The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) has announced the category winners of the Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) for 2016.
The winners are:
- Baxter BioPharma Solutions (Operational Excellence)
- Ethicon (Sustainability)
- Genentech (Process Innovation)
- Janssen Vaccines (Project Execution)
- Pfizer (Equipment Innovation)
- Takara Bio (Facility Integration)
FOYA’s judging panel also awarded Honourable Mentions to:
- Greater Pharma Co
- University of Strathclyde, Scotland, UK
- West Pharmaceuticals Services
The global awards programme recognises innovation and creativity in manufacturing facilities serving the pharmaceutical industry.
'These facilities epitomise the principles of the FOYA programme,' said John Bournas, ISPE President and CEO. 'ISPE is proud to honour these nine teams for their exemplary projects and outstanding dedication to creating high-quality medicines for people around the world.'
Baxter BioPharma Solutions won the Operational Excellence award for the expansion of its parenteral manufacturing plant in Halle, Germany. The facility demonstrates operational excellence principals and innovative manufacturing concepts with state-of-the-art isolator technology, combined with high flexibility for rapid changeover and broad flexibility to manufacture a wide variety of liquid formulations.
Ethicon took the Sustainability award for its facility in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico. The site’s sustainability efforts resulted in energy reduction of 26% (4.4 million kWh), and water reduction of 9% (1.25 million gallons), while increasing production volume by 11%, compared with consumption levels in 2010.
Genentech (a member of the Roche Group) has been named winner of the Process Innovation award for its large-scale Cell Culture Biologics Drug Substance Plant 2 (CCP2). Located in Vacaville, CA, US, this facility revamped an existing CCP2 facility to support new process technology, which resulted in US$50m savings in capital.
Janssen Vaccines is the recipient of the Project Execution award for its 'Fast Track Refurbishment for Ebola Vaccine Production' based in Bern, Switzerland. In response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Janssen committed to accelerating the development of its candidate Ebola vaccine. Through parallel activities in process development and facility design and construction, the facility was completed for engineering runs by September 2015.
Pfizer is the winner of the Equipment Innovation award for its Portable, Continuous, Miniature and Modular (PCMM) prototype unit for oral solid dosage forms, which transforms raw materials into uncoated tablets in minutes. The equipment fits into a portable facility called a POD that can be shipped to any location to get medicines to patients when and where they are needed. The PCMM model increases project speed, enhances product quality, and reduces project cost and environmental footprint.
Takara Bio won the Facility Integration award for its Centre for Gene and Cell Processing in Shiga, Japan
Takara Bio won the Facility Integration award for its Centre for Gene and Cell Processing (CGCP) in Shiga, Japan. In order to improve operational and cost efficiencies, Takara housed cell products, viral vectors and recombinant proteins all within the same facility. To eliminate risk of cross contamination, Takara incorporated a number of containment measures, including a RABS sterilisation process using dry type vaporised hydrogen peroxide (VHP), segregated air conditioning systems, and full-height partitions to close contamination pathways.
Three firms received an Honourable Mention: Greater Pharma Co for its facility in Bangkok, Thailand, which applied Western standards to design, build and operate a pharmaceutical facility for tablets, capsules, sachets and liquids to produce pharmaceuticals for the local ASEAN market; the University of Strathclyde in Scotland for its Centre for Continuous Manufacturing and Crystallisation (CMAC) in Glasgow; and West Pharmaceuticals Services for its facility expansion in Kinston, NC, US.
The University of Strathclyde in Scotland received an Honourable Mention for its Centre for Continuous Manufacturing and Crystallisation in Glasgow
As a result of this year’s outstanding FOYA projects, ISPE is adding a new category to the 2017 Facility of the Year Awards: Facilities of the Future. This accolade will be awarded to the project that best demonstrates the application of new, innovative concepts that make the factory a leading example for the next generation of agile, flexible and effective pharmaceutical facilities.
The 2016 FOYA Category Winners will be formally recognised at the ISPE Facility of the Year Awards Banquet on 7 June in North Bethesda, Maryland.
The 2016 FOYA Overall Winner will be announced at the 2016 ISPE Annual Meeting from September 18–21 in Atlanta, GA.