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About Us

Alliance to Zero is a non-profit membership association for pharma and biotech supply chain companies that aims to facilitate the transition of the pharma sector to compliance with net-zero emissions. As a working group with commonly shared goals, we will engage in collaboration with academia and non-profit organisations as well as sponsors projects. We will involve, connect and coordinate suppliers, pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers and service providers along the supply chain of pharma products.

Founding members of the Alliance to Zero

The founding companies of the alliance represent key parts of the pharmaceutical and biotech supply chain

  • Sebastian Gerner– Ypsomed
    Alliance President
  • Robert O’Beirn – Sharp
    Alliance Vice President
  • Marion Briggs – Health Beacon
    Alliance Secretary
  • Fritz Major – Harro Höfliger
    Alliance Treasurer
  • Koen Maes - Datwyler
    Committee member
  • Manuel Huber - Körber
    Committee member
  • Dr. Arne Kloke - SCHOTT
    Committee member
  • Dr.-Ing. Kurt Kugler - Schreiner MediPharm
    Committee member
Sebastian Gerner– Ypsomed

Sebastian Gerner is Innovation & Business Development Manager with Ypsomed Delivery Systems. He is driving the transition of Ypsomed from a linear take – make – waste economy towards a circular economy. He is a mechanical engineer with more than 10 years of medical device experience in various medical and pharmaceutical companies.

Robert O’Beirn – Sharp

Robert O’Beirn is Head of Sharp’s Clinical Services and European Packaging businesses. He originally joined UDG Healthcare in 2011 as senior legal counsel and subsequently moved to corporate development, with particular focus on M&A. As a member of Sharp’s senior leadership team, he also acts as Executive Sponsor of Sharp’s ESG and Sustainability programs.

Marion Briggs – Health Beacon

Marion Briggs is the Sustainability Project Manager at HealthBeacon Ltd in Dublin, Ireland. She has a background in business, and has spent the last four years focussing on sustainability. Most recently she has helped to guide HealthBeacon through the EPA approval process and US Sharps Mailback process in order to support more sustainable home injection waste management.

Fritz Major – Harro Höfliger

Fritz Major worked 10 years for OPTIMA and developed from Junior Sales Manager to Sales Director for Filling Technology. His career at Harro Höfliger started in 1996 as Regional Sales Director. At present he is Senior Director Sales with Prokura. In addition he is responsible for the market segment Portion Packs, which he established at HH.

Koen Maes - Datwyler
Manuel Huber - Körber

Manuel Huber holds the position as Head of Product Management Packaging Machines with Körber’s Business Area Pharma. He joined Körber in 2013 and since acquired an extensive knowledge of secondary packaging solutions and machines for any kind of parenteral products and devices and build up a deep insight of the international pharma and biotech market. He graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and holds an additional degree in Business Administration.

Dr. Arne Kloke - SCHOTT

Arne Kloke joined SCHOTT ‘s Pharmaceutical Systems business in 2014 and has been involved in introducing new primary packaging and processing solutions with suppliers, partners and customers throughout the injectables industry. In his current position as Manager Strategic Innovation he is pushing product solutions compliant with a zero carbon future.

Dr.-Ing. Kurt Kugler - Schreiner MediPharm

Kurt Kugler did his PhD in Electrochemistry in 2015 and has been working for Schreiner Group since then. His focus has been on the product and process development for Printed Electronics and RFID applications. Since 2020 Kurt ist working in the Business Development for the Business Unit Schreiner MediPharm within Schreiner Group. As Business Development Manager Healthcare Solutions he is involved in product and project management as well as in all topics related to sustainability within Schreiner MediPharm.

What does it mean to your organisation to participate in the Alliance to Zero?

“Creating a substantial impact on the carbon footprint of the pharmaceutical industry requires thinking beyond company-specific responsibility definitions. And this is what the alliance is about.”

Dr. Arne Kloke
What does it mean to your organisation to participate in the Alliance to Zero?

“With the Alliance to Zero we are building up an ingenious network of companies to develop a net zero product offering towards our various pharmaceutical customers”.

Sebastian Gerner – President
What does it mean to your organisation to participate in the Alliance to Zero?

“The urgency of action required for GHG emissions reduction means we cannot work in isolation. This alliance represents a unique opportunity for meaningful supply chain collaboration which we believe will have a much greater positive impact.”

Robert O’Beirn
What does it mean to your organisation to participate in the Alliance to Zero?

"Teamwork is a major factor of our success. So it is almost natural for us to partner with a group of companies with the same mindset in order to reduce GHG emissions as much and as fast as possible."

Major Fritz
What does it mean to your organisation to participate in the Alliance to Zero?

"In joining the Alliance to Zero with a group of experts in their field, Datwyler wants to engage itself to improve its operations to strive for a lower impact on the environment."

Dr Dirk Vander Mierde
What does it mean to your organisation to participate in the Alliance to Zero?

“As a mono-material packaging solution provider, we want to contribute to net-zero products for the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. Together with like-minded and strong partners, we will be able to reduce GHG emissions and help save our planet.”

Manuel Huber
What does it mean to your organisation to participate in the Alliance to Zero?

“Being part of the Alliance to Zero means to help to establish a future benchmark for the pharmaceutical industry regarding sustainable product and process design. Different companies along the pharmaceutical supply chain need to cooperate closely to be successful in the end, and that is the key DNA of the Alliance to Zero.”

Dr.-Ing. Kurt Kugler

Sharp

Sharp, part of UDG healthcare, is a global leader in clinical supply chain services and contract pharmaceutical packaging. Offering solutions and support to pharma and biotech clients from phase I trials all the way through to commercialization and rapid launch.  Sharp has particular experience expertise in the secondary packaging of injectables.

www.sharpservices.com

Harro Hofliger
Harro Höfliger has the experience and expertise to support you in realizing your entire product idea and will accompany you as a partner from the laboratory stage to production, for filling, assembly and packaging lines. As your supplier of technology and all-around problem solver, our work does not stop until your production is running perfectly. Simply put – ALL YOU NEED. www.hoefliger.com
Schreiner MediPharm
Schreiner MediPharm, a business unit of Schreiner Group GmbH & Co. KG based in Oberschleissheim near Munich, is a leading developer and manufacturer of innovative, multifunctional specialty labels and marking solutions with value-added benefits for the healthcare industry. Thanks to its strong solutions expertise and specialized know-how Schreiner MediPharm is a highly capable development partner and reliable quality supplier to leading pharmaceutical and medical device technology companies worldwide. www.schreiner-medipharm.com
Körber
Körber offers innovative, high-quality and sustainable pharma packaging solutions that deliver the difference. Körber’s customized Rondo and Dividella Solutions for monomaterial packaging from clinical test samples to high volume production and packaging lines setting standards world-wide for secondary packaging. https://www.koerber.com/en/pharma/annual-report-2019-it-doesnt-need-plastic
SCHOTT
SCHOTT Pharmaceutical System, a business Unit of SCHOTT, is a global leading manufacturer in primary packaging for the pharmaceutical industry, producing annually more than 11 billion vials, ampoules, cartridges and syringes. Represented in 34 countries, SCHOTT is a manufacturer of high-tech materials for specialty glass and a highly skilled partner for high-tech industries: Healthcare, Home Appliances & Living, Consumer Electronics, Semiconductors & Datacom, Optics, Industry & Energy, Automotive, Astronomy, and Aerospace. In the fiscal year 2020, its 16,500 employees generated sales of 2.24 billion euros. www.schott.com/en-gb/markets/health/pharma
Health Beacon
HealthBeacon is a medication adherence technology company which develops smart tools for managing medication. HealthBeacon’s FDA-cleared Smart Sharps Bin has been adopted across 13 countries with >500,000 injections tracked since launch in 2014, and a patient acceptance rate of 80-90%. HealthBeacon follows the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) model as a part of its fundamental business model, embracing end to end product stewardship. In 2020, HealthBeacon launched its innovative Green Labs initiative for sustainable waste management. The HealthBeacon Green Labs will allow for the sterilisation and reuse of sharps bins and recovery of injection waste for more sustainable processing. www.healthbeacon.com
Datwyler
Datwyler focuses on high-quality, system-critical elastomer components and has leading positions in attractive global markets such as healthcare, mobility, and food & beverage. With more than 20 operating companies, sales in over 100 countries and more than 6,700 employees Datwyler, headquartered in Switzerland, generates annual sales of more than CHF 1’000 million www.datwyler.com.
Ypsomed
The Ypsomed Group is a leading developer and manufacturer of injection and infusion systems for self-medication and a renowned diabetes specialist with over 35 years’ experience. As a leader in innovation and technology, Ypsomed is the preferred partner for pharmaceutical and biotech companies for the supply of pens, auto injectors and infusion systems to administer liquid drugs. Ypsomed has its headquarters in Burgdorf, Switzerland, and operates a global network of manufacturing sites, subsidiaries and distributors. www.ypsomed.com.