ISPE Announces 2015 Facility of the Year Award Winners
- FOYA Program in 11th year
- 61 winners from 15 countries
(BETHESDA, MD USA, March 24, 2015) – The 11th annual ISPE Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) program today announced its 2015 FOYA Category Award winners: AstraZeneca China (Project Execution), Astellas Pharma, Inc. (Equipment Innovation) and IDT Biologika GMbH (Facility Integration). In addition, FOYA’s international judging panel has awarded an Honorable Mention to Pharmalucence Pharmaceuticals. ISPE President and CEO John E. Bournas made the announcement earlier today.
This premier global awards program recognizes innovation and creativity in manufacturing facilities serving the regulated healthcare industry. Projects selected for these prestigious awards set the standard for pharmaceutical facilities of the future by demonstrating excellence in Project Execution, Facility Integration, Equipment Innovation, Sustainability, Process Innovation and Operational Excellence.
“Each of our 2015 Category Award winners has captured the spark of innovation and transformed it into processes, projects and products that ensure quality medicines reach the people who need it, when they need it, anywhere in the world, ” said Bournas.
“The facilities honored as the 2015 ISPE FOYA Category Winners exemplify the ideals of the FOYA program and ISPE’s dedication to enhancing patient health through advancements in pharmaceutical manufacturing.”
2015 FOYA Category Award Winners
AstraZeneca China has won the 2015 FOYA Project Execution category for its market supply solid dose facility located in Taizhou, China. AstraZeneca’s in-country team used a broad range of the company’s global engineering, operations and safety practices to complete this 533,000 sq. ft. facility in a record time of 20 months. The facility came in 18% under the sanctioned budget while maintaining an exemplary safety record of 3.26M hours worked without a recordable safety incident.
Astellas Pharma, Inc. is the winner of the 2015 FOYA in the Equipment Innovationcategory for its tube packaging and labeling equipment project. Astellas Ireland Co Ltd. (Kerry) delivered a technology innovation allowing it to fill product into tubes that are printed with only common information for various markets, and introduced a process to add country- specific label information on the tubes. This innovation dramatically improved plant flexibility, simplified the supply chain, and significantly reduced acceptance testing, product raw materials stock levels and overall delivery lead-time.
IDT Biologika GMbH has won the 2015 FOYA Facility Integration category for its biologics and vaccines production facility in Dessau, Germany. The highly automated manufacturing facility for filling and freeze‐drying is designed to be modular, efficient and expandable. The site’s layout was devised to guarantee the shortest supply and disposal routes. Design of the integrated equipment suite represents significant contributions, resulting in efficient product change over and increased efficiency.
In addition to the above-mentioned categories, Pharmalucence Pharmaceuticals has received a 2015 FOYA Honorable Mention for the execution and entrepreneurial spirit demonstrated by the construction of its new aseptic filling facility in Billerica, Massachusetts. Through good planning and prioritization, Pharmalucence met the challenge of balancing investment, appropriate compliance, efficient operations and business viability.
“FOYA holds its judges as well as its participants to high standards,” said James A. Breen, Chair of the 2015 FOYA Judging Panel, when commenting the decision to grant three of six possible awards. He added the judges agreed that merit had to be the defining criteria in choosing a FOYA Category Winner. “Several of the submissions did meet some of the criteria in each of these categories, and we congratulate all participating companies for their achievements.”
Industry Recognition for Category Winners
The 2015 ISPE Facility of the Year Awards Category Winners will be formally recognized at the 2015 ISPE Facility of the Year Awards Banquet on June 2, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. The banquet, held in conjunction with ISPE/PQRI Quality Manufacturing Conference, will feature presentations from the FOYA judging panel and other noted industry leaders.
The 2015 FOYA Overall Winner will be announced during the plenary session at the 2015 ISPE Annual Meeting on November 8–11 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 2015 FOYA Category Winners will also have the opportunity to make presentations during educational sessions at the ISPE Annual Meeting.
About the ISPE Facility of the Year Awards Program
Established in 2004, the Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) Program is the leading global champion of pharmaceutical manufacturing excellence. This annual program recognizes state-of-the-art pharmaceutical manufacturing projects that utilize new and innovative technologies to enhance the delivery of a superior project, as well as reduce the cost of producing high-quality medicines. A global judging panel of executive leaders assesses and designates winners in each of six categories, when merited.
The awards program effectively demonstrates the accomplishments, shared commitment and dedication of individuals in companies worldwide to innovate and advance pharmaceutical manufacturing technology for the benefit of patients around the globe.
More information about the Facility of the Year awards, the 2015 FOYA banquet, and the 2015 Category Award-winning projects can be found at the Facility of the Year Awards website.
About ISPE
ISPE, the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering, is the world’s largest not-for-profit association serving members through leading scientific, technical and regulatory advancement throughout the pharmaceutical manufacturing lifecycle. ISPE’s 20,000 members design solutions for the development and manufacture of safe and effective, pharmaceutical and biologic medicines, and medical delivery devices, in more than 90 countries around the world. Founded in 1980, ISPE has offices in Washington, D.C.; Tampa, Florida, US; Frankfurt, Germany; and Shanghai, China.
For more information contact:
Maria Robertson
Senior Director, Marketing Communications
Email: mrobertson@ispe.org
www.ISPE.org