2009 Facility of the Year Awards Winners Announced

Six pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities constructed by companies located in Belgium, India, Ireland, Germany, and Switzerland have been selected as category winners in the fifth annual Facility of the Year Awards program sponsored by ISPE, Interphex, and Pharmaceutical Processing magazine. The companies and respective award categories include:

• Aseptic Technologies, located in Gembloux, Belgium, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Equipment Innovation

• Centocor Biologics Ireland, located in Ringaskiddy, Cork, Ireland, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Sustainability

• Centocor R&D Schaffhausen, located in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Facility Integration

• Hameln Pharma, located in Hameln, Germany, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Operational Excellence

• Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, located in Aurangabad, India, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Regional Excellence

• Roche Pharma Biotech Production Basel, located in Basel, Switzerland, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Project Execution

In addition, GlaxoSmithKline Manufacturing was awarded an Honorable Mention for the company’s project in Verona, Italy.

The Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) program recognizes state-of-the-art pharmaceutical manufacturing projects that utilize new and innovative technologies to enhance the delivery of a quality project, as well as reduce the cost of producing high-quality medicines.

To accommodate the growing number of development products and promote the application of new technologies, Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals created a facility to manufacture internationally acceptable products.

The Carbapenem Production Facility project is located in Aurangabad, India, 400 kilometers away from Mumbai and consists of four well-integrated production blocks (intermediate/api/sterile/hydrogenation), with each block designed with dedicated service and production areas.

Orchid took several measures to conserve energy and reduce manufacturing costs during facility design, including the implementation of a horizontal scrubbing system that uses 30 percent less power than conventional scrubbing systems. Other features include energy-efficient vacuum systems, a multi-stage evaporator, water-cooled refrigeration systems, and fluorescent lighting.

In addition, there are automated systems for nitrogen blanketing for centrifuges, flash steam recovery, and secondary steam generation from evaporators to save energy. The team also implemented equipment designs that enabled significant reduction in cycle time, such as an ultrasonic crystallizer and an agitated Nutsche filter dryer.