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SCHOTT's New Pharmaceutical Packaging Plant in China

Market research suggests that the pharmaceutical market will grow at 12.5% from 2006-2009.
To cash in on the trend, SCHOTT Pharmaceutical plans to build a plant that will manufacture vials and ampoules for the pharmaceutical industry.

Located in Suzhou, China, the plant will add to the drug manufacturing abilities of China.
The plant complements the government program that has been designed to upgrade the type and quality of medicines made in China.

With China moving towards high quality medicines, there is an increased requirement for
Vials made of Fiolaxstandard glass delivery services.The top end market in China has witnessed a greater demand for glass vials and syringes. Initially, controls in China necessitated import of glass to meet their export commitments requiring international standards.

SCHOTT recognised that there was an opportunity in setting up a glass plant as plastic packaging was not suitable for certain types of drugs. The company is the pioneer in setting up a production facility for pharmaceutical packaging in China.

Features of the pharmaceutical plant

Integrated into the existing SCHOTT Glass Technology Company that was established in Suzhou in 2002, the plant will focus on the market for injectable pharmaceuticals and supply vials and ampoules to the industry. The plant will develop SCHOTT Type I borosilicate glass, a high quality tubing glass adhering to global standards (USP, EP, and JP).

The facility will manufacture the entire range of vials and ampoules in line with the current demand in China. The products will cater to the primary packaging segment in the country. In addition to being equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, the plant will comply with Good Manufacturing Processes (GMP). The plant will have access to SCHOTT ’s R&D centre for special glasses in Europe.

Technology of the plant

SCHOTT develops containers using SCHOTT Type I plus® technology that creates a chemically bonded, ultra-thin layer of pure SiO2 on the inner surface of pharmaceutical Type I glass containers. By using the technology, SCHOTT can provide its customers a better product with surface properties like quartz - purity and inertness. The customers will be able to wash, depyrogenate, fill, close sterilise and inspect standard containers. SCHOTT has developed Plasma Impulse Chemical Vapour Deposition (PICVD) process that uses a gas-phase method to coat three-dimensional substrates with pure SiO2. To improve efficiency and quality, the process used by SCHOTT is fully automated with each container individually coated and inspected, in contrary to the traditional process.

Benefits

The new plant will strengthen SCHOTT ’s position as a global player of parenteral packaging in the pharmaceutical industry. It will enable short production and delivery time, allowing SCHOTT to service more customers in the injectables market domestically as well as for export purposes. With the injectable drug delivery system slated to grow at a CAGR of 10%, Schott will get a distinct market advantage by developing the facility.