What have been the major moves—mergers and acquisitions and capacity additions in primary packaging? The latest developments and trends.

By Patricia Van Arnum, Editorial Director, DCAT, [email protected]

Injectables drive growth
The blockbuster success of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists and related drugs for treating Type 2 diabetes and obesity have been a significant growth driver in the injectables drug market, with drug-delivery devices for injectables being one segment benefiting from the GLP-1 boon. Analysts peg an estimated $400 million in disclosed investments industry-wide for capacity additions in devices supporting GLP-1s. In addition to GLP-1s, the continued rise of biologics in drug development overall is driving demand for devices and primary packaging for injectables, which include delivery systems that address patient preference for at-home or self-administration of medicines with convenient injection instruments such as autoinjectors and pen injectors. In response to these trends, companies are responding with moves to increase their positions in the injectables market.

As a case in point, in a strategic move to further position itself in high-value drug delivery and medical devices and primary packaging for injectable drugs, earlier this month (August 2026), Gerresheimer agreed to divest two of its packaging units—Centor US Holding, which specializes in packaging systems for dispensing prescription drugs, and its global primary packaging plastics business—to an affiliate of funds advised by Apax Partners, a private equity firm, for EUR 1.5 billion ($1.7 billion). In 2025, the two businesses generated combined revenue of approximately EUR 570 million ($657 million) with a combined number of employees of approximately 2,400. The Centor facility is in Millersburg, Ohio, where the company manufactures packaging systems for prescription drug dispensing, including vials, plastic bottles, and closures. In addition to the Centor site in the US, the transaction includes a total of 15 production sites for primary plastic packaging in nine countries. The sale of Centor is expected to close by the end of financial year 2026, and the sale of the global primary packaging plastics business is expected to close in the first half of financial year 2027.

“This transaction allows us to regain our strategic flexibility,” explains Uwe Röhrhoff, CEO of Gerresheimer AG, in a July 29, 2026, statement in announcing the sale. “At the same time, as a leading global partner to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, we are focusing our business even more strongly on high-value drug delivery and medical devices and primary packaging for injectable drugs.”

At the same time, Gerresheimer is doubling its capacity for primary packaging for injectable pharmaceuticals in China through its joint venture with Shuangfeng Glass. Last month (July 2026), Gerresheimer started operations at a new plant in Zhenjiang Dagang, China, for the production of glass primary pharmaceutical packaging. Gerresheimer currently produces pharmaceutical vials and ampoules at the site—primarily for the Chinese market. After approximately four years of construction, the new building covers around 40,000 m² and an additional 33,000 m² of land is available for future expansion. In addition, the company is also building a new production facility at its site in Wertheim, Germany, for ready-to-fill/ready-to-use (RTF/RTU) vials. The new 4,000 m² production hall is slated to be completed by mid-2027. The RTF/RTU vial market is a growth area and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 13% until 2030, according to market estimates provided by the company.

In 2025, Schott Pharma expanded its global production network for drug-containment and delivery solutions, by inaugurating a new plant in Jagodina, Serbia, for glass ampoules for injectables, broke ground on a new EUR 100 million ($117 million) production facility for ready-to-use cartridges at its existing site in Lukácsháza, Hungary, and progressed further capacity expansions in Germany, Switzerland, the US, and India. In June (June 2026), the company inaugurated new capacity for core and specialty vials at its site in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, with an investment of more than $60 million that was supported by the US government’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. In addition to installing a new high-end converting lines for core borosilicate glass vials, the expansion included infrastructure modernization, line upgrades, and new technology to increase the capacity for high-value products, such as the company RTU vial platform adaptiQ and Everic pure vials.

In January (January 2026), BD announced it is investing $100 million to expand production of prefillable syringes at its facility in Columbus, Nebraska. The investment establishes BD Neopak Glass Prefillable Syringe production at its Columbus site, with supply slated to begin in mid-2026. This investment will also support additional line upgrades and capacity improvements across the site. The announcement builds on BD’s recent investment of more than $35 million to expand prefilled flush syringe manufacturing in Columbus. These investments are part of BD’s overall commitment to invest more than $2.5 billion in US manufacturing capabilities across all business segments over the next five years.

As part of its footprint optimization plan, last October (October 2025), Stevanato Group added production space for drug-delivery devices to its facility in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. This initiative provides more than 2,500 square meters of advanced manufacturing capacity. The multi-million investment includes installation of an ISO 8 cleanroom environment, fully equipped for injection molding and automated assembly operations. These upgrades enable the site to support both Stevanato Group’s proprietary device production and contract manufacturing services. The enhanced Bad Oeynhausen facility plays a role in advancing the production of the company’s key portfolio devices, including its Aidaptus autoinjector and Alina pen injector platforms.

On the product side, the company recently announced several developments. In June (June 2026), Stevanato introduced Deora, a new proprietary pen injector platform targeting incretin-based therapies, as well as supporting other originator and biosimilar drug development programs. Deora is a multi-use, fixed-dose pen injector featuring a simple pull-push mechanism for dose setting and delivery. Also, earlier this year (2026), Stevanato, Datwyler, a provider of elastomer components, and LTS Device Technologies, a developer of smart wearable devices for drug delivery, announced a collaboration to broaden the scope of large-volume subcutaneous drug delivery by enabling convenient on-body administration of larger volumes to facilitate patient preference from hospital-based administration to at-home delivery for large volume, highly sensitive biologics, and other formulations that present unique challenges.

In March (March 2026), West Pharmaceutical Services, a provider of advanced drug-delivery systems and components for injectable medicines, opened a new building at its current site in Damastown, Dublin, Ireland, for a 165,000-square foot expansion to meet growing global demands of its customers’ high-volume treatments, including diabetes and obesity. The Damastown expansion enhances West’s contract capabilities beyond its component molding, device assembly, and packaging to now include advanced automation and expanded drug-handling capabilities at commercial scale.

In April (April 2026), Nemera, a provider of drug-delivery devices, broke ground for a new 5,000-square-meter production hall at its La Verpillière site in Isère, France. Construction work will take place throughout 2026, with production scheduled to start in the second half of 2027. The project is aligned with Nemera’s industrial roadmap, which aims to double the size of the La Verpillière site by 2030. The company says the expansion responds to growing global demand, in particular for injection pens used in the treatment of diabetes and obesity. In addition, in 2025, Nemera opened a new production hall at its facility in Szczecin, Poland, to increase its capacity to produce drug-delivery devices for GLP-1 and insulin therapies