A freshly spun-off Sandoz has opened two new European facilities, in line with its ongoing plans to strengthen sustainable development and supply of critical medicines.
The new facility for penicillin production in Kundl, Austria — which involved a $160 million investment, $53 million of which came from the Austrian government — represents a significant upgrade of penicillin API manufacturing. The new three-floor building, the details of which were unveiled at last year's groundbreaking ceremony will be connected to the existing penicillin production facility and will cover an additional area of approximately 20,000-square feet. It will focus on bulk formulation and fill-finish activities for penicillins for global distribution.
Automation, state-of-the-art technology for API manufacturing and simplified processing will allow Sandoz to integrate all production steps into a single process in one location, resulting in increased capacity and supply reliability. The expansion will support a double-digit increase in the company's future output capacity for penicillins.
The second new facility, a $26.7 million biosimilar development center in Holzkirchen, Germany, will pave the way for the German site to become the leading Sandoz analytical characterization center for biosimilars. First announced back in May, the project includes a state-of-the-art biotech lab.
Sandoz, which was officially spun off from Novartis in October, has a pipeline containing over 15 biosimilar molecules and is now the largest generics company in Europe in terms of sales.
