Schott Pharma has broken ground on €100 million production facility for ready-to-use (RTU) glass cartridges at its site in Lukácsháza, Hungary.

The €100 million investment will expand the capacity for sterile RTU glass cartridges at the Lukácsháza site.

RTU cartridges are used to store biologics, GLP-1 drugs, insulin, or hormone therapies to treat diabetes, obesity, or other immunological diseases.

The move aligns with the company’s expansion strategy to increase its share of these high-margin products.

It will also bring over 100 additional jobs to the region.

Andreas Reisse, CEO of Schott Pharma, said: “To meet growing demand, we are expanding our capabilities and presence in the diabetes and obesity fields.

“That is why we are investing more than €100 million in our plant in Hungary.”

Schott Pharma Management buried a time capsule at the groundbreaking event for a new cartridge facility in Hungary. [Photo: Schott Pharma/Péter Benkő]

The investment follows the opening of a facility for high-quality prefillable glass syringes at the site in 2024.

Since then, with 120 new employees on board, production has started, and further production capacity has been added.

The new facility will be equipped with an advanced washing line and a new steam sterilisation process for cartridges, which will reduce environmental impact.

Manufacturing will be fully integrated and automated with minimal manual intervention, providing high quality sterile products to the market.

Following St. Gallen, Switzerland, Lukácsháza will be the second Schott Pharma site to manufacture sterile cartridges.

The expansion includes the introduction of a new 1.5 ml sterile cartridge.

The cartridge features a diamond-shaped nest design that enhances pharmaceutical filling efficiency by up to 67% and reduces CO₂ emissions by nearly 25% in the supply chain.

This initiative supports the trend toward home-based treatments and aims to improve patient convenience while ensuring high-quality standards in drug administration.