Firm’s Expansion to Add Jobs in Lebanon, Pa. Area; Full Line of SCHOTT Pharmaceutical Packaging Products Now Produced in North America

 

October 13, 2009 Lebanon, Pa. — SCHOTT’s Pharmaceutical Packaging business today inaugurated production of ready-to-fill glass syringes at its manufacturing facility in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The new production capability, the result of investment in excess of $14MM, will result in approximately 40 new jobs over the next 12 months.

 

Syringe production capability at the 170,000-square foot Lebanon plant will be 270,000 units per day, with SCHOTT moving to round-the-clock production within the next two years.

 

With the addition of ready-to-fill syringes to its portfolio of vials, ampoules and cartridges, the entire complement of SCHOTT pharmaceutical packaging products will now be produced in North America. SCHOTT will be only the second company to produce ready-to-fill syringes in the United States.

 

“We hope to increase the market share of domestically produced ready-to-fills, once we are fully operational here in Lebanon,” said Renard Jackson, Vice President of SCHOTT North America, Inc. and General Manager of its Pharmaceutical Packaging Division. “We’re delivering the same high quality standards our customers have come to expect.”

 

SCHOTT is expanding both its product line and U.S. production capacity to meet accelerating demand for syringes in the North American market. Due to an aging American population and the growth of therapeutic injected drugs for diabetes, cancer and autoimmune diseases, SCHOTT expects market demand for ready-to-fill glass syringes that will grow by 8 -10 percent per year. Ready-to-fill syringes answer growing market demand for speed and ease-of-use, while minimizing dosage errors.

 

Long-term plans for the Lebanon facility include further investment in excess of $30MM and incremental employment of 80, although the timing of the investment remains uncertain.

 

SCHOTT products and production processes conform to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) standards. The production line incorporates the most advanced techniques, including dimensional camera inspection and clean room final packaging.

 

SCHOTT is celebrating its 125th year in business, and the 40th anniversary of the opening of its first American operations in Duryea, Pa. The company has been producing pharmaceutical products in the United States since 1992.