ALPLA Group and Inden Pharma announce Joint Venture

ALPLA is expanding its global footprint in the pharmaceutical packaging market by forming a joint venture with Inden Pharma. ALPLA, an international leader in plastic packaging and recycling, is partnering with the renowned Spanish pharmaceutical packaging company Inden Pharma to establish a long-term collaboration for the certified production of bottles, containers, and closures in clean rooms, starting in March. The joint venture will combine ALPLApharma's two production sites in Greece (Koropi) and Poland (Żyrardów) with Inden Pharma's two plants in Ibi, Spain, as well as a new fifth facility being jointly built in Markdorf, Germany, scheduled to begin production in June.

“We are combining global reach with high standards and technological leadership. Together, we are bringing ourselves even closer to our customers while expanding our range of high-quality, cost-effective, and sustainable packaging solutions,” says Philipp Lehner, CEO of ALPLA. Since entering the rapidly growing pharmaceutical packaging market in 2016, ALPLA has consistently expanded into new countries, technologies, and product categories. Inden Pharma has also seen significant growth, tripling its sales in the last four years to reach 30.5 million euros in 2022. The company now sells more than 550 million containers annually across 35 countries on five continents.

Technological benefits and increase of the capacity

In the first year of operations, the five joint facilities will produce around 800 million packaging products. The standard products from Inden Pharma will be integrated into the joint catalog of ALPLApharma and Inden Pharma, offering more than 150 items. The companies also plan to expand their operations beyond Europe in the future, targeting regions such as India, the USA, and Central and South America. “Our international customers will benefit from a broader range of plants, increased proximity, enhanced flexibility, and the consistent service and quality they have come to expect in recent years. This is a significant challenge, not only for Inden Pharma but for the entire joint venture organization, as our goal is to achieve leadership in the pharmaceutical plastic packaging market within the next five years,” says Juan Guillem González, Owner and CEO of Inden Pharma.

Walter Knes, Managing Director of ALPLApharma, highlights the importance of technology and knowledge transfer: “By combining our strengths and distribution networks, utilizing the latest injection and extrusion blow molding techniques, and leveraging our extensive recycling expertise, we are well-equipped for future developments.”