Speciality glass manufacturer Schott has started production of pharmaceutical glass at its new plant in China. The new plant produces Fiolax borosilicate glass tubing - the base material for pharmaceutical packaging, which the vast majority of COVID-19 vaccine projects rely on.
Schott has invested 60 million euros in the new plant. It is Part of an investment programme of almost one billion euros in the Group's global pharmaceutical business.
The new plant was put into operation after a construction period of just 15 months. „This is a new record for Schott and a proud achievement in view of the global pandemic,“ says Dr Frank Heinricht, Chairman of the Management Board of Schott AG.
The Plant with an initial capacity of 20,000 tonnes of glass per year, which can be further expanded, is equipped with state-of-the-art production technology and follows the perfeXion-Philosophy - 100 per cent control of each individual tube through the use of state-of-the-art big data methods. This is in line with the approach of other Schott pharmaceutical tube production sites around the world.
Pharma glass for COVID-19 vaccines
Production at the new plant comes at a time when borosilicate glass tubing is in high demand. Marketed under the brand name Fiolax, Schott borosilicate glass has been the de facto standard in the pharmaceutical industry since its development by company founder Otto Schott in 1883. The material is highly inert and protects against any interactions between the medicine and the container, making it ideal for COVID-19 vaccines and other life-saving medicines.
Bulkhead sells the glass to external packaging manufacturers, but also processes the tubes itself into vials and other pharmaceutical containers. Pharmaceutical vials from Schott are in 75 per cent of COVID-19 vaccine projects around the world.
Source: Bulkhead
