Veranova

Key takeaways

Veranova belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Veranova to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Veranova from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Veranova, L.P. (formerly Johnson Matthey Health) is an American multinational contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) based in Devens, MA, with operations in North America and Europe. The company focuses on the process, development, and manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), particularly specialty and highly regulated, complex chemistries. It has two divisions, Generics and Originators. Its specialized drug development and manufacturing technologies and expertise in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries span the drug development lifecycle. Johnson Matthey Health was purchased in 2022 by Altaris Capital Partners for £325 million (JM retaining 30% equity) and rebranded to become Veranova; the name originates from the combined Latin words ‘vērus’, meaning ‘true’, and ‘nŏvus’, meaning ‘new’.

History

19th century

J.F. Macfarlan, Duncan Flockhart, and T&S Smith Through its original founding companies, the history of Veranova can be dated back to 1780, when the Edinburgh apothecary supplier, J.F. Macfarlan, was founded. In 1815, John Fletcher Macfarlan, a licentiate of the Membership of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons, became the owner of the family business and acquired the apothecary shop on Edinburgh's High Street where he began manufacturing the opium derivative laudanum. In 1830, a partnership was established with Macfarlan's former apprentice, David Rennie Brown, and the business became J. F. Macfarlan and Co. By 1832, J.F. Macfarlan and Co. was manufacturing morphine acetate (medicinal heroin) and hydrochloride, resulting in the development and production of anesthetics including synthetic chloroform and diethyl ether. J.F. Macfarlan collaborated with Joseph Lister, known as the father of modern surgery, to start production of the first sterile dressings in 1870. In 1827, Thomas and Henry Smith established T&S Smith. Initially producing photographic paper and chemicals, it went on to be the first business to develop apomorphine in large amounts for commercial use. Not long after T&S Smith was established, William Flockhart, an Edinburgh-based pharmacy, started manufacturing chloroform and laudanum. In 1817, Percival Norton Johnson set up a gold assaying business in London, and in 1851, George Matthey became a partner, forming Johnson Matthey (JM).

20th century

Macfarlan Smith, Meconic During World War I, T&H Smith and Duncan Folkhart produced morphine and chloroform for medicinal purposes. Throughout the war, J.F. Macfarlan produced approximately 200 tonnes of medicated lint, 7.5 million bandages, and 1477 kilometers of gauze. In 1952, T&H Smith bought Duncan Flockhart and rebranded it as Smith Duncan Flockhart. It went on to produce Bitrex (denatonium benzoate), the world's most bitter substance in 1958. In 1962, Smith Duncan Flockhart merged with J.F. Macfarlan to form Edinburgh Pharmaceuticals, which in 1965 was bought by Glaxo Group and rebranded as Macfarlan Smith Ltd. In the 1980s, JM was commercializing platinum-based anti-cancer drugs cisplatin, discovered by JM and Michigan State University in 1970 and expanding into controlled substances. In 1983, JM augmented its API capabilities by opening a manufacturing plant in West Deptford, NJ. The largest management buy-out in Scotland saw Macfarlan Smith become part of Meconic plc, which was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1993.

21st century

Sale of JM Health and rebranding to Veranova JM acquired Meconic in 2001, becoming Johnson Matthey Health (JM Health), and in 2002 bought Pharm-Eco Labs to strengthen JM Health's API offerings. In 2010, JM Health developed its biocatalysis division by purchasing X-Zyme and expanded into China with facilities in Yantai and Shanghai. 2014 saw JM Health purchase Glaxo-Smith-Klein's (GSK) former manufacturing site in Annan, Scotland. Investment into this site led to successful Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Good Manufacturing Practice certification in 2016. In 2015, JM Health bought Pharmorphix® from Sigma-Aldrich, constituting an expansion of the company's solid-state capabilities. Today, Pharmorphix® is the solid form and particle engineering division of Veranova. In 2021, JM sold its Health division to the US-based healthcare investment firm Altaris Capital Partners LLC (Altaris). JM Health was sold for £325 million enterprise value, with JM retaining 30% equity. At the time of sale, JM Health had over 900 employees and had taken an underlying operating profit of £31 million in the previous tax year. Altaris moved JM Health HQ to Wayne, Pennsylvania while also keeping its existing facilities in the UK. Altaris rebranded JM Health as Veranova in 2022. Veranova became an independent company in June 2022 with Niek Stapel as its chief executive officer (CEO). In 2023, Mike Riley took over the role of CEO. Riley appointed Veranova's advisory board, John Nason, Carlo de Notaristefani, Edward Robinson, and Nobel Prize winner Dr Carolyn Bertozzi, to help guide the company scientifically and strategically. In 2023, Veranova completed a $17 million expansion of its active ingredient (API) manufacturing capabilities in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Operations Veranova operates within two divisions, Generics and Originators. As a CDMO, Veranova has a range of different offerings within the drug development lifecycle, lying within their Custom Pharma Solutions and Solid Form and Particle Engineering offerings.

Sites Veranova has its HQ in Wayne, PA with additional sites across the US in Devens and North Andover, MA, and West Deptford, NJ. Veranova also has UK sites in Edinburgh and Cambridge.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Veranova

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Veranova claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Veranova before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Veranova ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Veranova

In research: Veranova appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Veranova in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Veranova is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Companies based in Pennsylvania, Contract development and manufacturing organizations, Pharmaceutical companies of the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Veranova outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Veranova in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Veranova means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Veranova out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Veranova in simple terms?

Veranova, L.P. (formerly Johnson Matthey Health) is an American multinational contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) based in Devens, MA, with operations in North America and Europe.

Why does Veranova matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Veranova?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Veranova.