Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine (JJIM), formerly known as Janssen, is earmarking €580 million ($622 million) in investments in Italy over the next five years. The company’s first step is to pour €125 million ($134 million) into its tableting manufacturing site in the country.
JJIM’s tableting manufacturing site in Latina, Italy — roughly an hour’s drive from Rome — is “undergoing a significant evolution,” said Jorge Lopez, general manager of the J&J Latina plant, in a June 14 press release.
The company will invest €125 million ($134 million) to add new technologies to the Latina site to speed up tablet manufacturing time, anticipating an uptick in demand. The facility currently makes 4 billion tablets each year for 30 different products, 97% of which are distributed to other countries, according to the company.
A continuous manufacturing line for making tablets will be added to boost production capacity by 25%, the company added. Further, it will implement an automated technology platform, dubbed the Flex Line, to make packaging small batches of tablets more efficient.
“The announcement by Johnson & Johnson, which will invest 580 million euros in Italy over the next 5 years, is further proof that the pharmaceutical industry continues to firmly believe in our nation,” said Marcello Cattani, the president of the Italian national trade association Farmindustria.
Future investments in JJIM’s five-year plan will include other business areas aside from manufacturing, the company confirmed to Endpoints News. Since 2019, the company has invested almost €50 million in Italy, according to JJIM.
All three of JJIM’s businesses — consumer, pharmaceuticals and medical devices — have locations in Italy, and the company employs 1,400 workers across its headquarters in Milan and the Latina site.