Read the Conversation
Meeting highlights:
- Strategic Investments & Growth: TRADICHEM is committing $3-4 million USD over three years into AI technologies, mainly for predictive analytics in manufacturing.
- International Expansion: TRADICHEM is expanding its footprint in the U.S. with its subsidiary for patents and a new manufacturing site to serve the entire American market.
- Commitment to Spain: TRADICHEM is investing in a new plant in Spain, consolidating its commitment to its flagship market.
- TRADICHEM’s R&D Priorities: Strong focus on gut health and senior cognition, with upcoming research on neurocognition and ATP health.
- Talent & Workforce Development: Investments in manufacturing sites create high-value jobs in local Spanish regions.
- Regulatory & Ecosystem Challenges: The need for regulatory harmonization across Europe, especially in nutrition and health supplements, to create a unified life sciences hub in the region.
- Operational Integration & Long-Term Vision: TRADICHEM is currently merging four subsidiaries into a single and unified company to improve efficiency and show consolidated value.
- Vision for Europe: José Angel Marañón advocates for simplification of systems, regulatory coherence and building strong and scalable companies.
EF: What are your current top priorities guiding TRADICHEM’s next phase of growth?
JM: When investing in an industry, you can’t just look at a single year; you have to plan based on a long-term vision, three to five years ahead. Our company’s story is one of continued investment in technology, and a key focus right now is AI. We’ve secured approval for a €3-4 million investment in artificial intelligence over the next three years. This tool will help us anticipate issues at our manufacturing site, which is essential for deepening our operational understanding, preparing our technology, and ultimately delivering better service to our customers. While we’re also planning new manufacturing sites, this AI investment comes first. It’s a necessary step to better understand ourselves before moving forward.
EF: How is your company adapting its manufacturing and supply strategy to respond to both local and global market demands?
JM: The European Medicines Agency is currently developing a draft titled An Industry Approach on Urgent Medicines, which is expected to be published next year. This will have a significant impact on the European industry. At the same time, we're planning local expansion in Spain, and over the next five years, we’ll establish a manufacturing site in the United States to serve and supply markets across the Americas. Our upcoming site at Boecillo (Valladolid) will mainly supply Europe with APIs. Some time ago, we realized the importance of operating more locally. That means building up capabilities in the US with a local partner, while continuing to strengthen our presence in Europe to better serve each market. In a way, we’re returning to the 1983 concept of glocalization, and this approach will shape our direction in the years ahead. As a group, we’re investing in a U.S.-based R&D subsidiary primarily to protect our intellectual property. In Europe, IP regulations may be shifting toward a less protective framework. To stay ahead, we’ve started transferring existing patents and filing new ones through our U.S. entity to ensure stronger, broader protection.
Given the uncertainty in the European ecosystem, we’ve chosen to reinforce our position in the U.S., where we've been operating this subsidiary since 2021. We'll soon publish new papers and patents.
EF: How is your R&D portfolio evolving in response to emerging healthcare needs?
JM: Regulation related to molecules and constipation will be in place in EUROPE soon. We're actively working in this R&D space, with a focus on constipation and gut health. Given Europe’s aging population, we're placing strong emphasis on senior health. Currently, we're analyzing key data on cognition, and we’ll be publishing this research by 2025. It explores how specific ingredients may affect neurons and ATP function related to cognitive health.
EF: How do you envision TRADICHEM bringing value to Spain and the European region in terms of building skill sets, nurturing talent, and ultimately creating the life-science force of tomorrow?
JM: We’re creating value locally. We’ve launched a new manufacturing site in the region, which is generating high-value jobs for the local community. We also have qualified positions open for skilled professionals. Still, we’re facing some challenges, particularly in Spain and more broadly across Europe, when it comes to finding people with the specific qualifications we need. Talent shortage is an issue in the Spanish market and Europe in the health field. Attracting and retaining talent in the long term is a significant challenge, particularly in specialized fields. Still, bringing niche or highly specialized manufacturing to a region adds real value to the local population.
EF: How should Europe start developing and investing today to become a Life Science leader again in the next ten years?
JM: We need to align on health regulation, I’m not referring exclusively to pharmaceuticals, but to food and nutrition rules. These regulations are local and vary widely across Europe, sometimes set at the national level, and in Spain, even at the regional level. There’s a clear lack of harmonization, so there’s no unified European platform or consistent global policy. As a result, we have to approach each market individually.
Through our partnerships with major companies like Lonza, we’ve noticed a big shift in consumer behavior. Before 2020, people focused mainly on diseases. Now, the emphasis has shifted to health and disease prevention. This move toward prevention, better quality of life, and overall wellness is positively impacting our business. It’s driving us to develop more targeted ingredients for specific conditions. Based on this trend, the health market is expected to grow around 6 to 10 per cent annually over the next decade.
EF: What is one goal you still want to achieve in the next years as the leader of TRADICHEM Spain?
JM: We have several companies within our group, and we are now merging them into a single brand, TRADICHEM. When starting out, it’s often better for new businesses to operate independently. This allows them to stay flexible, move quickly, and avoid relying on the parent company’s legal or financial structures. That’s why we initially created smaller companies. However, these companies have since grown, and now it’s time to bring them together. Over the next three years, one of our main challenges will be integrating at least four of these businesses into a single entity. The goal is to showcase the full value of the group as one company instead of four separate ones. While we may lose some flexibility, we’ll gain efficiency, solidity and stability. We’ve hired incredible talent, dynamic, bright, and deeply committed, and that’s our greatest asset. The challenge ahead is to keep finding people like this who bring real value to the organization.
EF: Do you have a last message for the industry?
JM: We have built a complex ecosystem, but now, we’re shifting toward simplicity. That shift will help us better demonstrate the true value and scale of our group, and of the sector as a whole. We can drive change, even as we work toward long-term goals like harmonized European regulation.
