The specialty glass and materials company SCHOTT is making a $1 billion global investment in its global pharmaceutical packaging business. The announcement was made at DCAT Week, running March 18 to 21, 2019 in New York City.
A growing global demand for high quality pharmaceutical packaging, such as vials, syringes, ampoules and cartridges made of Borosilicate glass and polymer, has prompted the international technology group to build new production sites in Germany and China, and invest in new lines and manufacturing technology around the world.
The new investments cover the entire value chain from pharmaceutical glass tubing to packaging through adjacent services. They include:
> a new glass tubing production facility in China, as well as investments in additional tanks and infrastructure in India. This makes SCHOTT the first glass supplier that is responding to the increasing demand for high quality pharma glass with a significant capacity increase.
> new construction of a production facility for SCHOTT TOPPAC® ready-to-use polymer syringes and customized container solutions at the SCHOTT site in Müllheim, Germany, as well as increased syringe production capacity in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Overall, the company’s production capacity for polymer packaging will see a 50% extension by 2020, and an additional 50% over the next years.
> the expansion of SCHOTT’s high-value vial product line. This includes, the production ramp-up for the newly launched EVERIC™ pure vials for high potent drugs such as biologics or vaccines, as well as intensive invest in the company’s iQ™ platform of ready-to-use vials. The ramp-up will occur at SCHOTT’s U.S. facility in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. SCHOTT will also double the capacity of lines producing coated vials in Germany.
> a greenfield facility for the production of syringes and a new production module for vials in India
additional expansion of the ampoule production at the company’s recently inaugurated China greenfield facility
> a strategic partnership with SmartSkin Technologies, a Canadian firm that has developed monitoring systems that can significantly lower quality cost for pharmaceutical companies.
Several of these investments will be completed early this year. Other projects such as new melting tank and syringe greenfield production in India will be ramped up later in 2019. All other major investments will have an impact over the course of the next five to six years. By 2025, the company will have invested around $1 billion in its pharma business segments.
“These investments will increase global access to safe medications, while supporting the marketing of new pharmaceutical products,” said Dr. Frank Heinricht, Chairman of the Management Board of SCHOTT AG. “We expect demand for high-quality pharmaceutical packaging to remain strong globally, and are supporting the growth objectives of the pharmaceutical industry.”
Source: SCHOTT
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