Becton Dickinson pours $100M into Nebraska syringe plant

Becton Dickinson will invest $100 million in its Holdrege, NE-based facility to expand its capacity for insulin syringe manufacturing.

BD already makes more than 2 billion insulin syringes each year, and started operations at Holdrege in a 12,000-square-foot space. In the 50 years since, the facility has grown to 350,000 square feet and manufactures 20 different products. The new investment will go toward new tech and manufacturing equipment, according to a statement.

"About 40 percent of people with diabetes who inject insulin use syringes as part of their diabetes management regimen," said Ken Miller, worldwide president of BD’s diabetes care unit, in the statement. "This investment will provide benefits to this diabetes population and underscores our commitment to supply high-quality, industry-leading insulin syringes to patients."

BD’s other diabetes products include insulin pens. And in May last year, the FDA cleared BD’s first insulin infusion set. The device comprises a side-port catheter to improve insulin flow and to reduce the number of flow interruptions. It is designed to avoid silent occlusions, or continuous increases in pressure, that can cause unexplained hyperglycemia in patients. The following month, the devicemaker signed Medtronic on to commercialize the infusion set. In July, it opened a new diabetes R&D site in Andover, MA, to develop and manufacture new products for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

Most recently, BD rolled out a next-generation diagnostic device to quickly detect flu and other diseases. The wireless BD Veritor Plus System can identify influenza A and B, RSV and group A strep within minutes, giving physicians the opportunity to see results while a patient is still on site.