Fails, the mass vaccination against Coronavirus to the packaging? There are experts who fear the. “The demand will far exceed supply,” said recently on the medical industry, specialized Analyst Vijay Kumar said in an Interview. A former senior employee of the American Ministry of health warned that at least in the United States, only two percent of the actually required vials and syringes were stored. Also, German politicians spoke of that the packaging of the “bottle-neck” might be the ausbremse the distribution of the Corona vaccine.
Falk Heunemann
business editor of the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.
F. A. Z.
Such fears, the major manufacturers of the vaccine surprise, however, and vials, including the Mainz group Schott. “We have significantly invested in additional capacity and are, therefore, optimistic that the supply objectives can be achieved”, said Schott management Board member chief Frank Heinricht in a statement, joined by the competitors Gerresheimer in Düsseldorf and Stevanato from Italy. According to your information, each of the three comes to around 30 per cent market share in the production of the vaccine vial. That competitors agree together, is rather unusual. The three producers felt the need to reaffirm “in spite of many uncertainties, confidence in the global pharmaceutical supply chain”, as it is said in the opinion.
glass in the industry, and kitchen
The vaccine bottles are made from special borosilicate glass, the resistant is not contaminated against a variety of chemicals and temperature changes and, for example, drugs. It was developed in 1887 by the chemist Otto Schott in Jena, the founder of today’s Schott AG. This glass is used not only in medicine but also in industry and kitchen utensils.
Up to one billion vaccine vials would ask pharmaceutical companies alone, for Schott, is reported Heinricht. The blade a lot, admits it in the case of Schott, refers to the total market Per year worldwide, 50 billion glass containers were manufactured, wherein also other containers can be counted, such as syringes and pipettes.
Sufficient for the whole of humanity
Already, the company believes that the demand is less than the current inquiries suggest. So each bottle could contain multiple doses of vaccine, a billion would be more than sufficient for the whole of humanity. In addition, 100 companies have submitted a request for 800 million to a billion pieces. Only a few of them are likely to later on are really in need of a vaccine vial. The group believes that only those companies which develop a vaccine, actually order. Among other things, the Mainz-based Biotech manufacturer, Biontech, and the pharmaceutical company Sanofi is working on a vaccine. Sanofi had recently announced plans to invest 610 million euros in the vaccine production.
the Schott group employs in Mainz 2400 of its worldwide 16,200 people, has increased its investment in the packaging area, to 150 million Euro in the previous year, the company plans to 2020 expenditure of 220 million euros. The glass produced vials in 16 plants worldwide, including in Müllheim near Freiburg, in Switzerland, and the United States. As a result, each company could receive in the world fast the bottles. What says Schott: The distribution of the works is likely to prevent a single country by the export ban, which ensures the entire production.
