The international specialty glass manufacturer SCHOTT is building a second melting tank for pharmaceutical glass tubing at its main plant in Mainz, Germany. The investment volume amounts to 40 million euros. The new production facility is scheduled to go into operation in mid-2022 and will then offer 100 new jobs, 50 of which will be directly at SCHOTT. With this investment, SCHOTT is responding to the dynamically increasing global demand for glass tubing for pharmaceutical packaging.
The international specialty glass manufacturer SCHOTT is building a second melting tank for pharmaceutical glass tubing at its main plant in Mainz, Germany. The investment volume amounts to 40 million euros. The new production facility is scheduled to go into operation in mid-2022 and will then offer 100 new jobs, 50 of which will be directly at SCHOTT. With this investment, SCHOTT is responding to the dynamically increasing global demand for glass tubing for pharmaceutical packaging.
“We decided in favor of the Mainz site in order to further strengthen our production base for pharmaceutical glass tubing in Germany and Europe. In doing so, we naturally also have our sights set on the manufacturers of COVID-19 pandemic vaccines based here and the European pharmaceutical industry as a whole,” explained Dr. Frank Heinricht, Chairman of the Board of Management of SCHOTT AG. Due to the importance of this capacity expansion for the health care system in Germany and Europe, SCHOTT is exploring possible support with subsidies in talks with the regional government of Rhineland-Palatinate, the federal government of Germany and the European Union.
The pharmaceutical glass production in Mainz is part of a global production network of the Tubing Business Unit, which also includes the Mitterteich site in Germany as well as factories in Brazil, India and China. SCHOTT has already significantly expanded its production capacities for pharmaceutical tubing in Asia in the fall of 2020 with the commissioning of another tank in India and a completely new plant in China.
FIOLAX® pharmaceutical glass tubing from SCHOTT meets the highest quality standards in the pharmaceutical industry and is considered the gold standard for packaging medications. The borosilicate glass prevents interaction between the glass packaging and the medication, thus preserving the effectiveness of the medication. SCHOTT itself and its customers in the pharmaceutical packaging industry manufacture billions of vials, ampoules, syringes and cartridges from this special glass. Right now, SCHOTT’s pharmaceutical vials are playing a special role in the fight against the Corona pandemic because the vaccines are being filled in them.
