Vetter, a globally leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), has moved into its new headquarters in Ravensburg, Germany. The opening of the new building, known as Ravensburg Vetter Kammerbruehl, represents a clear signal from the family-owned company: stability and progress will continue – even during globally difficult times. While the situation regarding the coronavirus continues to shift, Vetter is doing what is necessary to continue being a stable and reliable partner for its customers and suppliers. As a CDMO, the company works together with its clients to continue enabling the supply of oftentimes life-saving drugs to patients worldwide.
With the realization of the new corporate headquarters, Vetter is responding to the continuous growth of headcount and changing circumstances. “We are relying on sustainable and future-oriented activities with the focus on our customers and their patients,” says Managing Director Peter Soelkner. The new building is designed for around 1,000 employees. In addition to an appropriate level of office space, it includes the new ATRIUM company restaurant, a cafeteria and about 40 conference rooms. Vetter attaches great importance to modernity and, as such, has invested roughly 50 million euros in a building that integrates the latest construction and environmental standards. The former headquarters, Ravensburg Vetter Verwaltung, was modified to be used as a training center to house the Vetter Academy. Through this education center the company offers employees qualification programs and individual development opportunities on a continuous basis. In addition, a separate floor in the building is now used as an audit and conference location.
The CDMO has set also high goals for its other sites. Most recently, a new combination building for manual visual inspection and secondary packaging started operations at the Ravensburg Vetter Sued / Vetter Secondary Packaging site. Furthermore, a new cleanroom for the manufacturing of prefilled syringes is planned for going operational at the Schuetzenstrasse site in 2021. At this location, Vetter has also secured an adjoining plot of land for a further production building. Meanwhile, the recently purchased clinical manufacturing site in Rankweil, Austria, is designed to be ready for the first drug products in development in the second half of 2021. “Part of our 360-degree approach includes investments in the expansion of our development capacities,” says Peter Soelkner. “We have observed a steady increase in demand from our customers as well as ever-more complex requirements for modern compounds.” The company has responded to these needs at both its Schuetzenstrasse site as well as at the company’s dedicated US clinical manufacturing site. “Our goal is to expand our production capacities sustainably and to align the upstream and downstream areas accordingly,” explains Managing Director Thomas Otto.
In the coming years, the company also intends to further expand on its quality control resources. Following the recent implementation of another machine for automated visual inspection, the CDMO is planning to purchase three additional units for its Center for Visual Inspection and Logistics. “We want to provide sufficient resources for the important step of final quality control and, at the same time, create greater flexibility,” explains Thomas Otto. “These actions will even better enable us to offer our customers either manual or automatic visual inspection depending on individual batch sizes and special characteristics of their products.”
The company is planning further future investments as part of its long-term customer partnerships, thus continuing its sustainable corporate development.
