SCHOTT opened the first GMP-compliant pharmaceutical packaging production facility in Russia in May 2011. The plant is located at Zavolzhe near Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. It produces primary pharmaceutical packaging made of glass. It is SCHOTT’s second production site in Russia.

The production facility employed about 60 people initially and has been engaged in the manufacturing of premium quality ampoules and vials. SCHOTT plans to increase the employees at the facility to about 200 in the future.

The company has announced its plans to expand the Zalvolzhe plant by mid-2013 to reach the plant’s full intended capacity.

SCHOTT’s Zavolzhe packaging plant details

The facility manufactures high-quality products as per Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards. Before construction of this facility, customers in Russia used to depend on the pharmaceutical packaging supplies from SCHOTT’s Hungary facility. The Zavolzhe facility thus fulfils the demands of the local pharmaceutical industry.

Products manufactured at SCHOTT’s Zavolzhe plant

The pharmaceutical packaging product portfolio produced at the Zavolzhe facility includes ampoules, cartridges, coated vials, prefillable glass syringes, prefillable polymer syringes and vials. The plant also manufactures cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) containers.

SCHOTT manufactures Fiolax, high-quality glass used for the pharmaceutical packaging. It is manufactured with a high-resistant borosilicate type I glass.

The company also produces Densocan, which efficiently evades contamination both before and during processing.

Densopack, a scratch-free shrink wrap packaging developed by SCHOTT, is also manuafactured at the Zavolzhe facility.

The TopLyo vials developed by SCHOTT were designed to maximise strength and minimise breakage.They also improve heat transfer during freeze-drying.

The plant produces the forma 3s and forma 2s brands of sterile and non-sterile syringe sets respectively. The TopPac sterile prefillable syringes made by SCHOTT are also produced at the facility.

Expansion of the Zavolzhe pharmaceutical packaging plant

In November 2012, SCHOTT decided to expand the production at Zavolzhe by at least 50% to reach full capacity. New vial and ampoule manufacturing lines will be added to increase the production capacity to 500 million to 550 million per year.

The production expansion will allow the company to provide shorter deliveries to its customers in Russia. It will also offer better export opportunities and provide an impetus to the Russian pharmaceutical industry to achieve quality and growth objectives.

SCHOTT headquarters

SCHOTT is a leading technology group with its headquarters located in Mainz, Germany. It produces high-quality glass products for a range of industries such as pharmaceuticals, optics, transportation, electronics and solar power. The company has more than 17,000 employees worldwide.

SCHOTT Pharmaceutical Packaging offers glass tubing and primary packaging products for the pharmaceutical industry. It has more than 600 production lines located in 14 different countries across the world. It is engaged in manufacturing more than seven billion pharmaceutical packaging products in a year. It has four plants meant for tubing manufacturing, while 15 other facilities are meant for pharmaceutical packaging.

By the end of 2010, SCHOTT expanded the pharmaceutical packaging business in Japan, which has the second largest pharmaceutical market. It established the production plant in Japan in collaboration with Naigai Glass Industry. The company also expanded the business operations in other major markets in the world including China and Argentina. SCHOTT also has a pharmaceutical production plant in the US.

Marketing commentary on Russian pharmaceutical industry

The pharmaceutical industry in Russia has been witnessing double-digit growth rate recently. In October 2009 Ministry of Industry and Trade in Russia adopted Pharma 2020 strategy, which encourages the local pharmaceutical companies to produce high-quality medications according to the GMP standards. It targets innovative conversion and competitiveness for boosting the Russian pharmaceutical sector and to improve the production capacity.

According to the new regulations that will be enforced in Russia from 2014, it will be imperative for the pharmaceutical companies to pursue GMP-compliant production procedures.

The local industry is expected to develop about 50% of Russian-consumed drugs if the pharmaceutical industry in Russia grows at the same pace until 2020. The Russian pharmaceutical market is expected to reach $10.7bn value by 2014.