SII acquires 50 pc stake in pharma packaging firm Schott Kaisha

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], August 17 : Serum Institute of India (SII) acquired a 50 pc stake of SCHOTT Kaisha to become SCHOTT's joint venture partner and secure pharma packaging supply, Serum Institute of India announced on Tuesday.
"Securing supply chain is of strategic importance...As a longtime customer, we use their vials, ampoules and syringes to store vaccines, including Covishied" says CEO Adar Poonawalla in its statement.
SII has bought the 50% stake in the Indian joint venture SCHOTT Kaisha from former co-owners Kairus Dadachanji and Shapoor Mistry.
Dr. Frank Heinricht, CEO of SCHOTT said, "As India has steadily established its position as a global pharmaceutical hub, we are delighted to strengthen our footprint within the Indian pharma supply chain. We are looking forward to strong impulses from this partnership..."
Eric L'Heureux, the new Managing Director and former longstanding Head of Operations with the venture said, "We have significantly increased our production capacity in India. Over the last three years, we have invested roughly INR 600 crores to set up two new plants in Umarsadi, Gujarat and Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, and to secure uninterrupted supply in our existing facilities during the pandemic."
SCHOTT is a company that is providing glass vials globally to key vaccine manufacturers. The fact that SCHOTT has an integrated value chain, covering also the glass tubing the packaging is made of, further helped to secure the supply chain.