupe SNPE enabled Isochem to implement new technologies such as phosgenation,[7] nitration and manufacture of amino-acid derivatives such as NCAs[8],[9] UNCAs and peptides.[10],[11]
Industrial sites and specific expertise
Some sites in France:
- Vert-le-Petit :(head office and production): phosgene chemistry
- Gennevilliers: fractioned distillation, cold reactions (-70 °C)
- Pithiviers: hydrogenation under pressure, waste processing [12] · [13]
- Pont de Claix : active ingredients and intermediates for Agrochemicals.
Most industrial sites have a research and development team; in addition, the Vert-le-Petit site has the equipment required to study process safety.[14]
References
- Infogreffe Isochem
- , Isochem cherche des chemins pour grandir, Industrie Pharma, octobre, 2010.
- , Isochem rachète la société britannique Wychem, Industrie Pharma, janvier, 2013.
- , Isochem renforce son offre en chimie fine et s'implante en Grande-Bretagne, Usine Nouvelle, juillet, 2013.
- Growing challenges of API process development in custom manufacturing, Chimica Oggi / Chemistry Today, 27, n°5, september-october, 2009.
- Hydrogenation the key?, Specialty Chemicals Magazine, juin, 2009.
- Phosgene Futures, Specialty Chemicals Magazine, November, 2011.
- , Controlled Ring Opening of N-Sulfinyl- and N-Silyl-N-Carboxyanhydrides (NCA), Synlett, 2009 (2), 279-283.
- Amino-Acid N-CarboxyAnhydrides: Industrial solutions for a growing demand, Specialty Chemicals Magazine, 28, n°5, June, 2008.
- Peptide synthesis and Fine Chemistry merging for progress, PharmaChem, novembre-december, 2004
- UNCAs - Focus on peptides & Amino-acids, Chimica Oggi / Chemistry Today, 23, n°3, June, 2005.
- La Société Isochem à la pointe du traitement des déchets, Le Courrier du Loiret, n°3439, 29 novembre 2012
- Isochem vise l'autonomie totale - Traitement des rejets, La République - Pithiviers, 29 novembre 2012.
- Archived 2014-02-26 at the Wayback Machine, Phosgene-triphosgene: different approach in risk management?, Chimica Oggi / Chemistry Today, 29, n°4, july-august, 2011.