Get to know a local oper­a­tor: Fermion’s Oulu plant

CleantechOulu explores respon­si­ble and inno­v­a­tive indus­tri­al oper­a­tors in the region – this time, the spot­light is on Fermion’s Oulu plant.

High-tech phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal pro­duc­tion in Madekos­ki
In August, CleantechOulu vis­it­ed Fermion’s plant in Madekos­ki, Oulu, which is one of Finland’s key phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal pro­duc­tion units – and also the world’s north­ern­most phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal plant. Fermi­on, part of the Ori­on Group, man­u­fac­tures active phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal ingre­di­ents (APIs) used in the treat­ment of can­cer, car­dio­vas­cu­lar dis­eases, and men­tal health dis­or­ders, among oth­ers.

The plant spe­cial­izes in the pro­duc­tion of high­ly active phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal ingre­di­ents in small and medi­um-sized batch­es. The Oulu unit has ten pro­duc­tion mod­ules, some of which are equipped to han­dle the most demand­ing OEB5-class com­pounds. Mod­ern microniza­tion equip­ment enables the pro­duc­tion of APIs for inhaled med­i­cines, for exam­ple.

Respon­si­bil­i­ty as part of every­day oper­a­tions
Fermi­on invests heav­i­ly in envi­ron­men­tal respon­si­bil­i­ty and ener­gy effi­cien­cy. The plant fea­tures a cryo­genic VOC con­den­sa­tion sys­tem, and waste heat is uti­lized for prop­er­ty heat­ing. Chem­i­cals are han­dled in closed sys­tems to ensure safe­ty, and efforts are con­tin­u­ous­ly made to reduce waste.

Growth and inter­na­tion­al impact
The Oulu plant employs over 100 phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal pro­duc­tion pro­fes­sion­als and works close­ly with oth­er Ori­on units. Up to 90% of Fermion’s prod­ucts are export­ed, mak­ing it a sig­nif­i­cant play­er in Euro­pean phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal man­u­fac­tur­ing. Plant Direc­tor Jouko Oikari­nen notes that they have found well-edu­cat­ed staff for all roles in Oulu, includ­ing design­ers and oper­a­tors. Coop­er­a­tion with neigh­bor­ing com­pa­nies Chempo­lis and Adven, as well as with the city, has also been smooth. One wish from local com­pa­nies is the improve­ment of Lääkete­htaantie, the “sand road.”

In the com­ing years, invest­ments are planned for the plant, such as new tank areas, new pro­duc­tion mod­ules, and expan­sions of the fac­to­ry area. If real­ized, these invest­ments will also cre­ate numer­ous new jobs in Oulu.

Togeth­er towards a clean­er future
Fermion’s Oulu plant is an exam­ple of how high-tech phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal man­u­fac­tur­ing and respon­si­ble indus­try can go hand in hand – right in the heart of Oulu.

Visit Fermion’s web­site to read more: Fermi­on’s Oulu GMP API man­u­fac­tur­ing plant | Fermi­on