The production of the vials for the corona vaccine is in full swing at Gerresheimer in times of crisis. The business is worth it – and not just because of the financial return.
When it comes to delivering vials for corona vaccines, the packaging manufacturer Gerresheimer is increasing its goals. By the end of 2022 it will probably be around 1.2 billion, which is 20 percent more than previously assumed, said company boss Dietmar Siemssen on Tuesday in Düsseldorf.
With Schott from Mainz and Stevanato from Italy, Gerresheimer is one of the three largest manufacturers of such bottles. “We have a little over 300 million [Fläschchen] Already delivered this year and continue to deliver », said Siemssen. Pharmaceutical companies have already placed their first orders for 2023.
Before the corona crisis, Gerresheimer had production capacities of three billion vials per year; by the end of this year, the maximum production per annum should be increased to four billion. The small vials are not only used for corona vaccines, but also for cancer drugs and other preparations.
According to earlier information, the company only gets four to five cents per Corona jar, so it is only a small division for the group that also produces packaging made of glass or plastic for cough syrups, eye drops, nasal sprays and asthma inhalers. As a door opener for other business with pharmaceutical manufacturers, this line of business is important.
In the future, Siemssen expects that corona vaccines will no longer be delivered in the small jars from which medical personnel have to take the contents out with syringes and administer them – one vial contains several doses. Rather, there is likely to be a switch to prefillable syringes – they can be administered directly without the content having to be refilled. “If there is really a regular vaccination, comparable to the flu vaccination today, it can be assumed that it will increasingly come in glass syringes,” said the manager. That would be good news for Gerresheimer because this business should be more lucrative.
Gerresheimer currently manufactures the prefillable glass syringes for the European market in Bünde in East Westphalia, where the company has 750 employees. An additional plant is to be set up in North Macedonia in the future. The glass vials currently used for corona vaccinations are in turn manufactured for the European market in France and Poland.
The company with around 10,000 employees worldwide presented business figures on Tuesday. In the second quarter, sales rose by 3.9 percent to 377 million euros compared to the same period in the previous year. The profit fell slightly by two percent to 28.9 million euros. Negative exchange rate effects and high energy costs had weighed on business somewhat. The executive suite remains confident, however.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
