Roquette, a French supplier of pharmaceutical-use starches, has opened at $25 million “innovation center” in Spring House. John George reported the expansion in the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Roquette’s plant-based product line includes natural fillers that ease the swallowing of tablet medications for consumers.

The 23,000-square-foot space features a series of small research and development labs. They house technology to test, troubleshoot, and evaluate new and existing products, speeding time to market.

At the recent grand opening, Paul Smaltz — Roquette VP of pharmaceutical solutions and customer technical support — said, “With its strategic location in one of the world’s top pharma-producing regions, the new site will unlock even greater opportunities for closer collaboration with our customers in the U.S. and provide best practice training and advice to our teams across the globe.”

The center has opened with a staff of 10; additional hires will bring the total resources to 25. It joins similar testing sites throughout France and in Singapore.

“Our team at the new U.S. Innovation Center has one overarching mission: to foster a seamless connection between cutting-edge science and the practicalities of drug development,” said Dr. Vinod Tuliani, the recently appointed head of global pharmaceutical sciences at Roquette.

More on Roquette in Montgomery County is at the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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Video overview of Roquette.