Kedrion’s new plant in Castelvecchio Pascoli (Lucca) was unveiled today. The event, marking the mechanical completion of all technological equipment, was attended by the President of the Regional Council, Enrico Rossi, Regional and local authorities, and the press. This important milestone, which follows the end of construction work last October, was reached just one year after the first stone was laid, thanks also to the active contribution of all institutions involved.
“Choosing Castelvecchio Pascoli, and deciding to invest in the area, further strengthens Italy’s centrality in Kedrion’s business model – stated Paolo Marcucci, Kedrion President and CEO – and is an important acknowledgement of the Company’s Italian roots”.
"This is a success story for Italy, Tuscany and the Garfagnana area”, stated President Enrico Rossi. “This company is to be commended for investing with great courage, thereby proving its commitment to both its local community and an ethical approach to work. Today, we are marking an extremely important milestone for this Valley and for all of Tuscany. I am very proud of this achievement, which makes me look to the future with hope".
The Company’s overall investment in the new Castelvecchio Pascoli plant amounts to over 67 million euros. Between 70 and 90 new employees are expected to be hired by 2017, when the plant becomes fully operational. Meanwhile, 20 people have already been employed to manage the project between 2014 and 2015; and, in addition to those employed by suppliers and contractors, some 45 to 50 people a day have worked on the construction site, which opened in January 2014.
Kedrion’s new plant in Castelvecchio Pascoli, which occupies a surface of nearly 5,000 square metres, will be used to purify the equivalent of 2 million litres of plasma to produce new generation 10% immunoglobulins (NGIG). The new plant perfectly integrates itself into Kedrion’s industrial model, strengthening a harmonized network of plants located in several countries, at the centre of which is Italy. According to the new generation immunoglobulins’ manufacturing flow, Kedrion’s plants in Melville, State of New York, and in Gödöllő, Hungary, will supply the intermediates that will be purified in Castelvecchio Pascoli, whereas the end product will be manufactured in the plant located in Bolognana (Lucca).
The medicinal specialty, which meets the highest international standards, will be made available on the Italian market, both as part of the National Self-Sufficiency Programme as well as on a commercial basis, and on the European and American markets. Distribution of the new product is expected to start between the end of 2016 and early 2017.
“As highlighted by a recent Farmindustria (Italian Pharmaceutical Association) survey – Paolo Marcucci went on to explain – the national pharmaceutical industry, despite the more than satisfactory performances to date, is negatively affected by our country’s structural weaknesses: an inefficient bureaucracy, an excessively high fiscal pressure, and an unstable legal and regulatory framework; all of which, in fact, risk eroding the competitive edge gained over the last few years. We trust the national authorities will take on board concerns, crucial to companies like ours, pertaining to plasma and intermediate products import regulations, to manufacturing authorisation procedures or to plant upgrades. In this case – Paolo Marcucci added – we have, at least so far, written a different story, and one that goes in the opposite direction to most. Regional and local authorities met the Company’s needs promptly, and the spirit of collaboration with which they supported our project enabled us to complete this plant on schedule. This is of the highest symbolic value – concluded Paolo Marcucci – and is representative of the strategy the Company intends to pursue, which can be summed up in the catchphrase: from Italy, to compete worldwide.”