Gerresheimer opens new high-tech production facility for pharma glass in China Now seven plants in China

Dusseldorf (ots) - The Gerresheimer Group today opened a new plant
for pharmaceutical glass packaging in China. The high-tech production
facility constructed in Danyang (Jiangsu Province) covers 16,000
square meters. Specializing in high-quality pharmaceutical vials and
cartridges for injection systems it serves the pharma & life science
industry on both a local and international level. Dr. Axel Herberg,
CEO of Gerresheimer AG, describes the investment as a very important
strategic step for further business expansion in Asia. In China,
Gerresheimer now operates seven production plants for highly specific
glass and plastic products.

The new facility belongs to Gerresheimer Shuangfeng, a Chinese
subsidiary of the Group, which was acquired in 2006 and now already
has production plants in three locations with a total of more than
150 production lines. With investment in future-oriented technologies
and a high-quality range of vials, ampoules and cartridges, it has in
just a few years developed into the market leader in China, said Dr.
Max Raster, member of the Management Board of Gerresheimer AG with
responsibility for the Tubular Glass Division, at the opening
ceremony on May 29, 2009.

"'Top quality produced in China' is the corporate philosophy here
which binds us directly to the ambitious objectives for development
of the local economy and the Jiangsu region," Raster said. At the
gala opening he joined Chao Xingsong, the Managing Director of
Gerresheimer Danyang, in welcoming representatives from the world of
politics and the administration as well as a large number of national
and international customers who clearly showed they were impressed by
the high technical standard.

The state-of-the-art plant in the up-and-coming city with 800,000
inhabitants just 250 kilometers to the west of Shanghai is of
outstanding strategic importance for the globally active Gerresheimer
Group. A key area of focus for it is the rapidly growing Asian pharma
market with its constantly rising quality demands in terms of
packaging and drug delivery. In the unanimous assessment of experts,
China is already the fifth largest pharma market in the world.

In parallel with its local status as a technology advanced pharma
glass plant the Danyang facility offers ideal conditions and flexible
expansion possibilities to enable it to supply customers with
high-quality specialist products in neighboring Asian countries and
other market regions as well. "We work at the highest level of
internationally recognized quality standards," Raster stresses. The
technical production processes are for example monitored by in-line
camera systems - a product control process which is by no means
universal industry practice in China or elsewhere. The clean-room
concept also reflects the latest development status.

In Danyang, which has for years been regarded as a highly
attractive industrial location for foreign investors in particular,
Gerresheimer Shuangfeng also has a second production plant
exclusively for pharmaceutical vials. In addition, the company
manufactures vials and ampoules in Zhenjiang, also in the Province of
Jiangsu. Four other plants of the Gerresheimer Group also manufacture
in the country. In total, Gerresheimer employs around 1,500 people in
China.

About Gerresheimer

Gerresheimer employs around 10,000 people in 42 locations in
Europe, America and Asia. In the financial year 2008, worldwide sales
totalled ?1.06bn. The product portfolio ranges from pharmaceutical
vials made of glass and plastic through to complex drug-delivery
systems for the pharma & life science industry. These include sterile
syringes, inhalers and other system-based approaches for safe dosage
and application of medications. The Group enjoys a leading position
in markets which are characterised by high technical and regulatory
barriers.

Originaltext: Gerresheimer AG
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Contact Press
Burkhard Lingenberg
Director Corporate Communication & Marketing
Phone +49 211 6181-250
Fax +49 211 6181-241
e-mail b.lingenberg@gerresheimer.com

Contact Investor Relations
Anke Linnartz
Director Corporate Investor Relations
Phone +49 211 6181-314
Fax +49 211 6181-121
e-mail a.linnartz@gerresheimer.com