Antibiotic intermediates (6-APA, 7-ACA)
Penicillin G, 6-APA and 7-ACA: the fermentation-made cores of penicillins and cephalosporins, almost all made in China until India's PLI plants.
Fine chemicals · Pharmaceutical · No. 95
- Product family
- Feedstock: Crops and biomass
- not published globally; India's new capacity: penicillin G 15,000 t/yr (Lyfius), clavulanic acid 400 t/yr (Kinvan)
- HS 294110
Most of the world's amoxicillin starts in a Chinese fermenter, and India is now trying to grow its own.
Chart: Illustration: Antibiotic intermediates (6-APA, 7-ACA)
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
High-yield Penicillium moulds ferment glucose into penicillin G, which enzymes split into 6-APA; Acremonium makes cephalosporin C, the source of 7-ACA.
Three things to know
- About 1.7 t of penicillin G potassium is needed to make one tonne of 6-APA, the core of amoxicillin.
- In the 1990s and 2000s, cheap Chinese fermentation drove Indian makers to close their penicillin G plants.
- US rule 21 CFR 211.42 requires separate facilities for penicillins and cephalosporins, raising the capital cost of every plant.
The journey
- 1 Sugar, starchGlucose, soy flour and corn steep liquor
- 2 FermentationPenicillium or Acremonium moulds in giant tanks
- 3 RecoveryFiltered, solvent-extracted, crystallised as salts
- 4 Enzyme cuttingAcylase splits off 6-APA or 7-ACA cores
- 5 AntibioticsAmoxicillin, ampicillin, ceftriaxone and more