The Swiss family-owned company OM PHARMA invests more than 70 million CHF in biotechnology in Geneva

OM PHARMA opened officially on September 27th, 2005 its new Biotech Production Centre in Meyrin (Geneva). More than 5 years were necessary to implement this state-of-the-art plant, comprising premises and facilities that are among the most up-to-date in Europe. Its so-called “clean rooms” allow the development and production of Broncho-Vaxom® and Uro-Vaxom®, which are marketed in more than 60 countries.

Mr Carlo Lamprecht, Member of the Geneva Government, together with other local authorities and representatives of economic circles from all over the world valued the quality of these new premises and biotech facilities of OM PHARMA. This high-tech industrial plant with three 1'200 litre bioreactors has the capacity to produce, extract and purify active principles characterised by their properties of activating the body’s immune system against bacterial and viral infections. More than 4 million patients worldwide are treated each year with these medications issued from an original pharmaceutical approach.

A world leader
Today start-up companies and big pharma enterprises are given great attention, while the family-owned OM PHARMA is lesser known. And yet this company headed by Christophe Ricard, the grandson of the founder, ranks since 25 years as number one in chronic and recurrent infections, its field of predilection. Since 1980, Broncho-Vaxom® (35% world market share) successfully treats bronchitis, sinusitis, pharyngitis, rhinitis et sore throat. Since 1988, Uro-Vaxom® is effective against cystitis and other urinary tract infections. The active principles of these medications are extracted from bacteria frequently responsible for respiratory (Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, etc.) or urinary (Escherichia coli) infections. Their efficacy, safety and ability to reduce antibiotic consumption have been demonstrated in a large number of clinical trials.

A dynamic company since 68 years
Founded in 1937 in Geneva, OM PHARMA has presently a workforce of 570 employees worldwide and its international sales reach 180 million CHF. Its main subsidiary, founded in 1954 in Lisbon, opened in 2003 a new plant for the manufacturing of drugs active for instance in different vascular indications (Doxium® and Dicynone®). The Geneva plant is regularly inspected by the Swiss Health Authorities and since 2003, it is also certified ISO 9001 (quality) and ISO 14001 (environment). The company has its own sales teams in 26 countries and its products are sold on the major markets through licence agreements with important pharmaceutical companies. Europe is its biggest sales area followed by Latin America, Middle-East and Asia/Africa. The future looks promising for this family-owned company which has for 3 generations played a pioneering role in immunology.

Press release : September 27th, 2005
Insert N°1 « OM PHARMA in figures »

246 : it is the number of employees on the Meyrin site (Geneva). About 45% of them are Swiss nationals, 38% French and the others come from all over the world.
41 years : mean age.
37'623 m2 : this is the size of the Meyrin site, equivalent to 7 soccer fields laid next to each other. It comprises 9 buildings housing the production units, laboratories and offices as well as … green spaces!
350'000 litres : it is the bioreactors’ total annual capacity needed for the culture of the different germs from which the active principles are extracted. At the end of the process, this corresponds to 300 million capsules of Broncho-Vaxom® and Uro-Vaxom®, OM PHARMA’s lead medications in the prevention and treatment of respiratory and urinary tract infections.
21 : it is the number of bacterial strains which are cultured for the extraction of Broncho-Vaxom®’s active principles by tangential filtration. This purification process is based on ultrafiltration and microfiltration techniques for separating the different compounds according to their molecular size.
Twenty times: the air in all the production rooms is renewed 20 times per hour. A clean environment is essential in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry in order to guarantee the high quality of the finished products.
18% : the fraction of the company’s budget spent on Research and Development in the fields of immuno-oncology and vaccine adjuvants.
Zero hazardous waste: all bacterial effluents are decontaminated by heat inactivation and the pH of all wastes is neutralised before their discharge. More than 16 types of waste are sorted out (paper, glass, aluminium, iron, wood, compost,…) with a recycling rate of about 70% (Swiss average =47%).