Sharp Packaging Services, a part of UDG Healthcare and a company in contract packaging and clinical supply services, has invested $11 million to increase its global cold-storage and syringe assembly capacity.

The additional investment in Groninger labelling machines has doubled Sharp’s syringe-assembly capacity at its Allentown, Pennsylvania facility. The new equipment will provide additional manufacturing speed capacity and in-line safety device assembly when installed.

Cold-storage capacity will also be increased by 61% at the site with a $1.5-million investment into US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)-approved caged cold storage.

At the company’s site in Belgium, investment in additional equipment, including Groninger labelling machines as well as the installation of a high-speed syringe assembly Bausch+Ströbel machine, has increased syringe-assembly capacity.

New cold-storage facilities at Sharp’s Oudehaske site in the Netherlands has increased vial-labelling capabilities and increased the company’s cold-storage capacity in northern Europe by 14%.

The latest investment in the Biotechnology Center of Excellence on Sharp’s Allentown campus has further increased its ability to handle specialty packaging requirements. The company purchased the 112,000-square-foot building in Allentown in 2014 and developed a $45-million biologic and specialty product packaging operation with cold-chain and serialization capabilities.

Source: Sharp Packaging Services