ORION CORPORATION    PRESS RELEASE    10 NOVEMBER 2020 at  8.30 a.m. EET             

Orion invests EUR 17 million in its production plants in Turku

Orion upgrades the operations of its pharmaceutical plant in Turku by investing in a new cancer drug packaging line and by expanding its cream production department. The company is also building a new pure water system and district heating centre for the plant. The investments are due to the growing demand of the products, and their total value is EUR 17 million.

The Orion plant in Turku produces cytostatic cancer drugs, which are sold globally. Through the investments, the cancer drug department at the plant will be upgraded by adding a blister packaging line to the production chain, alongside the existing bottle lines.

The production volumes in the cream and ointment department have also increased steadily over the years. Now Orion invests in expanding and modernising the facilities. The department manufactures basic creams and medical creams. In addition, especially the veterinary ointments and liquid medicines are made for international markets. The production volumes of the veterinary creams and liquid medicines are expected to increase due to new product launches in the near future.

“The main reason for the investments is to enable growth as the demand for our products is increasing. We need more space and capacity, and technologies will also be replaced with newer ones. The new blister packaging meets both the wishes of the patients and the future requirements of pharmaceutical authorities around the world,” says Liisa Hurme, Senior Vice President, Global Operations at Orion.

The new district heating centre is part of Orion’s energy programme. The programme aims for significant cost savings in energy consumption, as well as a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by the year 2025.

All the investment projects are already in progress and the construction work begins in November. The contractors implementing the work will have more than 50 people working full time for the projects. Orion has around 700 employees in Turku, of whom more than 400 work in production.

Orion manufactures all of its patented proprietary drugs and also most of their pharmaceutical ingredients in Finland. The company has made substantial investments during the last few years.

“Over the past five years, Orion has invested around EUR 160 million in its production plants in Finland,” Liisa Hurme says. Orion was among the ten biggest payers of corporation tax on operating profit in Finland by paying approximately EUR 50 million corporation tax in 2019.

Publisher:

Orion Corporation

Communications

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Orion is a globally operating Finnish pharmaceutical company - a builder of well-being. Orion develops, manufactures and markets human and veterinary pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. The company is continuously developing new drugs and treatment methods. The core therapy areas of Orion's pharmaceutical R&D are neurological disorders, oncology, Finnish heritage rare diseases and respiratory diseases for which Orion develops inhaled Easyhaler® pulmonary drugs. Orion's net sales in 2019 amounted to EUR 1,051 million and the company had about 3,300 employees at the end of the year. Orion's A and B shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.