As an outsider, finding out the manufacturing capacity of a given pharmaceutical manufacturing plant can be challenging due to the proprietary nature of such information. However, you can employ several strategies to gather relevant data:
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1. Public Reports and Filings
Example: Pfizer’s 2022 Annual Report states, “Our manufacturing facilities are located in 39 countries across 6 continents. We operate 38 manufacturing facilities across our supply network with a total of approximately 60 million square feet of manufacturing space.” While this doesn’t give exact capacity, it provides a scale of their operations.
2. Industry Publications and Research Studies
Example: A McKinsey report on pharmaceutical manufacturing noted that the median capacity increase for sterile manufacturing sites was around 10-15% per year between 2015 and 2020. This benchmark can help estimate capacity growth for similar plants.
3. Surveys and Academic Research
Example: The Washington University in St. Louis study found that among 18 generic drug manufacturers surveyed, many were operating at less than 50% capacity. One manufacturer reported operating at just 15% capacity.
4. Company Websites and Press Releases
Example: In 2021, Moderna announced plans to increase its global manufacturing capacity to up to 3 billion doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in 2022. This type of announcement gives clear capacity targets.
5. Regulatory Filings and Approvals
Example: The FDA’s inspection database might show that a particular Eli Lilly plant in Indianapolis was approved to manufacture a certain drug with a capacity of X million units per year.
6. Industry Conferences and Trade Shows
Example: At the 2023 ISPE Annual Meeting & Expo, a representative from AstraZeneca might present on their new manufacturing facility in Sweden, revealing it has the capacity to produce 300 million vaccine doses annually.
7. Third-Party Analytics and Market Research Firms
Example: A report from GlobalData might indicate that Novartis’s Singapore-based biologics manufacturing facility has a production capacity of 13,000 liters across two cell culture bioreactors.
8. Direct Contact
Example: Reaching out to Sanofi’s investor relations department, you might receive a response like, “While we can’t disclose specific numbers, our new facility in Framingham, MA, has significantly increased our biologics production capacity in North America.”
These examples demonstrate how different sources can provide varying levels of detail about pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity. By combining information from multiple sources, you can build a more comprehensive picture of a plant’s capabilities.
