23.06.2023 – 12:28
progress dialogue
Barleben (ots)
“Is the pharmaceutical location Saxony-Anhalt sustainable?” This question was discussed today as part of the “Healthy Industrial Policy – Progress Dialogue” series of events by representatives from companies, trade unions and high-ranking politicians from the state of Saxony-Anhalt at the location of Salutas Pharma GmbH, a Sandoz subsidiary and part of the Novartis Group, in Barleben. The series – opened with a kick-off event in early February in Berlin – takes place in cooperation with the Industrial Union for Mining, Chemicals and Energy (IGBCE) under the patronage of Gabriele Katzmarek, member of the Bundestag, and in collaboration with seven pharmaceutical companies at different locations in Germany. The panel jointly called for the creation of optimal framework conditions for Germany as a pharmaceutical location in order to expand the regional, national and international future and competitiveness of the key industry.
At the opening of the dialogue event, Dr. Reiner Haseloff, Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, in his video message, the central role of the federal state: “Saxony-Anhalt is a traditional location of the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. This is what places like Barleben, Bernburg, Bitterfeld-Wolfen or Dessau-Roßlau stand for. And we want it to stay that way. A reliable supply of medicines must be a matter of course for a country like Germany – as must innovations and a leading role in drug research. Guaranteeing this is a challenge that politicians and pharmaceutical companies face together. ”
“We also want to work together at federal and EU level for framework conditions that go beyond state borders,” added Petra Grimm-Benne, Minister for Labour, Social Affairs, Health and Equal Opportunities for the state of Saxony-Anhalt. “With research and production sites such as that of Salutas Pharma GmbH, the pharmaceutical industry is not only a powerful driver of Saxony-Anhalt’s industry. It is also central to the health care of the entire German population. The corona pandemic has shown: In addition to the quality of medicines, whose security of supply is becoming much more important. A migration of production capacities to non-European countries must be avoided as a matter of urgency.”
According to a study by the WifOR Institute, the industrial healthcare industry secures around 1.1 million jobs in Germany with a gross value added of more than 100 billion euros. In Saxony-Anhalt, the pharmaceutical industry alone employs 5,400 people. However, the locational competition is fierce. The USA, China, but also many neighboring European countries are actively advertising with government incentive programs.
“Against this background, today’s event of the progress dialogue shows again where we have to start in order to remain at the top of the international competition,” emphasized Gabriele Katzmarek, patron of the progress dialogue, MdB and parliamentary manager of the SPD parliamentary group, and appealed to everyone Stakeholders: “It is time that we think of health and industrial policy as a unit. That also means setting the appropriate framework for a powerful and resilient industrial health economy. This leading industry must be promoted nationally, but also at European level and so strongly for the future can be made – for example with the IPCEI Health.”
Salutas-Pharma GmbH belongs to the generics manufacturer Sandoz and is one of the most modern and efficient pharmaceutical production sites in Europe. With 1,300 employees at the Barleben and Osterweddingen locations, the company is one of the most important employers in Saxony-Anhalt. Around 100 active pharmaceutical ingredients are processed into almost 8,000 different therapeutics with an annual production of 10 billion capsules and tablets.
This is why the company is of such great importance for the prosperity of the region, according to Grit Müller, Managing Director of Salutas Pharma GmbH: “The location benefits from a strong network and, via this network, pays in along the entire value chain – including extended ones: University places for research activities are created , knowledge clusters are establishing themselves, training and jobs in production and distribution are being created,” explained Müller. “Research and production locations are of enormous importance, especially for East Germany, as they are a powerful engine of industry with their excellently trained specialists.”
Müller received support from Marco Hardt, member of the management board at Novartis Pharma GmbH. For him, it is of central importance to perceive the pharmaceutical key industry as a complex value-added system – from research through production to supply. “Therefore, health expenditure should no longer be viewed as a cost, but as a sustainable investment in the health of our society – and thus in the performance of our economy. Politicians must provide the framework conditions for this. Health and economic policy must form a unit here and not separately be viewed from one another,” Hardt demanded.
According to Thomas Weigold, Chairman of the Management Board, Sandoz/Hexal, secure framework conditions are also essential for being able to secure the existing production facilities at the European locations. “As Germany’s largest generics manufacturer, we have a supply mandate and an obligation to patients – and we take both very seriously. Due to the current geopolitical and legal framework, it is increasingly a challenge for us to fulfill this mandate,” Weigold clarified. “We urgently need political support so that we can continue to produce inexpensive medicines of the highest quality in Germany and maintain and expand jobs in the region.”
This must be ensured in any case, underlined Roland Roland Gratzer, Secretary of the Department of Collective Bargaining Law/Formation IGBCE Hanover. “Against the background of the ongoing structural change in the region, we urgently need promising jobs in industry, including the healthcare industry. Our investment projects must create incentives for this. Because jobs mean prosperity and make Central Germany fit for the future.”
The event is part of the “Progress Dialogue – Healthy Industrial Policy” series of events, which takes place at various locations in Germany and in which representatives from politics and business discuss specific industry topics.
The initiative is organized by the pharmaceutical and biotech companies Amgen, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Roche and the industrial union IGBCE under the patronage of Gabriele Katzmarek, MdB and parliamentary director of the SPD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag.
About the IGBCE
With more than 580,000 members, the IGBCE is the second largest industrial trade union in Germany. It shapes the working conditions for a good 1.1 million employees in more than a dozen sectors, including chemicals/pharmaceuticals/biotech, energy/raw materials/mining, plastics/rubber, paper, ceramics and glass. Michael Vassiliadis has been the chairman of the multi-industry union since 2009. The IGBCE emerged in 1997 from a merger of the IG Chemicals, Paper and Ceramics, the IG Mining and Energy and the Leather Union. With more than 27,000 members, the Halle-Magdeburg district, based in the Handel city of Halle, has one of the largest memberships in the IGBCE’s Northeast district.
About Sandoz in Germany
Sandoz, a division of Novartis, is a global leader in generics and biosimilars. Our goal is to improve patient access to healthcare by developing and commercializing novel, cost-effective approaches that address unmet medical needs. It is our ambition to be the world‘s leading and most respected generics company. With our broad portfolio of high-quality medicines, covering all major therapeutic areas, we achieved sales of USD 9.2 billion in 2022. Sandoz Germany is headquartered in Holzkirchen, in the Munich area.
As part of the Sandoz Group in Germany, the HEXAL® brand stands for the supply of patients with modern medicines and complex, innovative pharmaceuticals in Germany. With HEXAL®, we are making an important contribution to ensuring that patients will continue to receive the medicines they need in the future. The range extends from well-known OTC brands such as ACC® acute, Lorano® acute and Gingium® to highly complex, biotechnologically manufactured drugs.
You can find this and other media information at www.sandoz.de
About Novartis
Novartis reimagines medicine to improve and extend people’s lives.
Our technological leadership and new access models allow us to develop high-quality medicines that alleviate society’s greatest burden of disease. In our quest to find new medicines, we regularly rank among the world‘s leading companies investing in research and development. Around 106,000 people from more than 140 countries work together to bring Novartis products to 800 million people around the world. In Germany, Novartis employs around 7,000 people at ten locations. More information at and as well as in our virtual press center
More information about the start and all other events can be found at https://fortstufendialog.de/
Press contact:
Svenja Hinrichs, 030889136112, [email protected]
Original content from: progress dialog, transmitted by news aktuell