Development direction of pharmaceutical intermediate industry

Development direction of pharmaceutical intermediate industry

The so-called Pharmaceutical Intermediates are actually some chemical raw materials or chemical products used in the process of pharmaceutical synthesis. This chemical product can be produced in ordinary chemical plants without a drug production license. As long as it reaches some levels, it can be used for drug synthesis.

After nearly 30 years of development, China's pharmaceutical intermediate industry has developed from a small branch of the chemical industry to an emerging industry with an output value of billions of yuan, and its competition is becoming more and more competitive. In the early stage of industry development, pharmaceutical intermediate enterprises sprung up due to small investment and high rate of return.

At present, the output of new drugs in the market is limited, which makes it more and more difficult to develop new products in the pharmaceutical intermediate industry, the competition of traditional products is becoming more and more fierce, and the profit of the pharmaceutical intermediate industry is declining rapidly.

1. Improve technology and save cost. Pharmaceutical intermediates have long process route, many reaction steps, large amount of solvent and great potential for technical improvement. For example, raw materials with lower value can be used to replace raw materials with higher value, such as using instead of liquid bromine in the production of aminothiaxamic acid, using ammonium thiocyanate instead of potassium (sodium) thiocyanate in the production, etc; Using a single solvent instead of different solvents in the reaction process to recover the alcohol produced by the hydrolysis of ester products.

2. Form their own characteristic products and have great influence in the industry.

3. Extend the industrial chain upstream and downstream, and turn the main raw materials they use into their own production, which can further reduce the cost. At the same time, for some special raw materials, it can avoid the monopoly of key raw materials. The downward extension, that is, the direct synthesis of APIs from pharmaceutical intermediates, can further improve the added value of products and sell products directly to pharmaceutical companies. However, the investment in extending to the downstream is large, and the production technology requirements are high. It is also necessary to maintain a good relationship with the manufacturers of API.