SATARA, India—Datwyler Schweiz A.G. is building a new pharmaceutical rubber component plant in Satara, Maharashtra, according to a company official.
The new FirstLine facility is specially designed to manufacture pharmaceutical rubber components in a fully integrated good manufacturing practice environment, according to Rahul Dev, vice-president Datwyler India.
Spread over an area of 78,740 square feet, the facility will be integrated in the existing premises and will start to operate in 2017.
The company also has purchased a 78,740-sq.-ft. piece of land adjacent to the plant for future growth, said Dev.
As part of Datwyler Sealing Solutions, the original plant has been delivering commercial supplies to customers worldwide since 2013.
Being developed as part of Datwyler's commitment to the Indian and Asian markets, the new facility's most complex rubber components will belong to the Omniflex family, a series of vial and syringe components.
“These complex products have a total fluoropolymer coating which prevents any interaction with the drugs,” Dev said.
In addition to Omniflex, Datwyler also will be focusing on “high-end rubber formulations” for products such as plunger stoppers, serum stoppers and customized stoppers.
“India's pharmaceutical and biotech markets are evolving rapidly, and within the last years they were able to gain traction from global manufacturers, suppliers and customers,” Dev said.
He did not disclose the cost of the new plant but said the company had “invested a significant amount of money in the construction of the FirstLine facility.”
The current plant provided 2.3 billion rubber components during 2015, and the figure is expected to reach 3.8 billion components this year.