It all began with a disused brewery in Kundl Castle, the know-how in fermentation, the great misery of the population after the end of the Second World War and the unconditional will to produce the urgently needed penicillin in Austria. In 1946 the first antibiotics factory on the European mainland was built in Kundl. It soon produced the entire domestic demand.
In 1952 the two researchers Ernst Brandl and Hans Margreiter from Kundl discovered the acid-stable penicillin. The life-saving antibiotic could now also be administered in tablet form. It is still on the market today.
Since the 1970s, (semi-)synthetic and broad-spectrum antibiotics have also been produced in Kundl. Hardly any other European site has so much experience and know-how in the development and production of anti-infectives.
Today more than 60% of the world production of acid-stable penicillin is supplied out of Kundl. The site is part of the global Novartis Group, one of the world’s largest antibiotics producers and the last fully integrated penicillin producer in the western world.
Until 2025 Novartis and the Austrian Federal Government will invest a total of 150 million Euro to keep the production of the life-saving penicillin in Tyrol (and thus in Europe).
Pharmaceuticals have been produced at the Schaftenau site since the 1950s. Thyroins, for example, indispensable thyroid hormones. In recent years, the site has grown strongly and has developed into one of the most modern and dynamic biotech locations in the country.
A global competence centre for microparticle technology was opened in 2014. In 2015, the state-of-the-art biologicals production facility for ready-to-use syringes and auto-injectors, BioInject, went into operation. In 2017, the cell culture production was expanded and a new office building was inaugurated. This led to the creation of 190 additional jobs.
The Technology Campus Tirol with its sites in Kundl and Schaftenau combines tradition with innovation and forward-looking approach. Experience from the past, know-how for the present and entrepreneurial spirit for the future.
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