Sandoz shutters German and Indian production sites
Head of Sandoz Richard Francis told investors this week he made the “difficult decision” to improve cost efficiency of manufacturing in the “very competitive” generics sector.
The sites in Gerlingen and Frankfurt, Germany and Turbhe, near Mumbai, India will close by the end of 2016.
Antibiotics and oral
The Gerlingen facility manufactures generic oral solids, including ibuprofen, cetirizine, amlodipine and omeprazole. Frankfurt makes cephalosporin antibiotics, (7-ACA) while Turbhe is an API site for Sandoz’s antibiotics business.
German manufacturing will remain in Europe, with Gerlingen’s production transferred to Sandoz’s Strykow site in Poland and Barleben in Germany. Cephalosporin will move to Sandoz’s giant antibiotics facility in Austria. Turbhe will send its manufacturing to the company’s other Indian sites.
A Sandoz spokesperson told us several hundred jobs will be cut during the moves, “however we are keeping a strong presence in Germany – and India, with jobs also being created elsewhere.”
Sandoz had a successful Q2, as parent company Novartis revealed this week the generics business saw core operating income of $423m for the quarter, a 30% increase on 2014.
In April, the company received FDA approval for Glatopa, the first generic of Teva’s Copaxone for MS. A court ruled this week Sandoz may launch Zarxio in September, a biosimilar of Amgen’s Neupogen.
