LAST CHANCE TO SAVE! New Trends for Life Sciences at PACK EXPO Southeast
Discover all the latest packaging solutions for life sciences products at the all-new PACK EXPO Southeast in Atlanta, GA, March 10-12, 2025
REGISTER ASAP FOR $30!

Novartis benefits from flexible pharmaceutical filling line

Filling and packaging line in Cairo, Egypt accommodates different products and packaging formats.

BOTTLE CLEANING. To clean plastic bottles, each blowing nozzle from Bosch ionizes the blowing air, which neutralizes the electrostatic loads on the inner surface of the bottles and facilitates easy foreign particle removal.
BOTTLE CLEANING. To clean plastic bottles, each blowing nozzle from Bosch ionizes the blowing air, which neutralizes the electrostatic loads on the inner surface of the bottles and facilitates easy foreign particle removal.

The medicine of the ancient Egypt is one of the oldest documented and was highly advanced for its time, including simple non-invasive surgery, setting of bones and an extensive set of pharmacopoeia. Medical knowledge in ancient Egypt had an excellent reputation, and rulers of other empires would ask the Egyptian pharaoh to send them their best physician to treat their loved ones. Since that time, medicine has evolved dramatically—even incorporating Eastern medicine traditions, but Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis has been producing and filling a range of pharmaceuticals from Egypt for more than 50 years. The company’s product portfolio includes solids, liquids, semi-solids, and sterile products.

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis is one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers worldwide with 129,000 employees in more than 140 countries. The company’s top-selling brands include Glivec to treat certain types of leukemia, Diovan to treat high blood pressure and heart failure, and Lucentis to treat eye maladies such as wet age-related macular degeneration, macular edema caused by a blocked blood vessel in the eye, and diabetic macular edema.

Cairo facility

The Novartis plant in Cairo, Egypt covers an area of 80,000 sq m and produces enough medication to meet 7% of the country´s market needs. Originally, the plant was established in 1962 by Ciba-Geigy & Sandoz and Wander under the name “SWISSPHARMA” to produce a volume of 1.6 million units/yr. Under Novartis, the plant now serves as a base for the manufacturing and supply chain management of prescription pharmaceuticals, as well as over-the-counter (OTC) products.

Following the merger, output rose to 122 million units/yr of more than 100 different products. The Cairo facility meets the highest Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) standards, complying with ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001, as well as receiving Novartis’ own internal HSE award 12 years in a row. In 2006, the plant saw a US$16 million overhaul vastly enhancing its infrastructure, technology, efficiency, and capacity.

Three in one

However, the facility met its match trying to fill and package 15 mL plastic bottles of Otrivin Saline Baby nose drops, 10-mL plastic bottles of Otrivin nasal spray and 100-mL glass bottles of Catafly Suspension cough syrup. Each product has a different packaging format, threatening the strides made in efficiency and output.

To meet the demand for these products, Novartis needed to invest in equipment flexible enough to accommodate the different products and packaging formats.

As a result, Novartis enlisted Bosch Packaging Technology, a provider of packaging solutions for the pharmaceutical industry. The objective was clear: create a single equipment solution that could fill and package all three products. Varying consistencies presented one hurdle. While the nose spray and drops are oily, the cough syrup is stickier.

LAST CHANCE TO SAVE! New Tech for Life Sciences at PACK EXPO Southeast
The exciting new PACK EXPO Southeast 2025 unites all vertical markets in one dynamic hub, generating more innovative answers to packaging challenges for life sciences products. Don’t miss this extraordinary opportunity for your business!
REGISTER ASAP FOR $30!
LAST CHANCE TO SAVE! New Tech for Life Sciences at PACK EXPO Southeast