The focus is on one of the most advanced pharmaceutical production facilities in the world: Bayer’s production facility for “launch and supply” products at Chempark in Leverkusen, Germany, built between 2019 and 2024. The highly autonomous facility uses cutting-edge digital technologies and sustainable energy systems for oral solid dose manufacturing such as tablets - efficiently and on a massive scale.

Key features of the single-storey facility include a central “spine” connecting self-contained modules, a very high degree of automation in production, and highly efficient scalability. The facility has been designed to respond flexibly to the requirements of a variable product pipeline by allowing rapid reconfiguration and modular expansion.

The combination of a scalable modular facility blueprint with an end-to-end autonomous manufacturing/logistics and digital execution stack won over the jury of the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE). While traditionally, the Facility of the Year Awards highlight either breakthrough manufacturing platforms or mature operating sites with multi-year performance history, SOLIDA-1 was selected to be the winner this year in the Pharma 4.0 category and the Operations/Operational Excellence category.

High-calibre finalists

The project won out over high-calibre finalists such as Eli Lilly’s manufacturing site in Concord, North Carolina, Johnson & Johnson’s facility in Belgium, and the Moderna Marlborough Campus in Massachusetts.

The project’s overall design and planning was led in large part by PORR Industriebau and PORR subsidiary PPE (formerly Pharmaplan). In addition to the planning services, PORR Industriebau was responsible for the entire HVAC, electrical and I&C (instrumentation and control). For its work on this project, PORR had already received the globally acclaimed Bayer Engineering Award back in 2024. This award was one of the reasons why the project attracted attention even before the ISPE Awards.

PORR is regarded as an expert in the design and build of high-quality pharmaceutical production facilities and other high-tech industrial buildings and has delivered numerous projects for international pharmaceutical companies.