Pharmaceutical service provider celebrates construction launch alongside project partners and state and regional representatives
Vetter, one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical service providers for the aseptic processing of injectable drugs, celebrated the start of construction work on their new Saarlouis site with a traditional ground-breaking ceremony. During the first phase of construction, this industrial site of some 40 hectares will be gaining a modern production facility for the commercial manufacture of injectable pharmaceutical products. Vetter will be investing a total of nearly half a billion euros in the site before it is scheduled to begin operations in 2031. This emphasises the company’s strong position as a technological pioneer with the very highest quality standards. A total of 400 to 500 jobs are initially being planned. The pharmaceutical service provider expects to be creating up to 1,500 positions by the time the first phase of construction is fully completed. Up to 2,000 jobs could potentially be created.
The company found its way to Saarland via the website >>portal.germanys.saarland, created by the gwSaar Saarland Economic Promotion Corporation to help investors seeking new sites. gwSaar have been supporting the pharmaceutical service provider’s move ever since with their comprehensive service.
The first phase of construction involves erecting a 50,000 m2 production building and other production-related facilities such as laboratories and warehouses. The initial plans include three state-of-the-art clean rooms for the aseptic processing of innovative and complex drugs – two clean rooms for filling pre-sterilised syringes and one for filling (injection) vials.
Thoughts on the ground-breaking ceremony
Senator h.c. Udo J. Vetter, Chairman of the Advisory Board and member of the owner family: ‘Today’s ground-breaking ceremony marks a crucial step in our family company’s future. With this new site in Saarlouis, we are paving the way for further sustainable growth. We are laying the foundations for further expanding our capacity to manufacture complex drugs and continuing to provide customers in the future with the resources, quality and reliability levels they need and expect from us. We are also providing a lasting boost to Germany as a hub of industry.’
Anke Rehlinger, Minister-President of Saarland: ‘Today is a good day for Saarland: in Vetter we are gaining a strong, innovative company – and with it, new opportunities for many people. As has been made evident here in Saarlouis: structural change works if we actively shape it.’
Jürgen Barke, Saarland Minister of Economic Affairs: ‘A high-tech arrival like this makes us one of the most sought-after locations for the pharmaceutical industry and demonstrates how transformation is achieved: new, sustainable jobs and a strong, future-oriented sector. This will have a greater impact than anything we have seen before.’
From site selection to funding – supported by gwSaar
After first making contact via the gwSaar >> online portal, the family business received comprehensive assistance from the Promotion Corporation in their search for suitable industrial sites. They ultimately opted for a brownfield plot on the former Ford site. gwSaar then purchased, prepared and developed the brownfield land before selling the developed site on to Vetter as a suitable industrial plot. In addition, gwSaar helped the pharmaceutical service provider recruit qualified staff and apply for funding, thus playing a major role in the company’s successful relocation project.
>> germanys.saarland/en/references/vetter-pharma
About Vetter
Vetter has been driven by quality, innovation, and a responsibility to improve the quality of life of patients all over the world for more than 75 years. To meet rising demand and increasing market requirements, the company is making sustainable investments in its pharmaceutical production sites in Germany, Austria and the USA. Vetter’s new site in Saarlouis will significantly further increase the company’s production capacity.
Vetter is a leading pharmaceutical service provider for the manufacture of injectable drugs, thus improving the quality of life of patients all over the world. The company’s skills and expertise enable patients to be treated for cancer, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as some rare diseases. Drug manufacturers value their many years of experience, their high level of quality and capacity for innovation, their modern technologies, their reliability, and the daily commitment shown by their 7,300 employees. This independent company, founded in 1950 and now operating across the globe, is based in Ravensburg and still family-owned.
