Close-up on aseptic

Marchesini Group convenes the aseptic packaging general assembly in Monteriggioni at Corima: a live show previewing products and strategies for a sector that knows no crisis.

Nearly one hundred years ago, Achille Sclavo, a luminary of the field of hygiene and preventive medicine, founded in his country home outside Siena the Istituto Siero e Vaccino Produttore, thus creating the first enterprise whose business is closely tied to a university. Since then, the province of the city of Palio has gradually become a small but significant enclave of excellence for the entire high specialization pharmaceutical industry. And this distinctive feature of the region does not go unnoticed in the estimation of Marchesini Group, which in 2003 decided to acquire Corima.

In less than ten years, the concern has caught the eye of the global market as a manufacturer of packaging machinery for pharmaceuticals in pre-filled syringes and vials, to the point that it is now able to offer its services as a supplier of aseptic packaging lines for products to be injected into flacons. This is a remarkable achievement, as explained Corima’s president, Aroldo Cappelletti.
«We spent little more than five weeks in order to create the Aseptic live show at Corima, as well as a Track and Trace Seminar in Pianoro, and the results exceeded our expectations» recounts a visibly satisfied Valentina Marchesini. And to confirm the words of the group’s communication director, a markedly international tone characterized the Monteriggioni event.

Machines, technology, market
The audience’s interest focused both on the lines and the stand alone packaging solutions for flacons, vials and syringes on show at the event.
Among these the most popular were the isotechnical line for powerful cancer products both freeze-dried and liquid, which packages up to 24 thousand pieces per minute, and the flacon line made for a Canadian customer, made up of a WR24 washing machine, a Depyr601 depyrogenation tunnel and a Stery Capsy filling ring-seal application machine.
A demo was also given of a vials line designed for a Serbian customer, consisting in a WR24 US ultrasound washing machine, a Depyr601 tunnel
and an RSF24 + LAF and a few syringe lines assembled for some Italian, Chinese and Thai customers, including one for filling syringes containing hyaluronic acid.
The experience thus supplied suggestions not only for technical solutions for products but also for the encouraging prospects of a market that seems never to falter.

On this topic, Maurizio Marchesini, CEO of the group, wished to highlight the sector’s growth prospects, without hiding his informed optimism.
«We are faced with growing demand. The high demand for pharmaceuticals from the East, particularly China, pushes up orders for life-saving and antitumor medications, two types of drugs synonymous with aseptic packaging.
The next frontier - explains Marchesini - will be that of injectable drugs tailored to the patient, not the disease.
And this is compounded by the dynamicity of the cosmetic pharmaceutical sector in relation to hyaluronic acid applications. Precision, flexibility and traceability will thus become non-negotiable quality standards. Our consolidated effort is now clear to all: more than forty years of business in a market governed by very strict regulations has made for a tried and true reputation built on investments that over the years our enterprise has dedicated to researching new technologies.»
During the press meeting, Maurizio Marchesini also made some important announcements. The current 6 thousand square meters of the Corima facility will become 10 thousand thanks to a 3.5 million euro investment that will enable expanding the site’s personnel from 100 to 150 employees. Good news for the region, which will enjoy a boost in highly qualified jobs. The project, which will be implemented over the next two years, is the second most important concerning Corima since the facility’s opening in 2008.
Furthermore, Marchesini has confirmed that it has invested another 15 million euro for a new 12 thousand square meter facility in Carpi, where the production of blister packs is most concentrated. And so significant growth prospects meet positive forecasts: 2014 should see the concern’s turnover grow by 12% over the 206 million euro it recorded last year, with an 8% increase in orders.

Seminar on traceability             
At the same time as the Aseptic Live Show, at the concern’s general headquarters in Pianoro, the Track and Trace Seminar was held, with talks by a few of the most internationally known operators in the sector. During the eight workshops in three languages, in which customers from around the world participated, traveling to Italy from England, Russia and the Asian Pacific, focus was on current governing laws concerning the traceability and serialization of pharmaceuticals. These are continually evolving sectors in which the Marchesini Group brand, with its solutions tailored according to the applicable laws in each country and the customer’s specific production needs, has always represented a solid guarantee.