CANLAC LACTULOSE PLANT FOR CANADA

Canlac Corp of Canada has ann-ounced that it is to build a new pharmaceutical production facility in Victoriaville, Quebec, as a joint venture with Ault Foods, a subsidiary of John Labatt Ltd, ACIC (Canada) Inc and the Willis Management Group. The C$12 million facility will be a single-product plant making lactulose, a natural source laxative which is sold over-the-counter in Europe and which has recently been approved for OTC sale in Canada.

The plant is expected to be in commercial production by the beginning of 1993 with world-scale production. Its capacity is targeted for Canada and the export market, focusing initially on Europe and later, following regulatory approval, the USA. This will be the first plant in the world which fully integrates the lactulose production process starting with whey perm-eate, according to a Canlac press release, and the only North American plant manufacturing lactulose.