The new manufacturing facility for drug delivery devices will employ 150 people in 2024 and up to 600 when full operations begin in 2030
BD to produce pre-filled drug delivery devices in Spain. (Credit: v-a-n-3-ss-a from Pixabay.)
Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) has unveiled its plans to build a €165m new manufacturing facility in the Spanish city of Zaragoza to boost pre-filled drug delivery business.
With an initial workforce of 150 people, spanning an area of 86,000ft2, the site is expected to employ up to 600 people with encompassing an area of 323,000ft2 by 2030.
The medical technology company said that its new production facility will meet high sustainability and eco-efficiency standards.
Also, it will be a fully digital site, featuring advanced intelligent and autonomous technologies, also knowns as Industry 4.0 solutions.
BD intends to commence construction at the new manufacturing facility in late 2021.
BD pharmaceutical systems worldwide president Eric Borin said: “BD’s new plant in Zaragoza will produce drug delivery devices, primarily for pharmaceutical companies that supply the European market with drugs in pre-fillable syringes such as vaccines and other biologic drugs.
“This new plant will also add needed capacity to support major vaccination campaigns, such as the one currently taking place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The new site forms part of the company’s $1.2bn investment over four years, announced in December 2020, under its 2025 growth strategy.
BD aims to expand and upgrade manufacturing capacity and technology for pre-fillable syringes (PFS) and advanced drug delivery systems (ADDS) through the investment.
The new facility will be the BD’s fourth manufacturing plant in Spain, where it currently has three production plants located in San Agustín de Guadalix, Fraga and Almaraz.
Its facilities employ 1,500 people and produce a total of 10 billion medical devices annually, where its Fraga plant manufactures Covid-19 vaccination injection devices.
BD Spain and Portugal general director Lourdes López said: “Zaragoza, Aragon being selected because of the optimal conditions offered by the region, the synergies that could be produced with BD’s Fraga facility, and the results and excellent performance of the plants that currently exist in Spain.”
Last month, the medical technology firm has unveiled its plans to invest $65m to construct a new 120,000ft2 advanced facility in Tucson, Arizona.