SGD Pharma glass manufacturer is investing to prepare for the post-pandemic era

The pharmaceutical packaging specialist is preparing to relaunch an investment plan of 37 million euros in its two French factories

In the post-Covid 19 world, industrial competition will be exacerbated. This is the conviction of SGD Pharma, one of the global leader in the manufacture of glass packaging for the pharmaceutical healthcare, which, in this perspective, is accelerating the implementation of its 2020 investment plan. Of the 45 million euros to be invested in its five factories, 37 million will be injected over 12 months in the two French sites of Saint-Quentin-Lamotte (Somme) and Sucy-en-Brie (Val-de-Marne).

Objective of the operation:  the complete rebuilt of the second furnace at the Sucy-en-Brie factory using the most advanced technologies available on the market to meet its quality control improvement initiatives at the “cold end”, while also equipping its "hot end" with IS machines adapted to post-epidemic production. “If necessary, we will devote a few additional million euros to the realization of this project. Originally scheduled to start last January, it will finally start in June, but will have to be imperatively completed by January 2021 ", explains Christophe Nicoli, CEO of SGD Pharma.

If the glass manufacturer insists on keeping the calendar at all costs, it is because he anticipates the next needs in the health industry. "We will need to vaccinate the planet!" This will only be possible if the pharmaceutical industry has the necessary active ingredients, excipients and containers ”, continues the CEO. The group will have to produce more bottles for parenteral products, used for multi-doses in hospitals, without causing shortages in other ranges.

Held by the Chinese fund JIC Investment since 2016, SGD Pharma anticipates the needs of the sector in the long run. In addition to a supply shock, particularly linked to Chinese competition, a demand decrease caused by the drop in purchasing power, not only in Europe, but especially across the Atlantic is inevitable. “In a context where states will have little financial leeway, we will have to meet demanding health needs and also know how to produce cheaper. For this, specialization and innovation will be essential ”, Nicoli added.

In India, for example, the construction of an ultra-modern factory in Vemula has enabled it to take 30% of the local market. Likewise in France, where he invested more than 70 million euros four years ago in the construction of the Saint-Quentin-Lamotte plant, one of the most modern for the production of type I glass. " Our production tool allows us to approach this new context in combat mode ”.

Source : Les Echos, 22 April 2020, Guillaume Roussange Correspondent in Amiens – www.lesechos.fr