Sandoz, a leading generic pharmaceuticals company and a subsidiary of Novartis, opened a drug packaging and distribution centre at its existing manufacturing site in Strykow, Poland, in May 2015.
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The $45m (PLN171m) plant is one of the biggest investments in the Polish pharmaceutical industry.
The expansion, which is part of Sandoz’s growth strategy in Poland, added a modern packaging and warehousing centre to the company’s existing drug manufacturing plant in Strykow, which is one of Sandoz’s biggest manufacturing facilities.
The investment is a big boost to the Polish economy and reiterates Poland’s role in the global pharmaceutical industry. It created 90 new jobs and is anticipated to create at least 40 more in the future. The centre is expected to become fully-operational by the end of 2015.
Strategic location for the expansion
Sandoz’s decision to expand the Strykow site was influenced by the strategic location of the site in Poland, which is one of the largest pharmaceutical markets in central and eastern Europe.
The location also offers a skilled workforce and has the potential to conduct clinical trials and knowledge for the production and development of generic drugs.
Strykow manufacturing plant expansion background
The existing drug manufacturing site produces five billion tablets a year and exports to 60 countries worldwide. It manufactures various generic medicines, including pain killers, diabetes medicine, anti-inflammatory drugs and vascular hypertension medications such as Ramipril and Torasemide.
Drugs produced at the plant were previously being transported to other packaging facilities of Sandoz.
A new packaging centre was essential to facilitate packaging at the same site in order to reduce overall costs and facilitate increasing the plant’s manufacturing capacity.
Sandoz’s new packaging plant details
The plant’s location in southern Poland enables Walki to reduce carbon emissions as transportation distances are considerably reduced.
Construction of the new packaging facility at the Strykow site began in June 2013 and was completed in the second quarter of 2015.
Eight state-of-art packaging lines were installed with a fully-automated warehousing system during the first phase of the project.
The new equipment facilitates packaging at the site with an annual capacity to pack four billion tablets, eliminating the need for sending them to external packaging facilities.
Marketing commentary
Operating since January 2010, Sandoz is one of the leading generic drug producers in Poland. It specialises in the production and distribution of generic drugs.
The company offers more than 500 products in various therapeutic groups, including cardiac medications, antibiotics, painkillers, gastrological drugs, and anti-neoplastic, anti-allergic and anti-asthmatic drugs.
Poland is Europe’s sixth biggest pharmaceutical market with a value of $8.1bn. As of 2013, the nation had 66 pharmaceutical companies with domestic production satisfying 60% of the nation’s medical drug consumption in terms of volume.
The nation also houses production and functional activities and has the lowest prices for advanced and generic drugs in Europe.
Generic drugs constitute a higher share in national sales. According to the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, generic drugs led the Polish market with 66% in domestic sales in 2012.
