Germany-based pharmaceutical company Stada Arzneimittel’s new supply chain and packaging facility in Turda, Romania, expanded its capacity to offer a definitive supply of high-quality medicines and healthcare products in Europe.
Developed with an investment of more than $75m (€70m), the project was partially supported by the Government of Romania.
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The groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility took place in November 2022. The facility commenced operations in October 2024 and created approximately 400 jobs.
The facility forms part of the company’s existing network of production, supply chain and packaging facilities that has a total capacity to supply approximately 13 billion units of solid-dose medicines and more than 700 million packs a year. It enables Stada to meet the demand for its growing portfolio.
Location
The Stada Arzneimittel supply chain and packaging facility is located in the Aries Industrial Park, a 54.4-hectare (134.4 acres) industrial and logistic park, in Turda, Cluj County, in the Transylvanian region of Romania.
The site is close to Stada’s testing laboratories and warehouses in Timisoara, Romania, alongside major manufacturing sites across the Western Balkans and the group’s consumer healthcare centre of excellence in Trinec, Czech Republic. Its location facilitates quick transportation of the products across key European markets.
Stada Arzneimittel supply chain and packaging facility
Stada’s supply chain and packaging facility was built on approximately 30,000m2 (322,917ft2) of land within a 100,000m2 area purchased by the company in Aries Industrial Park.
The facility is equipped with nine production lines for solid-dose, prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals such as tablets and capsules, with a supply capacity of 150 million packs a year. The number of production lines can then be expanded to 12. The fully automated lines enable multi-material packaging for diverse products that are supplied across Europe.
The facility also houses an automated warehouse with a capacity to accommodate 7,400 pallets, strengthening supply security.
Technology details
The new Turda plant required a modern manufacturing execution system (MES) to establish a digital foundation for production management and support several strategic objectives including paperless operations, reduced manual activities for operators, quality management and regulatory compliance, and end-to-end manufacturing visibility, as well as improved productivity and delivery within strict implementation timelines. To address these requirements, both newly developed and standardised Stada production processes were implemented.
Within Stada’s packaging department, a comprehensive MePIS LS MES solution from Metronik, a Slovenia-based digitalisation and automation systems provider, was deployed, covering material-flow control, master batch records/electronic batch records, equipment management, exception management and generic MBRs.
A complete validation package was also provided to support compliance with good manufacturing process and 21 CFR Part 11 requirements of the US Food and Drug Administration. The MES was integrated with Stada’s SAP enterprise resource planning system and shop-floor operations.
In addition, a digital showroom was established to provide real-time visibility into room status, further improving operational transparency and efficiency.
Products supplied by the facility
The facility supplies an extensive range of prescription, speciality and generic medicines, as well as consumer healthcare products.
Medicines supplied include antidepressants, antihistamines and anti-inflammatory agents, along with medicines to treat diabetes, high cholesterol levels and hypertension.
Sustainable features
The project aligns with the company’s purpose of ‘Caring for People’s Health as a Trusted Partner’ and delivers on several UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The facility is installed with photovoltaic solar panels and a solar thermal system to reduce energy consumption. Green roofs balance fluctuations in temperature and low-energy lighting systems limit its carbon footprint.
Stada’s product portfolio
Stada’s portfolio consists of generics, consumer healthcare products, and speciality pharmaceuticals, which are sold in more than 100 countries.
The production and sales of inexpensive generic medicines are important business areas of the company.
Under its consumer healthcare range, the company’s products include cough and cold treatments, dermatological products, pain relief, vitamins and minerals, as well as gastrointestinal products and calm and sleep categories.
Some brands such as Aqualor®, Grippostad®, Nizoral®, Snup®, Vitaprost® and Zoflora® are among the top sellers in their respective categories.
Stada also launched its first orphan speciality medicine for the rare kidney disease immunoglobulin A nephropathy in the EU in September 2022.
Within the speciality segment, the nephrology drug complements the company’s existing epoetin zeta kidney drug, one of the first approved biosimilars in the EU. The company also offers a range of speciality Parkinson’s disease therapies, as well as a range of other value-added products in therapeutic areas such as oncology and cardiology.
