Dive Brief:
- Aptar Pharma is expanding manufacturing capacity for three medical product lines at its facility in Congers, New York, according to a March 14 company release.
- The Congers expansion will also add 28,500 square feet of space as part of a previously announced injectable capacity expansion plan in 2020.
- The project aims to meet increasing prescription and consumer healthcare customer demand, the company said.
Dive Insight:
At the Congers site, Aptar is increasing the capacity of three drug products in high demand – Unidose nasal delivery spray, bag-on-valve technology and its child-resistant, senior-friendly packaging for nasal decongestant sprays. Expanded capacity of the systemic nasal delivery aims to be finished by Q4 2024, while the bag-on-valve is expected to be complete in early 2025, according to the release.
Production at the Congers plant began in 2002 with a cleanroom and the manufacturing of Aptar’s VP3 pumps. Nowadays, the facility produces various exclusive drug delivery products for nasal and injectable uses and expects to undergo further expansion of its manufacturing capabilities in the future, the company stated in the press release.
Including Congers, Aptar Pharma has five manufacturing locations in North America, according to its December 2023 SEC filing.
Aptar’s investments in North America align with the Illinois-based company’s broader global expansion strategy, including manufacturing initiatives in France, China and India. Aptar is looking to meet customer needs globally while prioritizing local production capabilities, according to the company.
The company is trying to improve the competitiveness of its North America supply chain, Aptar President and CEO Stephan Tanda said in a February earnings call.
“We are actually expanding capacity in Mexico as more and more of our customers want to do nearshoring and reroute some of their supplies in the US, so we're expanding our capabilities in Mexico to make the US supply chain more competitive,” the CEO said.
In October 2022, Aptar completed a $180 million robust injectables expansion program in Granville, France. The company also built a new manufacturing facility and R&D headquarters in Suzhou, China, in 2021, as well as a production facility in Mumbai, India, in December 2023.
Aptar’s 2023 earnings also reflect its growth amid recent investments in the pharmaceutical sector. For the 2023 year-end, revenue from its pharma business segment was up almost 12% compared to 2022, according to the company’s SEC filing.
“Our Pharma segment had an exceptional year. In 2023, we had the highest number of new product launches since 2018, while adding an equal, risk-adjusted value of new project opportunities to the pipeline, which bodes well for continued, solid growth,” Tanda said on the Q4 2023 earnings call.
The pharma unit also did well in the last quarter, which Aptar executives attributed to the company’s proprietary pharma dosing and dispensing systems. The segments reported over 20% core sales growth in the fourth quarter and double-digit growth for the year, Tanda said in the Q4 2023 earnings release.
