Producer
Ashland Global Holdings Inc.
American specialty materials company (NYSE: ASH, HQ Wilmington DE; ~$2.5B revenue); produces pharmaceutical-grade HPMC under the Klucel HF brand (hydroxypropyl cellulose) and specialty cellulosic polymers for pharmaceutical tablet binders, extended-release matrices, and film coatings. Ashland traces to Ashland Oil Company (Kentucky; founded 1924 by J. Fred Miles) which progressively transformed from petroleum refiner to specialty chemicals — selling its petroleum assets in 2005 and transforming into a pharmaceutical and personal care excipient company. Ashland's pharmaceutical excipients serve virtually all major pharmaceutical manufacturers; its HPMC and HPC grades are in the majority of solid dose pharmaceutical formulations in the US.
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Pharmaceuticals & Nutrition
55%Personal Care
25%Specialty Additives
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Did you know2024
Ashland's cellulosic polymers — primarily HPMC and HPC — appear simultaneously in three industries that would not recognize each other as sharing a supplier: (1) pharmaceutical tablet manufacturing, where HPMC is the standard matrix polymer for extended-release formulations and film coating (appearing in the majority of US solid dose prescriptions); (2) personal care, where HPMC and Carbopol carbomers are the primary thickeners and texture agents in hand creams, face washes, and hair gels; and (3) construction, where HPMC is the water-retention agent and workability modifier in tile adhesive mortars, cement renders, and dry-mix construction products. The same cellulose ether chemistry that ensures a pharmaceutical tablet releases drug gradually over 12 hours also gives a bathroom tile adhesive the correct open working time, and a face cream its smooth spreadability. One Wilmington Delaware chemical company is embedded in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and construction simultaneously through a single polymer chemistry platform.
Ashland Global Holdings Inc. ↗Origin2023
Ashland Inc. began as Ashland Oil & Refining Company, founded in 1924 in Ashland, Kentucky by J. Fred Miles — an independent Kentucky oil refiner in the Appalachian oil fields. Ashland Oil grew into one of the largest US independent refiners and specialty chemical producers of the mid-20th century. The transformation into a specialty chemicals company was gradual: Ashland acquired Hercules (specialty chemicals, including cellulosics and polyvinyl pyrrolidone) in 2008, divesting its petroleum refining assets in 2005 (Marathon Petroleum was spun off; Ashland's Valvoline motor oil became a separate entity). By 2015, Ashland was purely a specialty chemicals company focused on pharmaceutical excipients, personal care, and performance materials — having completely exited the oil business that founded it. The Kentucky oil company is now the company whose polymers bind together most of the tablet medications in a US pharmacy.
Ashland Global Holdings Inc. ↗