West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (West), a global leader in  innovative solutions for injectable drug administration, today inaugurates its newly advanced manufacturing facility in Jurong, Singapore. This is part of West’s commitment to invest more  than US$350 million globally in 2023, with the majority used to expand capacity and deliver on  demand of drug customers for the West’s products and services, and to meet the growing needs of  customers to support sensitive and complex molecules and the changing regulatory environment.

The Jurong facility investment comes at a critical time as the advancement of biologics is reshaping  the way many diseases are prevented, diagnosed, and treated. This facility investment enables  West to serve its customers’ requirements by providing high-quality containment products for  injectable drugs at one location, from start to finish, in the Asia Pacific region, helping to reduce  overall lead times for customers.  

Capacity and capabilities expansion for future demand 

With West's robust capital expansion program, the 18,000-square-meter Jurong facility is now  equipped with industry-leading coating, pharmaceutical washing, sterilization and automated  vision inspection capabilities for elastomers. This minimizes the risk of potential contamination  and compatibility issues with packaging components. In addition, new molding and compounding  equipment have been installed with improved energy efficiency and automation capabilities.  

West’s Jurong facility now has the capabilities to manufacture a full range of advanced containment products, such as components having Westar™ Select quality level, Envision™ verification process, and FluroTec™ barrier film, to meet the healthcare industry’s growing focus  on biologics, including cell and gene therapeutics, while providing customers with stronger on the-ground technical support. It will also support Singapore in achieving a complete supply chain  manufacturing capability for future vaccine response. 

West continues on its journey to be more sustainable  

In line with West’s overall focus and continued commitment to sustainability, the company installed an eco-friendly cooling tower control system to optimize energy at the facility. This new  system will result in total energy savings of 281,772 Kwh and a reduction of 115 tons of CO2  emissions annually. A feasibility study is also under way to install solar panels on the rooftop of  the facility. 

Eric Green, President, CEO, and Chair of the Board of Directors, West, said, “This year, West  celebrates a major milestone - its 100th anniversary. As we embark on the next century of scientific  innovation, we look forward to strengthening our global networks to meet the needs of the growing critical changes in healthcare and drug delivery. This investment in our Jurong facility will  continue to play a critical role in fulfilling our purpose of providing customers and their patients  access to medicines globally.” 

Goh Wan Yee, SVP and Head of Healthcare, EDB said, “We would like to congratulate West on  the inauguration of its newly advanced manufacturing facility and its 40th anniversary in  Singapore. West’s continued investments in Singapore is testament to the strong base of talent,  innovation, and manufacturing capabilities in the biomedical sciences ecosystem, as well as  Singapore’s hub status for the Asia Pacific market. We look forward to strengthening our long-

term partnership with West, supporting its continued growth to drive better healthcare outcomes,  and creating good job opportunities for Singaporeans.” 

West employs more than 600 people across three locations in Singapore - the JTC Summit Office,  the Jurong plant, and the Gemini laboratory. To date, over 200 new jobs have been created as part  of the investment and approximately 40 additional roles are expected to be added by the end of  2023.