SCHOTT: new record in production of glass vials for COVID-19 vaccine

The high-tech facility in Lebanon, PA, USA, is part of the international specialty glass maker, SCHOTT, whose pharmaceutical containers, including high-quality glass vials, are used in 75 percent of all COVID-19 vaccines projects that have been approved or are currently in pipeline. These include projects funded by the U.S. Operation Warp Speed program.

“The 285 employees at the Lebanon, Pennsylvania, facility are working around the clock as SCHOTT plays a vital role in the global effort to save lives,” said Christopher Cassidy, Vice President at SCHOTT North America, Inc. “SCHOTT makes the most reliable glass pharmaceutical packaging in the world, and we know the world is watching. Each and every SCHOTT employee is giving 100 percent to make sure that safe, reliable drug containers are available to ensure the timely production and distribution of critical drugs.”

The Lebanon plant converts high quality borosilicate glass tubing from SCHOTT global manufacturing sites into drug containers, including vials and other innovative glass containers. SCHOTT’s proven glass formulation that is used in billions of vials each year keeps even highly sensitive drugs stable to ensure safe administration to patients. SCHOTT’s innovative pre-washed / pre-sterilized vials, known as adaptiQ®, further help speed up the drug development process for COVID-19 R&D work and clinical trials.

The SCHOTT Lebanon site operates 24 hours per day, seven days a week, with just two week-long shutdowns each year for preventative maintenance. Every second, 20 people from around the world receive medicine from a container produced at the Pennsylvania facility.

“SCHOTT’s borosilicate glass packaging, including vials intended for COVID-19 vaccines and therapies, are proven to minimize drug and container interactions,” Mark Gilvey, plant manager at SCHOTT in Lebanon, said. “This makes SCHOTT glass the ideal material for vaccine primary packaging. Without these remarkable containers, and the decades of research into their properties, there is no way the world could safely distribute a vaccine within the timelines that this moment in history demands.”