MAINZ (dpa-AFX) - Schott Pharma is pushing ahead with the expansion of its business with syringes for injectable drugs and is investing heavily in production capacities. While the production of more traditional products such as ampoules or glass vials is being relocated from Hungary to Serbia in Europe, a completely new production site will be built in the USA in the coming years.

The investments in new production lines are reflected in the figures for the second quarter published on Thursday: operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell by three percent to 67 million euros. Schott Pharma explicitly explained this with start-up costs for new production lines and a strong comparative figure from the second quarter of 2023. Sales, on the other hand, rose by eleven percent to 247 million euros, adjusted for currency effects.

"The trends are stable, the market is intact and it is a global business," CEO Andreas Reisse told the German Press Agency in Mainz. The industry is also less affected by people's fears of recession. "Health is the last area to be cut, and there is the megatrend of ageing."

The Mainz-based company has high hopes for prefillable polymer syringes, i.e. syringes made of high-performance plastic for certain active ingredients, and in particular for the high-volume syringe business, for example for the treatment of chronic diseases or for cancer drugs in development. "mRNA also continues to be a growth driver," said Reisse. "This is a field that is very certain to develop." Drivers for glass syringes are biologics, vaccines, weight loss syringes and diabetes drugs.

Polymer and glass syringes are among Schott Pharma's high-margin products. They currently account for 53 percent of sales. In the medium term, i.e. in the next two to three years, this should rise to 60 percent, said Reisse. "The clear objective is to drive this forward." The core business with ampoules and glass vials for the pharmaceutical industry will also grow, albeit less dynamically.

Ampoules and glass vials are to be produced at a new site in Jagodina, Serbia, in future. To this end, the production of glass syringes was started at the existing site in Lukácsháza, Hungary, in the summer. A new production site in Wilson in the US state of North Carolina is scheduled to go into operation in 2027 after investments of around 371 million US dollars. "The USA will become stronger as a production base," said Reisse. The US government is doing a lot for this, and if major customers produce more there, Schott Pharma must also be present there. "It has always been our strategy to be close to our customers."/chs/DP/tih