We made a enjoyable interview with
BASF Turkey Head of Pharma Solution Division Mrs. Tanju Cepheli about their efforts to meet difficulties they face in the pharmaceuticals sector. Cepheli also discussed digitalization solutions in the pharmaceuticals sector for you.
Mr. Tanju Cepheli, could you tell our readers about yourself and your professional background?
I have completed my economics education at the Fachhochschule für Betriebswirtschaft in Germany and including the global positions, I have been serving as a director in the sales departments of BASF on cosmetics, food, feed additives, aroma and pharmaceutical since 1991. Currently I am working as the Head of Pharma Solution Division and I am responsible for Turkey, Middle East, Africa and Russia. I am also a member of the Board of ISPE (International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering) and serve as the Vice Board Chairman of GTBD (Food Supplement and Nutrition Association), and I am also a member of the working groups of various professional organizations such as TUSIAD.
Could you give us information about BASF Turkey?
Having made it is first sales in Turkey in 1880, BASF has a history of 140 years in Turkey, and continues to provide chemical products to many industrial sectors and to contribute to the Turkish economy since the foundation of the Republic. Establishing a partnership with Sümerbank in 1969 with the main purpose of supplying products to primary industry fields such as textile, paper, paint and leather, BASF then established it is first factory producing textile, leather, detergent and construction chemicals in Gebze in 1970. With the introduction of this plant, BASF has started to produce it is world-class products in Turkey, and has contributed to the development of many sectors and the Turkish economy.
Approximately 740 associates are employed at the BASF’s head office located in Istanbul and other eight offices and six manufacturing facilities located in various cities of Turkey. BASF has total six production facilities in Turkey, including one facility in Dilovası, Çayırova, Trabzon and Adana and two facilities in Gebze, and operates in several areas such as chemicals, plastics, dispersions and pigments, care chemicals, specialty chemicals and crop protection. BASF products and solutions are used in a wide range of industries such as electrical and electronic products, automotive, construction, detergent and cleaning, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and animal feed, agriculture and food. We, as BASF Turkey, will also develop customized solutions for our customers with our Innovation Center that will be started operate in 2020.
BASF serves to many sectors and what would you like to say about the Pharma Ingredients category of BASF? With which products do you stand out in the pharmaceutical industry?
As BASF, we play an important role in the development of drugs that will meet the needs of the pharmaceutical industry and contribute to the treatment of patients. We produce active ingredients and auxiliary substances of various functions in order to produce and develop drugs in solid oral, semi-solid, soft capsule, solution, and suspension dosage forms. We also have products in the field of biotechnology, which has been developing in recent years, and we are continuing our efforts to offer more diverse solutions in this portfolio in the coming days.
Could you tell us about your efforts to meet the challenges of the pharmaceutical industry today and tomorrow?
We share our know-how and drug solutions we have gained with years of experience in the field of pharmaceutical development with the companies working on these issues. We have many articles, posters, and books that contain the findings and information we obtained as a result of our own experimental studies.
We have data that may be needed particularly in the field of development and that may bring solutions to the challenges that might be encountered. We share this information verbally and in writing with our customers. We constantly support the developing companies by providing them the technical training they need. With our experienced technical and sales team, we help our customers with the issues they need. With each passing day, we see that there are new developments in the pharmaceutical industry. It may take a long time to introduce a new product to the market and to the patient use due to the fact that very detailed examinations are carried out during the licensing phase and a strict control is applied.
Therefore, continuously following up the projects that are under development is very important in order to predict future technologies and challenges in the development stage.
As BASF, we have close cooperation with the universities and the pharmaceutical industry. The problems we see in the projects there actually reflect the future challenges. From this point of view, our new product portfolio and our R&D studies are structured according to the needs in order to solve the problems we see. The best examples of this are the virtual assistants we have introduced within the scope of digitalization and our new products that we are preparing to offer in the field of biotechnology. We are also carrying out development efforts at our lab in Germany for some projects that we run together with the companies in Turkey.
Innovation, time to market and cost effectiveness are among the important criteria for pharmaceutical companies. How does this process proceed at BASF?
Innovation is an area that BASF is the most strongest and that BASF attaches importance. We meet the need for simplification of production as well as contributing to the pharmaceutical development with innovative products we have developed taking into account the needs of the market.
For example, within the scope of solid drug production processes, we are producing auxiliary ingredients that contain combination of ingredients in different functions such as Ludipress, Ludipress LCE, Ludiflash, which are only used for mixing the ingredients and then pressing them in tablet form and which are suitable for direct pressing due to short process time, and Ibuprofen DC 85 W ingredient that contain Ibuprofen active ingredient. In this way, we support the pharmaceutical companies in bringing solutions to their capacity and production speed problems in production areas by simplifying their existing processes.
One of the other important stages that determine the time to market is the licensing process. All kinds of documents, papers and declarations that may be needed in this process can be provided in domestic and foreign markets for our high quality ingredients. In addition to drug costs and financial conditions, we offer competitive and affordable prices to our customers also by taking into account the market dynamics.
What is your perspective on R&D? How do you describe the importance of R&D for BASF Turkey?
With a business history of 155 years in the world and a business history of 140 years and a production history of more than 50 years in Turkey, BASF attaches a significant importance to innovation since the very first day. BASF has R&D Centers approximately at 70 locations worldwide, and employs more than 11 thousand employees in this field. In global, BASF invested around 2 billion Euro for R&D operations and got 900 new patents just in 2018.
As BASF Turkey, we are aiming to develop innovative products that always serve to the customers’ needs and requests. In this context, our R&D center in Germany is working on the development of innovative products with a focus on the customer. R&D studies are carried out continuously in order to keep pace with the pharmaceutical industry, which is constantly evolving and using new technologies. R&D operations of the pharmaceutical companies in Turkey generally involve the development of generic drugs.
One of the obstacles frequently encountered by the generic drug companies during pharmaceutical development is the patents issued by the originators. New products and innovative formulations are needed within the scope of R&D studies in order to overcome these patents and obtain generic drugs. In this context, with it is alternative auxiliary ingredients and innovative drug solutions featuring various functions, BASF contributes to the development of generic drugs with the same efficiency and quality. Our technical team in Turkey constantly visits R&D centers and makes presentations on new technologies, pharmaceutical solutions and latest developments.
Could you tell us about your technology platforms? What is the role of your technology platform during the production phase?
There are over 400 ingredients with various functions in the BASF’s pharma solutions portfolio. We offer 6 different technology platforms including instant and modified release, solubilization, semi-solids, soft capsules, biological solutions and active ingredients in order to facilitate this portfolio for customers’ use and classify ingredients according to their functions.
The instant and modified release platform contains the ingredients in the binder, dispenser, coating, moisture protector, lubricant, and release profile adjuster functions that are generally required for the development of solid oral dosage forms. In the solubilization platform, there are auxiliary ingredients that can be used for all dosage forms that enable the solubility of active substances in the 2nd and 4th classes in the biopharmaceutical classification system. Other platforms include auxiliary ingredients needed for the development of semi-solid, soft capsules and biotechnological products.
As BASF, we also offer our customers an active ingredient platform that includes the active ingredient Ibuprofen, which we pioneer in the world, and also products such as Dexpanthenol, Menthol and Omega. The R&D, production, process improvement and business development departments of pharmaceutical companies can choose the products they want by using the technology platforms and can benefit from the pharmaceutical solutions we provide through the platforms.
Which technology and features are available in the latest product you offered to the industry?
Our Soluplus product, which we have launched as BASF in recent years, has been introduced as a solubility enhancer in drug formulations with solubility problems. It appears to be an innovative product for the current need of the industry, especially considering that the solubility of most of the molecules developed or whose patents expire today are low. Although the product was designed for melt extrusion process, it was observed that it was also applicable with conventional production methods and good results were obtained in the studies carried out in BASF labs and universities.
Recently, BASF pharma solutions division offered three virtual assistants to our customers within the scope of digitalization. There is a virtual formulation assistant, ZoomLab, which suggests a formulation and production method for the development works in R&D departments.
Thanks to this software, which is extremely easy to use and access, ingredient and time waste arising from the trial and error method is prevented and a fast result is obtained. RegXcellence software is a virtual assistant that you can directly and quickly download all the necessary statements, declarations, certificates and similar documents related to BASF ingredients in the products developed during the registration phase.
It is a software that eliminates the loss of time due to waiting, which is very important for time to market fast, and that you can download the document you want instantly. Another software, MyProductWorld, is an application where you can create a sample order and access all the technical information about the ingredient you are looking for. If you are a BASF customer, all you have to do is to register to the site to take advantage of all these opportunities.
Could you give information about the product you will offer to the pharmaceutical industry in the coming years? What are the advantages that this product will add to your brand and the industry?
Our virtual assistants I mentioned above will be developed and become more functional in the future. Currently, the specific module of our formulation assistant for the solid dosage form is active. In the future, we will offer an assistant that offers very precise formulation recommendations for all dosage forms. In addition to this, biotechnology is pretty much in the agenda of Turkey during the recent years.
We will support pharmaceutical companies with different and innovative products in this field. Within the scope of simple and fast production, we will also offer innovative products in the co-process product portfolio, where we combine auxiliary ingredients in various functions needed by the pharmaceutical industry within a single ingredient framework. Our aim is to always innovate according to the needs and requirements by focusing on the customer.
You have carried out very important activities on sustainability since 1994. Could you share your 25- year sustainability adventure with our readers?
As BASF, we have placed the protection of natural resources and the sustainable business method into the center of our company’s operation for more than 150 years since the foundation of BASF. We see sustainability, which is an integral part of our corporate identity nowadays, as an absolute necessity of today’s business world. In line with our mission “We create chemistry for a sustainable future”, we aim to contribute to the world for a livable future. We achieve this goal by using the available resources in the best way and making a responsible production while creating chemistry for our customers and the society.
Our sustainability activities all around the world are managed from Ludwigshafen, our headquarters in Germany, as a result of the global approach we have developed as BASF. These activities are continuously recorded and reported, and our targets are refreshed accordingly.
Under the roof of BASF, the world’s leading chemical company, not only our products, but also all our production processes are designed to protect the climate and ensure the continuity of the natural resources of the earth. We also assume the responsibility of the next generations in all the activities we carry out. With this awareness, we offer products and solutions for human health, nutrition, need for clean water, and reducing the carbon dioxide emissions.
In addition to our various products and solutions offering sustainability in the entire world, we also place education and children into the center of the social sustainability projects we carry out.
