Sharp Services, a leader in pharmaceutical packaging, clinical trial services and sterile manufacturing, has announced it has invested more than €20m in its European packaging facilities in response to strong market demand in the injectables market.
The investment is focused on adding capacity and capabilities for the assembly, labelling, packaging and cold storage of a variety of injectable formats — including autoinjectors, pen devices, prefilled syringes and vials — at Sharp’s facilities in Hamont-Achel, Belgium and Heerenveen, the Netherlands.
The expansion at the Belgian facility will quadruple the existing cold-chain warehouse capacity and double ambient storage space, as well as add a new syringe assembly and blister packaging suite.
Additional device assembly and packaging capacity are also planned.
In addition, cobot (collaborative robot) technology has been introduced to enhance production efficiency for adjacent prefilled syringe and autoinjector packaging lines.
The facility in Hamont-Achel has been extensively upgraded to also include a carport solar system that will deliver clean, renewable energy in alignment with Sharp’s sustainability goals.
The system is expected to supply 50% of the site’s electricity demand in clean, renewable electricity once fully commissioned in mid-2026.
Sharp’s Netherlands facility will expand its GMP production capacity — including the addition of two Grade D packaging suites — to accommodate new syringe assembly and packaging programmes and vial packaging capacity, which is due to be operational at the end of 2026.
Robert O’Beirn, Managing Director, Sharp Clinical & Sharp Europe, commented: “Our European facilities have a long-established reputation for successfully delivering the complex packaging services required for injectable drug formats."
"This investment represents a significant increase in our capacity to support our pharma clients, as sustainably as possible, with their injectable drug launches in the EU market."
This investment in Sharp’s Belgium and Netherlands facilities is part of the company’s larger $100m expansion of capacity and capabilities in support of the evolving needs of its clients, announced in November 2025.