Becton Dickinson to invest $1.2 billion to expand pre-fillable syringe manufacturing capacity for COVID vaccination
Becton Dickinson & Co. said Wednesday it is planning to invest about $1.2 billion in pre-fillable syringe manufacturing capacity over the next four years. The Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based medical technology company said the money will be used to expand and upgrade manufacturing for advanced drug delivery systems across its six existing locations, as well as to add a new facility in Europe, which is expected to be operational by the end of 2023. "Since 2018, BD has added 350 million units of manufacturing capacity for glass barrel pre-fillable syringes, and this new commitment will invest in additional upgrades at all of our Pharmaceutical Systems manufacturing facilities and across multiple product categories," Eric Borin, president of BD Pharmaceutical Systems said in a statement. The move also comes ahead of expected surge capacity for vaccination against COVID-19, and comes after the U.K. government granted emergency use authorization to the vaccine candidate developed by Pfizer Inc. and German partner BioNTech SE . Shares were not active premarket, but have fallen 12% in the year to date, while the S&p 500 [S: SPX] has gained 13%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.