Optima Investing in State-of-the-Art Facility

On May 5, 2022, as part of its 100th anniversary celebration, the Optima Group inaugurated the CSPE Center II.

The Optima Pharma Div. is expanding its production area for assembling, commissioning, and qualifying pharmaceutical filling lines by more than 4,000 square meters. Additional new office space has also been created.

The first lines were installed just seven months after construction began. Optima Pharma is responding to customer requests and is further expanding the successful CSPE process for fast and safe production start-up of the integrated filling lines with isolators and freeze dryers. Optima is investing a double-digit million sum in the new building. 

"Celebrating the company's 100th anniversary provides the perfect backdrop for the inauguration of CSPE Center II," said Hans Buehler, managing director/CEO of the Optima Group.

The inauguration of the new building was held during the event which was attended by numerous guests from the world of business and politics. Baden-Wuerttemberg's Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann made a special trip to the inauguration and extended his congratulations on Optima's 100th anniversary. "This investment reaffirms our commitment to the Schwaebisch Hall site and is creating the conditions for continued growth with complete confidence," said Buehler.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and a shortage of materials in the construction industry, the new building was completed in only 12 months. "We would like to express our thanks and appreciation to our architect Rolf Blank, along with all the companies and authorities involved, for this masterful performance," said Buehler. Installation, commissioning, and qualification of equipment was possible after only seven months, starting in December 2021.

"CSPE 2.0 enables an even higher level of integration. Work that typically took place on the customer's site will be carried out to an even greater extent in one of our CSPE centers," said Gerhard Breu, chairman of the Optima Pharma Div.

The Comprehensive Scientific Process Engineering (CSPE) speeds up processes, from designing the system to launching production. An essential aspect is the comprehensive process simulations, along with integrated factory acceptance tests for complete systems. In addition to filling and closing systems, and isolators, freeze-drying systems can now also be set up and tested under realistic conditions, as a fully functioning overall unit. As a comprehensive system provider, Optima Pharma now handles further qualification measures in-house, including significant parts of cycle development. This significantly reduces the time that elapses between installation and the start of production at the customer's site, as well as a reduction in time from product development to market launch.

Bigger, More Efficient, and More Convenient

The new buildling offers short distances, the pooling of strengths, and efficient operating processes for Optima. The experience gained from operating CSPE Center I was incorporated into the design and led to further streamlining. The new building is 25% bigger and offers even more space for large turnkey lines. Optima Pharma's production area will expand by more than 4,000 square meters. Including the adjoining three-story office building, the new structure covers 7,000 square meters.