Teva strengthens its Malta presence with ongoing investments

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has been developing and producing medicines to help improve people’s lives for more than a century. Being a global leader in generic and specialty medicines and Teva believes that every person should have access to quality medicines.

Teva Malta continues to strengthen its presence in Malta’s pharmaceutical production industry with an investment of more than €30 million. This started in 2020, with €20 million being invested by the end of this year, and a further €11 million planned for 2023.

This announcement was made during a visit by the Hon. Prime Minister, Dr Robert Abela to the Teva Malta site in Bulebel, along with the Hon. Minister for Energy and Enterprise Miriam Dalli and the Hon. Minister for the Economy and Industry Silvio Schembri.

“The aim of this continued investment is to strengthen our manufacturing facilities and position ourselves for growth, while allowing us to take on new projects in the coming months and years. This investment is a strong sign of confidence in the Malta site of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries – which has the largest supply chain of any pharmaceutical company all over the world. It is also testament to the continuous improvement mindset and technical knowhow and capabilities of the hard-working employees of Teva Malta, from senior management to all employees in all areas and job grades,” said Patrick Cachia, Site Managing Director at Teva Malta.

A total of €9 million were invested between 2020 and 2021, a poignant move given that this period encompassed the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2022, Teva Malta invested an additional €11 million. These investments include a new purified water system, a full fabric upgrade of three granulation bays, tooling for new product introduction, new chillers, compressors and house vacuum transfer systems to assist employee protection. Furthermore, Teva has invested heavily in a future proof IT Enterprise transformation that included the optimization, unification and seamless integration of its IT landscape. In 2023, further investments to the tune €10 million are planned and will include new production equipment, new tooling to allow new product introduction and the extension of a new quality control laboratory amongst others.

Teva Malta’s current operational manufacturing capacity is 2.2 billion tablets a year, with its plant being approved by the Malta Medicines Authority and other highly regarded Regulatory Authorities. The company is a global supplier of medicines and exports to over 70 markets worldwide, including the European Union, the Gulf States, Brazil, Chile, Taiwan, Canada, Singapore and Australia.

Teva Malta is looking to add another 70 employees across multiple departments, to add to its present headcount of more than 430 highly skilled employees. This goes hand in hand with the company’s recent move to a 24x7 shift operations. This is also possible thanks to the constant support of Malta Enterprise, INDIS and the Medicines Authority throughout these years, especially during the pandemic, and also in terms of training assistance to upskill more employees.

Mr Cachia added: “Central to these successes are Teva Malta’s employees. The company recognises that its employees are the greatest asset, and as such it demonstrates a critical focus on employee wellbeing, inclusion and diversity. This has been recognised by the Foundation for Human Resource Development, which awarded Teva with the HR quality Mark for high employee-focused standards within the company. Malta is also committed to equality and diversity, with its senior leadership team of split evenly between both genders, and 14 per cent of employees hailing from other various nationalities.”

Mr Cachia said: “The roots of what Teva Malta is today trace back to 1976, and today consists of state-of-the-art bulk manufacturing and packaging facilities, warehouses, and testing laboratories which are maintained to the highest standards. The site became part of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in 2016.”

The Teva site in Bulebel has a long success history and unique expertise in manufacturing and packaging of a complex portfolio of oral solid dosage forms. This has led to an excellent reputation with customers and a proven and established track record, even during the Covid-19 pandemic. Whilst strict protection and containment measures were taken to ensure the safety of its employees, Teva Malta continued its operation to supply more than 4.5 billion essential medicines to patients globally during the period.

In line with the Teva’s group environmental sustainability strategy, the company has also introduced a number of energy reduction initiatives including the installation of more than 700 LED lighting units, planned installation of 1,328 PV panels, acquired new and more efficient HVAC systems and eliminated two diesel fuelled steam boilers. This has resulted in an accumulated reduction of electricity consumption equivalent to 6,000 houses in Malta annually.