Rudolf Hanko, PhD  CEO, Siegfried AG

Rudolf Hanko, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Siegfried AG, a contract manufacturer of both drug substances and drug products, outlined the company’s five-year plan for the next phase of its strategy implementation at the DCAT Member Company Announcement Forum held on Monday March 20 at DCAT Week ’17. In 2016, Siegfried announced the completion of its “Transform Strategy,” which involved further development and restructuring of the company’s global production network that resulted in an integrated supply offering, forward and backward integrated services, and critical size expansion. The next phase for Siegfried, as outlined by Dr. Hanko, is underway as the company’s “Evolve” strategy that seeks to grow the company’s market share by leveraging synergistic technology enhancements and expanding its drug product manufacturing assets to critical size.

To put the company’s current “Evolve” strategy into context, Dr. Hanko outlined key achievements under the company’s prior five-year strategy. In 2016, Chinese authorities issued Siegfried a final operating license for large-scale production at its active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing plant in Nantong, China, which was inaugurated in 2015. Also, in 2016, the company put into operation a new production building with vertical flow technology in accordance with the latest technology at the company’s headquarters in Zofingen, Switzerland, The new manufacturing facility is significantly more efficient than the former manufacturing plant it is replacing, noted the company. Also, Siegfried proceeded with the integration of three manufacturing sites (Evionnaz, Switzerland; Saint-Vulbas, France; and Minden, Germany) for intermediates and APIs that the company acquired from BASF in 2015. The acquisition of the BASF sites followed two earlier acquisitions on the drug product side: the 2012 acquisition of California-based Alliance Medical Products, Inc. (AMP), which added to the company’s sterile-filling capabilities, and the 2014 acquisition of Germany-based Hameln Pharma, a provider of development and production of sterile liquid pharmaceuticals, which strengthened Siegfried’s sterile filling segment.

As part of its new “Evolve” strategy, Dr. Hanko outlined that the company will expand its global solid drug product footprint; expand its overall presence with its own production facilities, including in the US; and enhance its development set-up. In a recent earnings release, Siegfried said it plans this year to expand its research and development capacity by adding about 40 new laboratory workstations at the company’s site in Zofingen, Switzerland and plans to begin construction of a new logistics building there. Dr. Hanko also said that the company plans to grow within the value chain of its existing businesses by reaching critical size in the drug product sector and through backward integration. Lastly, Dr. Hanko said that Siegfried plans to diversify into adjacent new businesses by enhancing its technology base in micronization, lyophilization, spray drying, and by adding additional high-potent manufacturing capabilities.