West Pharmaceutical Services’ growth in the Asia Pacific (AP) region got further impetus with the launch of its Chennai plant at the Sri City Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which manufactures flip off seals By Sachin Jagdale
The Indian market has always lured pharmaceutical and allied players from across the globe. How can a major packaging company like West Pharmaceutical Services be an exception? West opened its first manufacturing facility in India in July 2014 to meet the demand for pharma packaging components in the Asia Pacific (AP) region. The initial investment in the plant was $15 million. The facility further established West’s presence in this growing market. The plant is a 15,300 sq. m. facility that produces seals used in primary packaging of injectable medicines for biopharma customers in India and the wider AP region. In the future, West plans to expand production at the site to include elastomer components.
Why India?
“The pharma and biopharma market in India is experiencing an impressive period of growth, with many local pharma and biopharma manufacturers expanding operations and several global pharma companies creating a presence in the country in recent years. Establishing manufacturing operations for West in India was a natural progression of West’s overall business strategy in the Asia-Pacific market,” says, Warwick Bedwell, President, Asia-Pacific, West Pharmaceutical Services. West’s investment in India is important to its strategy of working by the side of its customers to help them provide medicines to patients efficiently, reliably and safely. By opening its first facility in India, West is able to meet the growing market demand for the company’s primary packaging for injectable medicines in a very dynamic, emerging region.
Key highlights of the Chennai plant
Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Asia Pacific for flip-off seals: Equipped with world-class manufacturing facilities and the latest stamping and assembly machinery.
Reliable, high-quality products: Equivalent raw material, process and products specifications across the region help to ensure that consistent, high-quality seals are supplied to customers in a timely fashion.
Wide range of seal configurations: Flip off seals and matte-top seals in various colour options and sizes, including 13 mm, 20 mm and 32 mm.
Shorter lead time: A reduction in lead time to customers in India and across the AP region.
Seal production capacity: Up to one billion units in the near future.
AP sourcing: Complements other West plants in China and Singapore to better serve regional customers.
Experienced workforce: Managed and run by experienced personnel in project management, supply chain and production under the leadership of an expert team base out of Singapore.
West is a well-respected and trusted name. The world’s top 35 injectable biologics (2012 sales of $108.5 billion) are packaged and delivered with components manufactured by West and its partner, Daikyo Seiko. Furthermore, every day 110 million West components reach patients around the world. To date, West has sold over 1.4 billion products in Europe for low molecular weight heparin. West is also the largest manufacturer of insulin pens and auto injectors. The company serves its customers from more than 50 locations around the world. West’s pharma packaging systems revenue in 2014 was $1 billion, whereas in the same year the company’s pharma delivery systems segment had revenue of $402 million.
Innovating its way to leadership
The company always strives to bring new and benchmarked products to the market. In this pursuit, West recently hosted half-day seminars on Daikyo Crystal Zenith (CZ) a proprietary cyclic olefin polymerin at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. West is focusing on niche segments within the region where it can provide alternative solutions to glass. The company believes that there are opportunities for CZ in India across the product portfolio including vials, syringes and cartridges. With more than 20 customers qualified and placing production orders from the Chennai plant, the company finds itself well ahead of its plan, and expects this plant to be profitable by early 2016.
Every day, injectable drugs are administered to improve the lives of millions of patients around the world. West has cutting edge production technologies, expertise in global regulatory compliance, and an ever growing knowledge base of pharma drug product testing, development, packaging and delivery. These are some of the qualities that have kept the company ahead of its competitors and will drive growth in future as well.
