Egis Pharmaceuticals opens new factory in Budapest

In recent decades, the decline in active ingredient production has emerged as a general pharmaceutical industry trend in Europe. However, Egis is committed to active ingredient production, and in this spirit, it has renewed its activities in this direction in several stages over the past 12 years. The special feature of the current 30 billion forint brownfield investment in Kőbánya is that its “twin plant” in Normandy was recently handed over. The two technologically identical facilities produce the active ingredient of the drug recommended for venous diseases by the French-based pharmaceutical company Servier Group, thus the two plants together provide the necessary production capacity.

Thanks to the plants, the production volume of the active ingredient in question will double. Thanks to the most modern technologies and more efficient production processes, the plants can meet the demand of increasing patient needs more efficiently with less environmental impact.

“We are convinced that the production of active ingredients contributes greatly not only to competitiveness, but also to the security of supply”

– said Csaba Poroszlai, CEO of Egis Pharmaceuticals Ltd. “Egis is a European vertically integrated company – meaning we research, develop and manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients and products here in Europe, which we then sell worldwide. Moreover, we have not only maintained, but over the past decade we have also put our active pharmaceutical ingredient production on a new foundation and modernised it, even at a time when global trends dictated the opposite and many other manufacturers have ceased or relocated this activity outside of Europe.” He stressed that with the newly handed over plant, Egis has active pharmaceutical ingredient production capacities at its disposal that ensure the foundations for long-term development, as they further strengthen the company’s competitiveness and with their help the pharmaceutical company can actively contribute to strengthening European security of supply.

“This investment is forward-looking not only for the company, but also for the entire European pharmaceutical industry,” stated Olivér Várhelyi, European Commission Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare. The politician highlighted that, due to the competitiveness of the entire European pharmaceutical industry, it is crucial that active ingredient production capacities on our continent are built and developed again. “This is the only way we can make supply chains safer and ensure patients have access to high-quality medicines at the right time in all EU member states,” he said. During the four-year project, a modern, multi-technology production plant was built, which uses the most advanced technical and quality assurance solutions. Egis is continuously strengthening its production capacities and market presence beyond the recently completed Budapest investment. The company announced this summer that it would further modernize its Körmend site with a development worth more than 14 billion forints, where almost 29 billion forints of job-creating investments have been implemented with state support since 2018.