Published 3rd May, 2022 by Greg Morris

Schott plans to invest in a production expansion at its St Gallen, Switzerland glass manufacturing facility.

The international technology group will increase the production capacity of its of ready-to-use (RTU) cartridges.

The expansion is designed to include cleanroom infrastructure, including washing line equipment supplied by machine vendor groninger, and is scheduled for completion in 2023.

The capacity expansion is designed to break ground for a new era of manufacturing with a glass-to-glass contact-free process.

This aims at eliminating possible scratches or other glass defects and contributes to a safe delivery of medications to patients.

In addition, the new in-house steam sterilisation will feature an ultra-clean sterilisation technology, thereby paving the way for a more sustainable manufacturing process.

The production technology also includes an online crimp inspection system, ensuring container closure integrity (CCI). This in return means that the cartridge system is effectively protecting the medication’s sterility and subsequently drug stability.

Ready-to-Use cartridges are used to store and administer drugs with the help of pen injectors or wearable devices.

Schott can deliver these cartridges washed, siliconized, crimped, and pre-sterilized in a nest/tub or tray configuration. This allows pharma companies to start the drug filling process immediately without having to take care of washing, siliconisation, or sterilisation themselves.

With this expansion, the company will provide a solution for drugs that are predominantly self-administered at home, which experts recognise as a growing market trend.

“This investment is yet another step in adding manufacturing capacity for a product that simplifies self-medication and puts the patient’s needs first“, said Andreas Reisse, Executive Vice President of Schott’s Pharma business unit.

Greg Morris has been editor of Glass International and organiser of the Glassman conferences since 2012, specialising in glass packaging. Prior to this he spent five years working in newspaper journalism.