HONEYWELL SHIPS DRUG TO HAITI. Last month, Haitians received a free shipment of diethylcarbamazine citrate from Wicklow, Ireland. Diethylcarbamazine citrate is used to treat lymphatic filariasis. The disease is caused by parasitic worms that are transmitted by mosquitos. The worms populate lymphatic vessels, causing the disfigurement called elephantiasis and imposing enormous economic, social, and personal burdens on its victims.

The shipment was a gift from Honeywell, which manufactures the active ingredient through its Irish subsidiary Iropharm. The University of Notre Dame, in Indiana, through its program, Eliminating Filariasis in Haiti, will distribute the drug from the program's headquarters at Sainte Croix Hospital, in Haiti.

Diethylcarbamazine citrate kills the young worms, which are produced by mating adult parasites at a rate of up to 1,000 per day, says the program's director, Thomas G. Streit. The Honeywell donation--100 kg of active ingredient--will be used to fortify the salt that Haitians consume so that the average Haitian will ingest about 17.5 g of diethylcarbamazine citrate in one year, he explains. The gift could treat up to 10,000 Haitians for one year, depending on how effectively it is delivered through salt.

More than half of Haiti's 9 million people are infected with the parasite. Notre Dame's eradication program hopes to treat half a million people by 2003 and 5 million by 2004. At this level, the program would need 50,000 kg of diethylcarbamazine citrate per year.

"We hope Honeywell will continue the generosity of donating the powder we need for the salt fortification as it ramps up," Streit says. He points out that GlaxoSmithKline and Merck also are major donors of other drugs to treat lymphatic filariasis--albendazole and ivermectin, respectively--in Africa. Approaching Honeywell "was Notre Dame's first foray into requesting a donation, and of course we are delighted with the outcome," he adds.

DSM FINE CHEMICALS REORGANIZES. On July 1, the products and services of DSM's fine chemicals business group were split into two business groups: DSM Pharmaceutical Products and DSM Fine Chemicals.

DSM Pharmaceutical Products, headed by Henk Numan, comprises the three business units focused on custom manufacturing: DSM Pharmaceuticals & Custom Manufacturing North America, DSM Biologics, and Custom Manufacturing Europe. By Oct. 1, the custom manufacturing services in North America and Europe will be merged into DSM Pharma Chemicals. DSM Pharmaceutical Products then will be made up of DSM Pharmaceuticals, DSM Pharma Chemicals, and DSM Biologics.

DSM Fine Chemicals, headed by Jo Scholz, is made up of the four business units producing multiclient products: Holland Sweetener Co., DSM Special Products, General Intermediates/Agro, and DSM Minera. Scholz and Numan formerly comanaged DSM's fine chemicals business.

The split should mean better service to customers, Numan tells C&EN. Both groups are large and expected to grow. Keeping them together eventually would have been unwieldy.

The reorganization should be transparent to customers. But now, the business groups can better focus on issues that are important to their respective customers than was possible before, Numan says. "For instance, development is more important in selling custom manufacturing services than in selling multiclient products," he explains.

On the basis of 2001 sales figures, DSM Pharmaceutical Products accounts for 55% of the sales of the presplit fine chemicals business group. "We are now looking at other services to offer the pharmaceutical industry," Numan says. "We intend to put more content in the phrase 'customer intimacy.' "

SNPE'S FACILITY REOPENS. On July 8, SNPE got the green light to partially resume operations at its Toulouse, France, facility, enabling its subsidiary Isochem to restart production of pharmaceutical raw materials and intermediates. Operations involving phosgene still are suspended.

The facility was closed last September, when it was damaged by an explosion at a nearby fertilizer plant. The shutdown heavily affected SNPE's fine chemicals and agrochemicals business. SNPE's ability to divert a significant portion of its Toulouse production to other facilities in the U.S., Europe, and China cushioned the impact. Nevertheless, the shutdown resulted in a revenue loss of about $21 million in 2001. SNPE also lost the confidence of its neighbors as the local press portrayed its plant as hazardous to the community.

"We were hurt badly in terms of specific products made in dedicated plants" such as specific isocyanates, Bernard Fontana, an SNPE senior vice president, tells C&EN. "We were obliged to tell customers that we couldn't find a solution, and so they had to go to the competition." Fontana expects that many of those customers will return: "Sometimes we had to build plants just for them, so our plants are the most appropriate for their needs."

Midway through 2002, the full effects of the shutdown are evident in the lower sales to date this year compared with those of last year. However, an unexpected but welcome consequence has been the creation of a strong team spirit in the company, Fontana says.

SNPE's open communications with its neighbors have neutralized the local community's suspicions of the facility and restored confidence in SNPE, Fontana adds. "We'll be taking advantage of this difficult experience to improve community relations of all our other factories worldwide. It's very positive to be more open with neighbors."

FINE CHEMICALS

Chemical & Engineering News
Copyright © 2002 American Chemical Society