The new site will be created at a cost of €85m ($99m) that, according to the company’s press release, has been designed for “modern and flexible production”.
The site will be known as the ‘Solid Launch’ facility and is expected to employ 75 people once completed in 2020. It will open in the company’s Germany, Ingelheim, manufacturing base, consolidating the network that the company has built up in Germany – where it is headquartered.
Boehringer emphasised that it is keen to hold a major part of its manufacturing operations in the country, stating that the site represents “an important piece of the puzzle”, in relation to “keep[ing] the entire value-added chain in Germany over the long term, from research through to production”.
As part of this research remit, the company announced that employees working at the completed facility will “develop new production methods for tablets preparations.”
“In Ingelheim, we are thoroughly committed to investing in technologies and processes with high added value. This means that we are not only establishing the centerpiece for global market launches of pharmaceutical innovations here, but also that we will continue to manufacture drugs that require highly complex production technologies,” said Stefan Rinn, Country Manager for Germany at Boehringer, as part of a statement on the announcement.
The company revealed that it had been part of its strategy to relocate its “easier-to-manufacture drugs” to different areas across the globe and concentrate its work in the more ‘complex’ areas within Germany.
For instance, it has looked to strengthen its manufacturing position in China, with expansions to its solid and liquid dose manufacturing plant in Shanghai and the opening of a contract biomanufacturing plant just last year.
