2012 European Outsourcing Award Winners

The 2012 European Outsourcing Awards-what some call the “Outsourcing Oscars”-were presented on October 10, 2012 during the CPhI Worldwide/iCSE show and included awards to Vetter for a high-speed filling line and to Catalent for updates to its controlled-release facility.

Vetter’s high-speed filling line for presterilized syringes was awarded first place for the “Most Improved Manufacturing Project or Process” category. Innovations on the filling line, developed by Vetter and Bosch Packaging Technology, include an automated spray disinfection tunnel, automated end-to-end handling of tubs, and flexible equipment for various production processes in the filling station.  The line is located at Vetter’s Ravensburg, Germany facility. “The international pharmaceutical and biotech industries are seeking flexible, economically efficient, and high-quality manufacturing processes,” said Vetter managing director, Thomas Otto, in an Oct. 11, 2012 press release.

Catalent Pharma Solutions won the “Most Improved Plant or Facility” award for the redesign of its 221,000-sq-ft site in Schorndorf, Germany. The redesign included an update of all air-management systems within the entire controlled-release facility, an increase in manufacturing capacity, and optimized material flows. “When the site was originally constructed in 1996, the air handling system was designed to create over-pressure manufacturing suites; however, best practice is now to couple over-pressure corridors with under-pressure manufacturing suites,” explained Eric Schmidhäuser, managing director for Catalent Germany Schorndorf, in a Oct. 17, 2012 press release. “The new ‘clean corridor’ design helps reduce particulate entry at an earlier stage, enabling future cGMP compliance and reducing the potential for cross contamination.”

These wins highlight how investment in technology can bring both short-term and longer-term rewards, as the companies will continue to benefit from their improvements to manufacturing efficiency and quality.

Other winners included Patheon Italia for the “Most Effective Process Development/Scale-Up Programme”, eResearchTechnology for the “Most Innovative Relationship”, Aesica Pharmaceuticals for the “Best New Partnership/Merger/Acquisition”, Exco InTouch for the “Best e-Business or IT Strategy”, and Anderson Brecon for both the “Best New Product” and the “Outsourcing Executive of the Year”, according to the Awards’ website.