German pharmaceutical company Gerresheimer has built a new medical plastic systems and syringes manufacturing facility in Skopje, North Macedonia, to increase its manufacturing capacity and expand its production network in Europe. It is the company’s first facility in Southeast Europe.
Opened in April 2021, the first phase of the facility involved an investment of €25m ($30.1m) and will create 400 new jobs.
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It currently manufactures plastic drug delivery systems and will be expanded to manufacture glass pre-fillable syringes for the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. The future phases of development are expected to be complete by 2024.
Location
The medical plastic systems and syringes facility is located within the 96.75ha Skopje 2 free economic zone in the Ilinden municipality. The site is 4.6km away from the E-75 highway and 10km east of Skopje.
The greenfield site was selected as the location for the packaging plant due to its close proximity to Skopje International Airport and major transport links.
Gerresheimer’s medical plastic systems and syringes facility details
The new plant is being developed in five phases and is operated by the Medical Systems business unit of Gerresheimer’s Plastics and Devices division. Its construction and production activities are supported by the company’s competence centre in Wackersdorf.
The company’s Pfreimd and Buende plants in Germany, as well as the Horsovsky Tyn facility in the Czech Republic, also supported the construction of the new plant.
The site has a total space of 12,500m² (134,549ft²), including clean room capacities. 7,500m² (80,729.3ft²) of this was developed in the first stage and included the installation of plastic systems production lines for medical, diagnostic and drug delivery products.
Pre-fillable glass syringe lines for the manufacture of standard and customised glass product solutions for filling medications will be added in future phases.
The plant will be outfitted with a camera inspection system to eliminate defects in glass syringes and accelerate product verification. The modular layout of the facility will allow for future expansions.
Products manufactured at the new facility
The new plant manufactures safe and easy-to-use medical plastic systems, such as powder and capsule inhalers, insulin pens, lancets, auto-injectors, point-of-care devices, laboratory disposables, and other diagnostic systems.
It will produce a variety of pre-fillable glass syringes, with filling volumes ranging from 0.5ml to 5ml. The product range will include Gx® pre-fillable needle glass syringes, Gx® pre-fillable Luer lock glass syringes and Gx® pre-fillable Luer cone glass syringes.
The syringes will be equipped with a backstop, plunger stopper and plunger rod and will be delivered as either a complete system in bulk (Gx® bulk) or in a ready-to-fill format.
Marketing commentary on Gerresheimer
Headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, Gerresheimer manufactures speciality glass and plastic pharmaceutical packaging, drug delivery devices, and medical and diagnostic products for pharma and healthcare applications.
Gerresheimer’s pharmaceutical packaging product portfolio includes pre-fillable syringes, inhalers, insulin pens, ampules, injection vials, micropumps, bottles, and containers for liquid and solid medicines.
The company also produces glass and plastic packaging for cosmetics, fragrances and nutritional supplements, as well as the food and beverage industries.
Gerresheimer operates approximately 40 production plants in 15 countries and has a workforce of up to 10,000 employees.
