Gerresheimer is expanding its production capacity in Skopje, North Macedonia, with a new production hall for syringes. Since 2019, Gerresheimer has been producing drug delivery systems, diagnostic and medical products made of plastic on around 14,600 square metres at this site.
The new factory hall adds around 7,600 square metres of production space for glass syringes. The company is investing over EUR 100 million in the construction and equipment of the new building. The expansion of the site will double the number of employees in Skopje from around 250 to 500 over the next three to five years.
The new production hall is currently one of the key projects in the global capacity expansion for drug delivery systems and syringes for long-term customer contracts and it is specifically designed for the manufacture of syringes and other primary packaging made of tubular glass. The total area, including Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Class C and D clean rooms, covers around 7,600 square metres – roughly the size of a soccer field. The new hall provides space for the precision glass forming lines developed and manufactured by Gerresheimer itself, as well as specific assembly and ready-to-fill lines.
“Combining production capacities for plastic and glass at one location for the efficient production of integrated solutions for the pharma industry is a further step in the implementation of our corporate strategy formula g,” said Dietmar Siemssen, CEO of Gerresheimer AG. “As a systems and solutions provider, our customers receive individually tailored, fully integrated solutions. In the future, for example, we will also supply ready-to-fill syringe systems from Skopje.”
One advantage of the plant in Skopje, with its 7,600 square metres extension, is the combination of production capacities for pharmaceutical plastic and glass products at one location. This enables efficient production of integrated solutions with optimized logistics. For example, customers can obtain fully assembled ready-to-fill syringe systems in a wide variety of configurations from Skopje. The site in Skopje also offers growth potential. 100,000 square metres of additional space is available on the site for future expansion.
Gerresheimer is currently concentrating syringe production at its sites in Bünde, Germany, Querétaro, Mexico, and Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia.