Schott, a supplier of parenteral packaging for the pharmaceutical industry, is increasing production capacity for polymer syringes by 50%.

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Image: The ready-to-fill SCHOTT TopPac syringes are break resistant, light weight, and transparent with a glass-like appearance. Photo: courtesy of SCHOTT.

Schott has more than 15 years of experience in manufacturing polymer syringes on production lines.

The company said it will invest a double-digit million-euro figure to install new production lines at its syringe competence center in St. Gallen, Switzerland.

The additional capacity is due for installation in 2019, while ramped-up is scheduled for 2020.

Schott Pharmaceutical Systems head of polymer solutions Mario Haas said the company offers both glass and polymer syringes to the pharma industry from the site in St. Gallen.

“We are therefore well acquainted with the pros and cons and can consult pharma companies on what the best material to package a certain medication would be,” Haas said.

The polymer syringes of Schott are available in small and large volume sizes ranging from 1 ml to 50 ml. The capacity increase will extend production of all sizes.

The company said the fully automated technology will make sure that all process steps beginning from injection molding to the packaged product are carried out without human interaction.

Haas said demand for prefillable polymer syringes has experienced particular growth in recent years, driven in part by existing markets including emergency pharmaceuticals, infusion therapy and highly viscous medications like dermal fillers.

A range of applications including sensitive biologics that are administered in combination with devices and require special packaging for ensuring drug stability, as well as immunoglobulin that are filled in large size syringes are also driving the growth for prefillable polymer syringes.

Earlier this year, Schott introduced new prefillable syringe designed to ensure drug stability and ease administration.

The syriQ BioPure pre-fillable glass syringes are designed to keep sensitive drugs stable over shelf life and shorten time to market while making administration more convenient for patients.

Schott said the syringes are made of highly inert FIOLAX borosilicate glass, the gold standard for packaging complex drug products.