Ashland expands pharmaceutical plant for Aquarius™ tablet coatings and commissions new microbial protection capability in Brazil, demonstrating strategy to globalize, innovate, and invest

Wilmington, Del., April 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ashland has completed a 10-million-dollar expansion of its pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Cabreúva, Brazil and will celebrate the occasion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 4, 2025.

The investment significantly expands Ashland’s pharmaceutical footprint in the region and capabilities to meet increasing market demand for coated tablets in Latin America and Brazil. Between 2019 and 2023 the consumption of coated tablets in Latin America had an average growth of 4.3 percent per year, while Brazil has reached growth of 5.7 percent per year⁺. 

The investment also includes the modernization of equipment for microbial protection in personal care applications at the Research and Development (R&D) laboratory of the company's Technical Center in São Paulo and follows the company’s previous investments to expand their bioresorbable polymers facility in Mullingar, Ireland and biofunctionals R&D lab in Shanghai, China.  

“Our focused actions continue to demonstrate Ashland’s strategies to globalize, innovate and invest as a means of driving superior differentiation for customers and increase shareholder value,” said Guillermo Novo, chair and chief executive officer, Ashland. “The investments we have made in Cabreúva and São Paulo are supporting the globalization of our expertise in tablet coatings and microbial protection. They ensure even more innovation, collaboration and technical support for Ashland customers.”

The new state-of-the-art equipment enhances Ashland’s capabilities in tablet coatings application, color matching, stability and quality evaluation. Through enhancements to the R&D lab, Ashland can offer customized solutions to industry needs, and innovative solutions with ultra-high solids coatings, moisture protection, odor and flavor masking, and modified release systems. To ensure optimal performance, local Ashland employees underwent specialized training at the company’s headquarters in the United States and with equipment manufacturers.

“Our investments are focused on meeting growing market demand in Brazil and Latin America with more efficiency and technology,” said Alessandra Faccin, senior vice president and general manager, life sciences, Ashland. “The new plant accommodates high-performance production, and offers our customers differentiated technical support from formulation design to industrial scale, enabling new innovations and organic growth."

“In personal care, we are excited to commission the local production of microbial protection products in Brazil,” said Hamilton Oliveira Junior, general manager, Latin America, personal care, Ashland. “This investment is a key part of our globalization strategy and will serve as a source of differentiation as we innovate and position supply closer to our customers.” 

"We believe this is the ideal time to expand our operations and strengthen our presence in the region,” said Brenda Rangel, regional leader, Latin America, Ashland. “The pharmaceutical and personal care industries are in full evolution, and Ashland will continue being a strategic innovation partner for the industry, offering high-performance products and services."

To further institute organic growth for Ashland as well as customers, in 2023, Ashland introduced seven new platform technologies aligned to the company’s core that extend to secondary markets with new and differentiated capabilities.  Ashland’s platform solutions bring “new to the world,” sustainable innovations, offering choice to customers and consumers in personal care, pharmaceuticals, coatings and more, enabling customers to reshape global megatrends and respond to various regulatory landscapes worldwide. Ashland has introduced several patented innovations derived from the Transformed Vegetable Oils and Super Wetters platforms with more expected this year under additional platform technologies.  

To learn more, visit:

About Ashland

Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) is a global additives and specialty ingredients company with a conscious and proactive mindset for environmental, social, and governance (ESG). The company serves customers in a wide range of consumer and industrial markets, including architectural coatings, construction, energy, food and beverage, nutraceuticals, personal care, and pharmaceutical. Approximately 3,200 passionate, tenacious solvers – from renowned scientists and research chemists to talented engineers and plant operators – thrive on developing practical, innovative, and elegant solutions to complex problems for customers in more than 100 countries. Visit and to learn more.

⁺. data from IQVIA

^™ Trademark, Ashland, or its subsidiaries, registered in various countries.

Attachment