Ego Pharmaceuticals, Australia’s largest locally-owned pharmaceutical company specialising in dermatology, officially turned the sod on the site for its new global HQ in Dandenong South, Victoria on 14 October. The plant is due for completion in 2017 and involves a $135 million investment that will ultimately create 200 jobs.
Demand from export markets is helping to drive the company’s growth with 34 per cent of product going overseas to 25 nations with Ego’s biggest growth coming from Asia and the Middle East
Ego’s MD Alan Oppenheim said the development will enable the company to grow exponentially and continue to drive its manufacturing and export business.
“It secures the future of Ego in Victoria to continue to grow and innovate as industry leaders to meet the needs of our consumers,” Oppenheim said
Present at the soil turning ceremony, Victorian Minister for Industry, the Hon Lily D’Ambrosio MP, explained that the development helps to cement Victoria’s position as a leading centre for pharmaceutical manufacturing and ensures the company’s products continue to be manufactured in Melbourne for the Australian and global market.
The $35 million first stage of the development takes up just a quarter of Ego’s 9.5 hectares of land at the Logis Estate in Dandenong South, which will consist of a three-storey office and distribution centre.
The second stage will consist of manufacturing facilities and is estimated it will cost over $100 million – this is part of a 30+ year expansion plan for the company.
“We are proud to be driving this growth from Victoria to the world. Australian manufacturing and exporting has significant benefits to the wider economy and we’re committed to continuing to innovate, invest in Australians and lead the industry with our world class practices from state of the art facilities,” Oppenheim said
All Ego products are currently manufactured in Braeside, Victoria. In what has been an exciting month for the company, Ego was also announced winner of the 2015 Governor of Victoria Export Award – Health and Biotechnology.
DOUBLING BOTTLE FILLING CAPACITY
In August this year, Ego announced that its Flammable Goods Manufacturing expansion project is officially at the half way mark with the completion date on target for early 2016.
The new facility with state of the art machinery, coming from Australia and across the world, will double Ego’s bottle filling capacity.
The Victorian Government awarded Ego a $250,000 new technology grant towards the $15 million project in 2014 to help expand its Braeside facility, create 63 new jobs and enable a boost to exports by a substantial $40 million.
The expansion will consolidate all flammable manufacturing and filling in a purpose-built, four-hour fire resistant enclosure. It integrates manufacturing, filling and cleaning and will feature a state of the art mixer from Germany.
The flexibility of the new lines to process a wider range of product and packaging will also broaden Ego’s ability to launch new brands and variants, accommodating a broad range of packaging requirements.
“Overall there will be significant technology with 20 new machines from Europe and the USA in our manufacturing and filling process which will enable us to continue to meet our rapidly increasing export demand,” said Oppenheim.
The technology behind the bottle unscrambler, utilising compressed air systems, is an Australian first. The technology in the auto deboxer, vertical cartoner, and de-pucker are all innovative and are new to Ego.
There will be six locally made two-tonne bulk storage tanks for product that are uniquely interconnected. The bulk storage system is designed so that three tanks can be engaged in three different processes at once (one receiving product from the mixer, one dispensing product being filled, and one being cleaned), even though they are all interconnected. The new system will reduce wastage of product and cleaning time. This system has not been used in Australian pharmaceutical manufacturing to date.
“Ego has more flexibility to expand the flammable goods manufactured. This project is a significant step in Ego’s technology and will steer future developments in our 10-year expansion plan,” Oppenheim said.
