Björn Niemczak: Merz has introduced a second production line in Dessau for sterile filling and freeze drying, which will triple the output of the site. This year another new building was opened. This is home to a modern high-bay warehouse and all the support processes needed for the additional production capacity.

The investment of around 40 million euros was completed within the agreed timeframe and was managed and supported by internal team members while normal production continued at full capacity.

Each individual part of the manufacturing process for botulinum toxin has its own special features and challenges. This starts with the production of the active ingredient. The machines used in the various stages of the biotechnological manufacturing process have been developed exclusively for us. The process consists of around 200 steps and lasts for four weeks. The result is pure, complex-free botulinum toxin. The diluted solution of the active ingredient is then put into vials and freeze dried, which takes 28 hours. These stages of the process have to be carried out in sterile conditions. The production requirements make this one of the most challenging areas of pharmaceutical manufacturing. The release test, which consists of a cell-based biological assay, is also complex and involves around 100 individual pipetting steps over the nine-day test period.

In addition, we are working on the next expansion phase. Over the next three years, another 40 million euros will be invested in automation and expansion projects at the site. Our main priorities in this respect are digitalization and sustainability. The future is all about human-machine interaction, which will allow production processes to be made more efficient and less dependent on human intervention. Our goal is to transform Merz Dessau into a net-zero factory. We have drawn up a roadmap for achieving this, which involves reducing our CO2 emissions by 80 percent by 2030.

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