German company STADA expands production network with EUR50m project in Romania. Greenfield investment in which almost 400 employees will work

By rbj
STADA is acting to ensure the group can continue to reliably supply high-quality medicines and healthcare products as a growth leader over the next decade and beyond by investing almost EUR50 million in a supply-chain hub in Turda, Romania.
The supply-chain and packaging unit will initially house 9 state-of-the-art technology lines for solid-dose medicines such as tablets and capsules, with a capacity to supply 100 million packages per year. This will support the group’s current trajectory and ambitious growth plans in consumer healthcare and prescription pharmaceuticals.
Upon receipt of the necessary building permits, construction work is scheduled to start on the 100,000 m2 greenfield site later this year, with operations set to commence in autumn 2024. The site in Turda’s Aries Industrial Park also includes automated warehousing and offers ample potential for future extensions.
Finished products from the site located in Cluj County, both prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, are intended mainly for supply to European markets in which STADA continues to achieve above-market growth. Among products set to be supplied from the facility are antidepressants, antihistamines and ant-inflammatory agents, as well as medicines to treat diabetes, high cholesterol levels and hypertension.
The Turda site will add further capacity to STADA’s existing network of production, supply-chain and packaging facilities that are already capable of supplying around 13 billion solid-dose units and more than 700 million packs per year.
Furthermore, the EUR48.3 million investment project is fully in line with STADA’s purpose of “Caring for People’s Health as a Trusted Partner” in that it delivers on several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to which the group is a signatory.
For example, SDG 3 ‘Good Health & Well-Being’ will be served by ensuring adequate capacity to supply widely-used medicines to European patients and their caregivers; while SDG 8 ‘Decent Work and Economic Growth’ will be supported through the 375 high-quality jobs that STADA is planning to create, drawing on established pharmaceutical expertise and local contractors in the Cluj region. Photovoltaic solar panels and low-energy lighting will help to minimise carbon emissions.
“The investment in the Turda facility shows that STADA is a trusted partner for national and local governments and authorities,” commented STADA’s Chief Technical Officer, Miguel Pagan Fernandez. “The additional capacity will support our growth journey.”
“We chose Turda because it is a town located in the heart of a region that is strategically important for the STADA Group,” explained Mihai Fugarevici, general manager of STADA Romania. “It is close to our testing laboratories and warehouse in Timisoara, Romania, as well as to the STADA production units in Serbia. The geographical location of the factory also provides fast transport links to key European markets.”
STADA Arzneimittel AG is headquartered in Bad Vilbel, Germany. The company focuses on a three-pillar strategy consisting of generics, specialty pharma and non-prescription consumer healthcare products. Worldwide, STADA Arzneimittel AG sells its products in approximately 120 countries. In financial year 2020, STADA achieved group sales of EUR 3,010.3 million and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of EUR 713.3 million. As of 31 December 2020, STADA employed 12,301 people worldwide.