GSK takes hard medicine to tablet packaging line

The Australian subsidiary of Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has announced it will close the tablet packaging line at its plant in Boronia, Victoria, as part of a shift in emphasis towards the more technology-intensive side of its local operations.

The company said the shut down will result in 120 job redundancies.

The company's site director for the Boronia plant, Troy Webb, said the job cuts will not come into effect immediately as the process will take some time to "account for regulatory requirements of affected markets".

“We will support our impacted employees throughout the process. While this will be difficult, we must focus on our strengths. We have a strong capability in higher technology manufacturing and will build this side of the business,” he said.

The Boronia manufacturing facility is known for its Rotacaps technology, a distribution device for respiratory medicines that the company is investing in to support patients in emerging markets.

It also produces “Blow Fill Seal” packages, a high quality container for sterile liquid medicines.

“Despite continuing challenges in the operating environment in Australia, our vision is to be the GSK centre of excellence worldwide for supplying low cost unit dose, blow fill seal and dry powder inhalation medicines,” Webb said.

The GSK site in Boronia currently employs 363 people.