This is one of the world’s most advanced pharmaceutical production facilities: Bayer’s production plant for launch products at Chempark Leverkusen in Germany was built between 2019 and 2024. The highly automated facility uses state-of-the-art digital technologies and sustainable energy systems to efficiently manufacture solid oral dosage forms, such as tablets, on a large scale.

Key features of the single-story factory include a central structural element connected to modular functional buildings, a very high degree of automation in production, and highly efficient scalability. The facility was designed to respond flexibly to the requirements of a variable product pipeline through rapid reconfiguration and modular expansion.

The combination of a scalable modular plant concept with a seamless, autonomous manufacturing, logistics, and digital execution architecture also impressed the jury of the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE). While the Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) traditionally highlight either groundbreaking new manufacturing platforms or mature production sites with a proven track record spanning several years, this year SOLIDA-1 was named the winner in the Pharma 4.0 category and the Operations/Operational Excellence category.

High-profile finalists

The project thus prevailed over high-profile finalists such as Eli Lilly’s production facility in Concord, North Carolina, and Johnson & Johnson’s facility in Belgium, as well as the Moderna Marlborough Campus in Massachusetts.

PORR Industriebau and PORR subsidiary PPE (formerly Pharmaplan) were among the key players responsible for planning the overall project. In addition to the planning services, PORR Industriebau was responsible for the entire HVAC/electrical/I&C sector. For its work on this project, the company had already won the globally recognized Bayer Engineering Award in 2024: The presentation of this award was one of the reasons why the project attracted attention even before the ISPE Awards.

PORR is recognized as an expert in the design and construction of high-quality pharmaceutical production facilities as well as other high-tech industrial buildings and has already completed numerous projects for international pharmaceutical companies.