IBSA presents CorPharma: the sustainable district at the service of the community

Never stop. Grow, change and evolve, without ever ceasing to be there, for the people and the community. This is the message launched yesterday by IBSA Institut Biochimique SA with the presentation of the CorPharma project in Lugano. An event organised to tell the idea and the development of the new industrial district – which is located in the Pian Scairolo hub and whose beating heart is social sustainability – starting from the COSMOS production plant.  

“The pandemic has not stopped the Company’s will to invest, despite the difficulties. We are here: this is the message we want to launch, a promise that is also being kept through the great development project of the sustainable CorPharma district”, stated Dr. Arturo Licenziati, President, CEO and Founder of IBSA.  

The path of sustainability integrated into the social, environmental and economic dimension is the one in which the Group has decided to believe, by investing in and for the territory, starting from Ticino, but with a view that goes far beyond the Swiss borders. “Over the past 36 years, under the leadership of the current business management, over 800 million francs have been invested in production infrastructures, intangible assets and acquisitions that have created the conditions for the development of the business, with a great impact on the allied activities which in turn generated a wealth redistributed and shared with the community. With the CorPharma district, the conditions are created not only for the further growth of the Group, but also to pursue the objective of offering better working conditions and new opportunities to our people and their families. The renovation of COSMOS is an example of this approach: a plant focused on sustainable territorial planning which, benefiting from the existing infrastructures, promoted the recovery and transformation of spaces, positively impacting the redevelopment of the urban fabric and the quality of life”, said Antonio Melli, Chief Financial Officer of the IBSA Group. 

With a total area of 16,200 square meters – equal to three football fields – COSMOS is IBSA’s largest production plant. The investment was aimed at obtaining an aesthetically beautiful, innovative, technological and sustainable building. The design and works were carried out by the Group’s Architect, Christophe Direito, with the aim to achieve the perfect combination of sustainability, innovation and beauty: “We have paid great attention to the sustainability of materials, emphasising green as a predominant element in order to promote the conservation of biodiversity of natural spaces by providing for the creation of a vertical green and an ‘educational garden’, with the cultivation of indigenous medicinal herbs. All this will be available to the local community, with places dedicated to free time, play, recreational and creative activities. To give an example, the Nido Primi Passi will be moved here, and a nursery school will be opened, but many other initiatives – dedicated to education and culture and conceived to meet the needs of the next generations – will also be developed”.

Efficiency and optimisation, quality and precision will guide the activity of the plant, which will start with three production lines – already tested, validated and currently being approved by the regulatory authorities – at full capacity at the beginning of 2022, with the production of thyroid hormones at a rate that will generate 240 million therapeutic doses per year, while employing over 250 people for all on-site productions. Enrico Gasperotti, Head of IBSA Group’s production plants, explained: “COSMOS is not just a production facility; it’s innovation and state-of-the-art technology and production, combined with the great skills of the people who work there. Production lines are managed by automated and interconnected systems, in line with the latest industry 4.0 requirements; this will allow us to have precise control of the systems and processes, thus ensuring the highest quality standards of the drugs we produce, which translates into an even greater safety for patients”.

COSMOS and the CorPharma district have been conceived with the comfort of people in mind since the very beginning, because it is with this approach that IBSA spaces are created – in Switzerland, in Italy and in the rest of the world.

“Creating a space in which to live and work well means creating the conditions to improve productivity, the quality of work and the atmosphere, activating a virtuous circle which benefits everyone. This whole process is part of the evolution and growth of IBSA, a Company that did not stop despite the pandemic and, on the contrary, continued to create jobs, maintaining a positive hiring trend throughout the Group, which led to today’s over 2,000 employees”, concluded Virginio Cattaneo, Head of Human Resources, IBSA Group.