Sigma-Aldrich, Ajinomoto Forge Amino Acid Alliance

Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis) has formed a new business alliance with Ajinomoto USA Inc. The union will combine Ajinomoto's cGMP amino acid manufacturing capabilities with Sigma-Aldrich's marketing, service, and distribution capabilities.

Ajinomoto, a leading producer of amino acids, brings its manufacturing expertise, multiple sites, and 1000-kg capacities to the collaboration. In addition, the company is a major producer of non-animal sourced amino acids, which are becoming increasingly important to customers due to recent concerns of disease spread through animal products. The company offers a continuous and secure supply of amino acids to meet growing customer demand.

Sigma-Aldrich will contribute its extensive worldwide distribution network, service reputation, biotechnology-performance certified testing, and cGMP packaging capabilities. The company also offers customization and custom blending capabilities.

The companies believe that alliance will assure the availability of non-animal sourced amino acids that meet USP, EP, and JP compendium as well as endotoxin and cell culture testing specifications. Their combined capabilities ensure product coverage from development through scale-up, to full commercial manufacturing with available custom cGMP packaging.

Sigma-Aldrich Corp. develops, manufactures, and distributes biochemicals, organic chemicals, chromatography products, and diagnostic reagents. Sigma-Aldrich Fine Chemicals, a division of Sigma-Aldrich Corp., provides raw materials, process development, scale-up, and custom synthesis services to the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, and industrial marketplace.

For more information: Sigma-Aldrich Fine Chemicals, 3050 Spruce St., St. Louis, MO 63103. Tel: 800-336-9719.

Edited by Jim Pomager