2009 Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) Winners Announced
2 Feb 2009

Six pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities constructed by companies located in Belgium, India, Ireland, Germany, and Switzerland have been selected as Category Winners in the fifth annual Facility of the Year Awards program sponsored by ISPE, INTERPHEX, and Pharmaceutical Processing magazine. The companies and respective award categories include:

Aseptic Technologies, located in Gembloux, Belgium, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Equipment Innovation
Centocor Biologics Ireland, located in Ringaskiddy, Cork, Ireland, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Sustainability
Centocor R&D Schaffhausen, located in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Facility Integration
Hameln Pharma, located in Hameln, Germany, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Operational Excellence
Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, located in Aurangabad, India, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Regional Excellence
Roche Pharma Biotech Production Basel, located in Basel, Switzerland, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Project Execution.

Facility of the Year Award Winner for Sustainability

Centocor Biologics Ireland

In 2001, Centocor started looking at options to provide additional manufacturing capacity for two promising new drugs in their pipeline. However, its existing manufacturing sites were built-out, so it was necessary to consider a greenfield site. In June 2004, after three years of study, Centocor approved funding to establish a new cell culture and purification site in Ringaskiddy, County Cork. The overall mission of this project dubbed BioCork was to have 180kg-per-year biologic API capacity approved for market by June of 2010.

The BioCork team worked closely with local residents to mitigate the impact of this large, complex project on the community. The project provided traffic mitigation alternatives, utilized advanced membrane waste water treatment, captured rainwater for recycling, and installed a biomass (woodchip) boiler for base steam load. This project also involved extensive landscaping that included planting 70,000 trees to mitigate visual impact and air quality. BioCork is 40% more energy-efficient than internal benchmark biotech facilities and there was a 90% reduction in the carbon footprint versus fossil fuel. In addition, through careful preparation, communication, and implementation of safety planning, BioCork is one of the safest large projects ever built in Ireland.

Through use of integrated budgeting and scheduling, coupled with full user participation, this complex project was completed ahead of schedule, under budget, and exceeded capability requirements in all areas, most especially in the sustainability category.