CEO Olivier Rousseau says that SGD Pharma intends to significantly grow in 2024, with a sustained and consistent approach to its strategies.
Underpinning this objective Rousseau outlines the investment achievements already notched up in 2023, which he says illustrates how SGD Pharma has paved the way for this planned growth.
He said: “The start of 2023 brought a new partnership, with the announcement of our joint venture with Corning, supported by investment from the Telangana state in India. This collaboration combined Corning’s state-of-the-art coating technology with SGD Pharma’s glass-converting expertise to manufacture Velocity Vials, Type I borosilicate glass tubing.”
Pharma packaging
The construction of a new tubing plant officially began with a celebratory ceremony at the plant in Vemula, India in June 2023. When it’s finished, this new facility will expand pharmaceutical packaging manufacturing in India and access to the Corning Velocity Vial technology in the region.
The company’s sustainable efforts and decarbonization were key areas of progress for SGD Pharma last year and it was awarded a gold EcoVadis sustainability rating. The company made several modifications throughout the year to improve its high score for the award.
EcoVadis assesses companies in four key areas – environment, labor and human rights, sustainable procurement, and ethics – rating a company relative to its peers. High scores across the board put SGD Pharma in the top 5% of glass product manufacturers, with particularly high scores for sustainable procurement.
Sustainability strategy
SGD Pharma released its 2023 CSR report in June, outlining the three pillars of its sustainability strategy which are to become an industry leader in decarbonization, (with planned reductions in emissions by -65% by 2040) as well as leadership in sustainable compliance and sustainable health and safety, and human resources practices. At the end of the year, SGD Pharma joined the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) as part of the company’s sustainability drive.
The SBTi is a global body enabling businesses to set ambitious targets for emissions reductions in line with leading climate science. SGD Pharma’s plants in France, Germany, India, and China plan to cut CO2 scope 1 and 2 emissions by 35% by 2030 and by 65% by 2040 (compared with a 2020 baseline).
100% of all SGD Pharma-owned glass manufacturing plants are ISO 45001 certified and 79% of all waste is recycled. The company also received awards for its efforts towards decarbonization and mangrove advocacy at the CCI Event in Guangzhou, China.
As well as the new line for Vemula, India, other site investments include the renovation of one of two furnaces at SGD Pharma’s Saint Quentin Lamotte (SQLM) plant in France.
Carbon emissions reduction
Rousseau added: “This rebuild will contribute to a two-thirds reduction in the company’s total carbon emissions by 2040 and will cut the SQLM CO2 emissions by almost 20%. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Zhanjiang Mayor in China for SGD Pharma to invest in the rebuilding of the plant furnace at Zhanjiang and a new siliconization operation line will become operational at the SQLM plant to increase flexibility and capacity.”
In terms of products, Rousseau said that SGD Pharma has launched the extension of its Clareo range to include 10ml as well as its Sterinity range of ready-to-use vials in sizes 10ml and 20ml.
The second half of the year saw the announcement of the company’s pharmaceutical vial thermosealing offering, PROSEAL+. As many oral pharmaceutical products are sensitive to moisture and oxygen, PROSEAL+ provides a resistant hermetic seal that protects both the content and the user as the seal is also tamper evident.
To round up the investments in 2023, SGD Pharma CEO Olivier Rousseau has said he is looking ahead to several strategic developments for 2024, which will start with announcements at Pharmapack 2024.
