Novartis to invest $550m in new Swiss plant
pharmafile | April 24, 2012 | News story | Manufacturing and Production | GSK, Novartis, manufacturing and production
Novartis has unveiled plans to build a new manufacturing facility at its site in Stein, Switzerland, just weeks after calling off plans to shut down another plant in the country.
Construction of the unit is due to get underway in July, with an investment of more than 500 million Swiss francs ($550m), and will replace an older facility at Stein which is due for partial demolition.
The new facility is expected to be operational by the end of 2016 and will make sterile and solid dosage forms, becoming “a key platform for global launches of new pharmaceutical products”, according to the firm.
Last year, Novartis caused consternation in Switzerland when it announced 760 job cuts at a chemicals site in Basel, and the closure of an over-the-counter medicines manufacturing facility in Nyon with the loss of another 320 positions. It subsequently reversed the closure decision and reduced the number of job cuts after negotiations with trade unions, staff and local authorities.
The latest announcement comes against a backdrop of major cost-cuts at Novartis and its peers in the pharma sector, with a major shift in production to emerging markets, yet provides another example of a company deciding to invest in its own back yard.
Last month for example, GlaxoSmithKline fulfilled promises to invest in UK-based production with a £500 million ($790m) project to build a biopharmaceutical facility in Ulverston, Cumbria.
Novartis said the new Stein facility will have a flexible and modular design to allow it to cater for future projects and meet changes in global demand, and in the near-term will focus on inhaled medicines and highly-active solids.
In addition to the headline cost of the new build at Stein, 60 million francs is being spent on a production line for freeze-dried medicines, due to come online in 2014, and a 125 million-franc data centre scheduled for completion next year.
The company also highlighted additional investment projects in Switzerland, including building projects in Basel “with the aim of creating workspaces for 10,000 associates by 2030”, including a 34 million franc test facility for new production technologies, and 42 million francs to be spent on modifications to its chemical plant in Schweizerhalle.
Phil Taylor
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