Vetter Pharma

Vetter Pharma-Fertigung GmbH & Co. KG
GmbH & Co. KG
Founded 1950[1]
Headquarters Germany, Ravensburg
Key people
 Managing Directors:[2]
Oliver Albrecht
Thomas Otto
Peter Soelkner
Products Aseptically pre-filled application systems (syringes, cartridges, vials)
Number of employees
 approx. 3,600 (2016)[3]
Website vetter-pharma.com

Vetter Pharma-Fertigung GmbH & Co. KG is a contract manufacturer that has supplied the pharmaceutical industry since 1950. The company is an independent international specialist in the aseptic filling of syringes, cartridges and vials. With an annual capacity of 400 million units, Vetter is one of the world market leaders in the field of pre-filled injection systems.

History

One of several production facilities of Vetter in Ravensburg.
One of several office buildings in Ravensburg.

The company was founded in 1950 by Helmut Vetter and was originally called the “Apotheker Vetter & Co. Arzneimittel GmbH Ravensburg".[3] In 1958, Helmut Vetter opened a pharmacy and sealed the drugs it manufactured in air- and water-tight packaging. In 1965, his growing enterprise began operating as a contract manufacturer packaging dry and liquid drugs. The company manufactured primarily contact lens solutions and eye drops. In 1975, the company turned its focus to aseptically pre-filled syringes. Vetter founded its first foreign subsidiary in the United States in 1983, Vetter Pharma Turm Inc. (Yardley, Pennsylvania), to handle sales in the United States and Canada. The following year, the company was renamed Vetter Pharma-Fertigung GmbH & Co. KG. In 1988, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Vetter’s Ravensburg facility approval to operate, which opened the U.S. market. Two years later, the company invented the dual-chamber syringe, which remains a patented product. Freeze-dried (lyophilized) drug resides in one chamber; liquid in the other. Pushing the plunger mixes the two, reconstituting the drug. The technology prolongs shelf-life, facilitates accurate dosing, and enables patients to self-administer. In 1996, a second German production site was established, in Langenargen, and received approval to operate by the FDA two years later. In 2004, the company started construction on a second major site in Ravensburg. Completed at the end of 2006, the Ravensburg Vetter South production facility received permission by the regional board of Tuebingen[4] (the local government) to begin operating at the start of 2007; the FDA gave its production approval in early 2008.[5] At the end of 2007, work began at Ravensburg Vetter South on a new facility to house secondary packaging[6] and began operations in May 2009.[7] At the same site, an analytical laboratory was established in the same year.[8] Also in 2009, the company founded its sales subsidiary Vetter Pharma International GmbH, and named its U.S. sales subsidiary Vetter Pharma International USA Inc.[9] In December 2009, the company dedicated its first U.S. manufacturing facility, located in suburban Chicago. There, Vetter supports preclinical through phase II products to fill syringes, cartridges and vials for use in clinical studies. The facility is an expansion of Vetter Development Service.[10] In May 2012 Vetter completed its new Center for Visual Inspection and Logistics. With a number of innovative technologies for producing electricity and promoting efficient use of resources, Vetter continues to set high standards in terms of sustainability at its Ravensburg Vetter West facility.[11]

Vetter employs approximately 3,400 employees and is headquartered in Ravensburg, Germany.

In addition to the Vetter management team which consists of three managing directors, an independent advisory board also assists the company. The advisory board has been chaired by Udo J. Vetter since 2008.[12]

Importance for the U.S.

In the United States Vetter is listed at Critical Foreign Dependencies Initiative (CFDI), a strategy and list, maintained by the United States Department of Homeland Security, of foreign infrastructure which "if attacked or destroyed would critically impact the U.S."[13]

References

  1. ↑ From pharmacy to global leader : Vetter through time Company history as pdf.
  2. ↑ Vetter-Pharma: Managing Directors
  3. 1 2
  4. ↑ Vetter Pharma-Fertigung, Contract Manufacturing Facility, Ravensburg, Germany. www.pharmaceutical-technology.com .
  5. ↑ FDA gives Vetter the green light.
  6. ↑ Vetter is investing in the future Archived July 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine..
  7. ↑ Vetter installs six automatic packaging lines at its new facility.
  8. ↑ Vetter inaugurates comprehensive site in Germany .
  9. ↑ Vetter Pharma-Fertigung launches new subsidiary.
  10. ↑ Vetter Development Service goes live in Chicago Archived July 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine..
  11. ↑ Vetter boosts quality and logistic processes
  12. ↑ Vetter Pharma: Advisory Board
  13. ↑ Sharon Theimer (7 December 2010). "U.S.: WikiLeaks release a hit list for al-Qaida". Army Times. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vetter Pharma.

Coordinates: 47°47′40″N 9°37′15″E / 47.794447°N 9.620751°E / 47.794447; 9.620751

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/14/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.